TINY TOWNS Alderac Entertainment Group – Boardgame Review

Checkers is played on an 8 by 8 grid with 64 squares. TINY TOWNS is played on a grid of 4 by 4 with just 16 squares. The object is to build an entire town on just these 16 squares and defeat your opponents by having the most/best town that the buildings work with the best with each other. Did you build a bunch of cottages for people to live? Well, if you did then you better have built some farms as the cottages do not score unless the people there are fed and happy. What about wells next to those cottages they score a lot of points but do you have room for them?

TINY TOWNS is a pattern building / resource placing game. Each turn you will get to decide what resource EVERYONE must place onto their grid. You really want a glass to finish off a cottage – but your opponent needs it as well – do you look to use a different resource to finish off your factory instead thus thwarting your opponent? A cottage requires a wheat / stone and glass in a shape of an “L” in three connected squares in the grid. Do you have those three resources on your grid in that pattern? If so you can remove them and place a cottage in one of those three spots. As you build more and more buildings your town becomes more filled and there are fewer spots to build. There are numerous types of buildings that create different paths to victory by providing victory points depending on the types / location and combinations of them built.

At the end if you have any open spaces or left over resources not used they take away points from you. If you love puzzle type games, brain burners and like watching your opponent squirm when you do not choose the resource they are hoping you would then this game is for you!