Today we are looking at Tiny Towns, a game from the publisher AEG designed by Peter McPherson. This is a resource placement game where you take on the role of a town planner trying to build the best layout from the building types and resources. Play time is spritely with rounds zipping past quickly and little down time for players between having things to do. The building types and resources that are available to each player during the game are the same. With most things being consistent putting all players on a mechanically equal footing, it is only your tactics and your ability to execute them that will determine your final score. Think fast, think ahead and don’t let your board fill up with unusable junk.
Vital statistics
- Resource Placement game
- 1-6 players
- 30 to 45 mins to play
- Age range: (14+ on the box) A confident 9 year old could play, 12 year old can out score an adult after a few games.
- Website: https://alderacstore.com/tiny-towns/
Gameplay
The game is played in turns and in each turn a player calls a resource out form the list of resources and then each player must place that resource in their town. Once a player has made the shape on the blueprint cards that they may exchange those resources on their board for a building token and then they continue the game with one less space in their player board. Player may continue to play until they can’t place any further resources on their board at which point the are finished. They sit out until the remaining player have filled their boards and the scoring begins. Depending on the blueprint cards in play the buildings have different scoring synergies and rules. The Monument blueprint you selected during the set up can also effect your score or indeed how some of the other buildings score for you.
The Unbox
less than 5 mins
There is nothing to punch or assemble, just make sure you keep and reuse the resealable bags.
The Set Up
5 mins
Each player gets a small board with a four by four grid on plots on which they will build during the the game. The blueprints that are to be used in the game are placed centrally and a supply of wooden buildings of the appropriate colour is place near them. The cubes representing the the five resources used in the game can just be placed in a big pile within reach of all players. Don’t be too precious about this pile as you will be removing and returning these cubes each turn so lumping them all together is not a problem. Each player is dealt two monument cards face down and they can pick which on they want to keep for the game. Only they can build that monument and there is only one of each type in the box. Give each player as pink wonder token and the first player the Master Builder token (a small white hammer which most players seem to subconsciously tap like a gavel as the call a resource out) that shows who is calling.
The Pack Away
5 mins
Quite fast for a game with so many small pieces. Bagging the building by type and throwing the cubes in together is a time saver, and a couple seconds to scoop and sort the cards is also pleasingly fast. The box has a place for everything and the getting each thing back into its slot reduces the time taken to check that you have everything
The Mechanics
The game revolves around the placement of the building materials into the designated shapes. As each player takes turns calling out which resource everyone is using it is possible, with some skill, to force your opponents the draw resources that disrupt their plans. This can lead to some early exits as players try to hold on to early plan or high risk plays, without checking their opponent’s boards for likely future calls. As players resource placements are simultaneous and the number of locations on the player board stays the same the game does not get appreciably longer with more players. The effect of different group sizes is a little more subtle. At 6 players the time between your calls has most players cautiously glancing from board to board trying to guess the next call, and at 2 players the quick back and forth never lets you feel out of control.
The Feel
The game has a very clean and family friendly feel with the more cut throat aspects of the game at the discretion of the more experienced players. The art is bright a colour scheme is by and large well chosen for a cheery feel. Bear in mind that while the game has that child friendly look the complexity of dealing with such a tight player space can be frustrating for younger players. This plays excellently as an opener, or indeed a measure for the amount of focus a group has.
Accessibility
Some of the components are smaller and may be trickier for those with fine motor problems. This is partly reflected in the age rating on the box. There is the perennial colour blindness issue which is mostly mitigated by the buildings having very distinctive outlines and size. My one quibble is that the teal coloured building and the green coloured component are oddly the least visually distinct in size and outline of the set. The resource cube colours are well chosen and much more difficult to confuse.
Components
The box comes with nice weight and fullness, as a standard 30cm by 30cm by 7.5cm square. Included are 6 player boards, 90 Wood Cubes (in five colours), 133 Wooden Buildings, 15 Monument cards, 25 building cards, rulebook, A deck of automation cards (for single player games), a scorepad and of course the master builder token (the little white hammer) All the pieces are good quality and thoughtfully designed.
Final thoughts
I like this game a lot. The replay value that comes from dealing with the different building combinations that can be selected, or if you are feeling a little more devil may care dealt at random, give enough variability to keep people on their toes. On the other hand with all the rules ‘being on the cards’ the game never feels like it is making you do homework. It plays well in a number of situations (end of the evening filler, pick up game, opener, and as a main game if multiple rounds are played) and at a number of group sizes.
