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Description
Small Islands is a tile-placement game in which you are daring explorers discovering a magnificent archipelago. Its islands are brimming with natural resources but also temples from an ancient and mysterious civilization. Brave adventurers, bring back to your clan wealth & prestige!
A game is played in maximum 4 Rounds. At the beginning of each Round, each player secretly picks an Objective Card out of three cards. And in turn, players draw and place a Landscape Tile out of the 5 available (2 in hand, and 3 on the table). At a certain point, another option becomes available: placing a Ship Tile. When this tile is placed, in turn, all players place Houses on the islands and earn Prestige Points according to their Objective. Then players start a new Round. When the game ends, players receive additional points for their Ship Tiles.
In Advanced Mode, Objectives are split in 2 types of cards which allows you to create your own objectives amongst many combinations.
There is also a Solo Mode, innovative for its mechanics as well as for the very concept of a solo mode in a tile-placement game. We gave it an AI with a personality and different behaviors.
Small Islands offers you even more surprises, hidden at its heart.
Year Published
2018
Transcript Analysis
Browse transcript mentions, sentiments, pros/cons, mechanics, topics, quotes, and references.
Total mentions: 4
This page: 4
Sentiment:
pos 4 ·
mix 0 ·
neu 0 ·
neg 0
Showing 1–4 of 4
Video tImgp2LROc0
The Broken Meatball top_10_list at 20:00 sentiment: positive
video_pk 12817 · mention_pk 37409
Click to watch at 20:00
Overall sentiment (raw)
very_positive
Pros
- Beautiful archipelago artwork vs French countryside
- Secret objective system adds depth
- Players must balance completing own objectives while blocking others
- Limited placement slots create tension
- Each player has one special end-round tile per game
- Solo mode available
- More strategic than Carcassonne
- Still streamlined and easy to teach
Cons
- More complex rules than Carcassonne
- Some players may prefer Carcassonne's simplicity
Thematic elements
- island building
- archipelago creation
- beautiful nature scenes
Comparison games
- Carcassonne
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
Mechanics unknown.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
No quotes stored for this video.
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video u_D9n2iYQt0
Meeple Day top_5_list at 9:56 sentiment: positive
video_pk 12014 · mention_pk 35183
Click to watch at 9:56
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- Cute components; accessible for families and lighter gamers
- Solo mode provides a reasonable AI-like challenge
Cons
- Rules can be a bit heavy for a lighter game
- Solo mode may not shine as bright as multiplayer
Thematic elements
- island construction and strategic placement
- Islands archipelago with a focus on objective-driven island building
- light and family-friendly
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- objective drafting — Each player has their own objectives drafted to drive end-game scoring.
- tile drafting — Draft island tiles and place tokens to complete objectives on islands.
- tile placement and token scoring — Place plant-like tokens and room cards with placement constraints across islands.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- I really enjoyed this game I can see why so many people recommended it
- the solo mode plays almost exactly the same way with the exception of the market
- it's not the most ideal way to play Twilight Inscription with AI
- the rule book is a little bit complicated
- I would probably have to play it with higher player counts to feel the burn
- this is not a solo only game this is I believe up to four players
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video My18DPlP8Gw
Farmer Giles top_10_list at 7:57 sentiment: positive
video_pk 10198 · mention_pk 30036
Click to watch at 7:57
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- Beautiful artwork
- Good solo mode
- Elegant replacement for Carcassonne
- Simple but engaging mechanics
- Variable objectives add replayability
Cons
- Risk of house theft makes it competitive
- Hasn't been played recently
Thematic elements
- Map building
- Island building
Comparison games
- Carcassonne
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Area Control — Placing houses on islands, only one per island, can be stolen
- Objective-based scoring — Different objective cards each round determine scoring criteria
- tile placement — Building islands with tiles like Carcassonne
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- it's just like falling off it's just literally there are 100 better games in it
- Small Islands uh this is the one that i've been saying is a replacement for carcassonne
- way too complicated for its own good
- it is one of the most beautiful games in existence
- i still think five tribes is better than yamatai
- nations is still my preference to fruity ages in terms of playing a physical game
- really good negotiation game
- great teamwork cooperative very cool
- this is a really good solo
- the deductions are really hard it's a really tough one to do
- it's oh it's a mind bender gorgeous looking
- reef is still a really cool game
- azul is only that good at two player
- near and far still really good
- there's no reason to play that one if you have near and far
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video ruJgak9bakk
Games boom goes the dynamite haul_and_impressions at 3:22 sentiment: positive
video_pk 7485 · mention_pk 22220
Click to watch at 3:22
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- Accessible, quick to teach
- Fun thematic hook with islands
Cons
- Replayability could depend on player count and variety
Thematic elements
- City-building on miniature islands
- Tiny island archipelago building in a playful world
- Playful and enthusiastic presentation
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Resource/pointing system — Earn points through placement and patterns
- tile placement — Place tiles to build island networks and score points
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- this thing is massive
- it's huge it's bigger than our table
- we love the game
- we're going to pimp it up
- it is a beautiful production
- we have you know the first one and now the sequel
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Transcript Navigation
Showing 1–4 of 4