Blizzard Entertainment is bringing the conflict for domination over the lands of Azeroth to a new and much smaller stage in Small World of Warcraft, a new tabletop board game crossover created through a collaboration with Days of Wonder. Small World of Warcraft combines the gameplay mechanics of the Small World series with the lore and characters from the World of Warcraft universe to deliver a fun new tabletop adventure that up to five players can enjoy together.
Players can choose to play as one of races native to World of Warcraft, such as Humans, Undead, Orcs, Pandarin, Night Elves, and Worgen to battle for supremacy over the lands of Azeroth. The core gameplay mechanics of Small World are what the game is built upon, so players familiar with the series will easily pick it up. If you’re new to the series, not to worry, the basic premise of the game is easy to learn, with each player having to pick the right combinations of races and special powers to eventually emerge as the sole ruler of Azeroth.
Small World of Warcraft was designed by Philippe Keyaerts, the original designer of Small World. Keyaerts had the following to say on designing the game:
New version, new challenges!
This time, it was all about intimately mixing the spirit of Small World with the Warcraft universe, so that both worlds reflect on each other.
The concept of Legendary places and artifacts, first introduced in Small World Underground, naturally found its place here. I also introduced a game mechanism that had been on my mind for a while: traveling between distant places.
It was also a new way of working: the World of Warcraft Universe Team at Blizzard tried each of the successive versions. Their ideas and comments helped refining and enriching the game.
In the end, all I hope is that fans of both universes enjoy the game and have fun exploring this new (small) world!
Each Small World of Warcraft game should take between 40-80 minutes to complete, depending on how many players are involved and how many disagreements about the history of Azeroth breakout. There are six different land masses to fight over, that house legendary locations and artifacts from World of Warcraft’s storied history. Beware, Murlocs and other beasts will be on the prowl for any player foolish enough to stumble into their lair.
“Working alongside Blizzard has been an amazing experience,” said Adrien Martinot, head of Days of Wonder. “Not only did our vision for the game quickly align, but the creative work we’ve done together has been intense and extremely satisfying. Blizzard allowed us to deep dive into their rich ‘Warcraft’ universe, and I’m eager to see this incredible cooperation come to light when the game releases.”
Small World of Warcraft is expected to release in summer 2020 at a suggested retail price of $59.99. The board game’s release is around when the rumor mill’s have guessed World of Warcraft: Shadowlands will release. We’ll just have to wait and see.
You must be logged in to post a comment Login