An Awesome, Portable Game
Hi everyone, how's it going?
Today we're checking out a game that I bought because it was portable and cheap, but ended up loving for it's sheer amount of strategy and it's small size. Let's take a look at Ultra Tiny Epic Kingdoms.
Ultra Tiny Epic Kingdoms is the smaller variant of it's older brother, Tiny Epic Kingdoms. The publisher, Gamelyn Games, has made an entire series of games called The "Tiny Epic" Franchise. This series has sold incredibly well and is loved by many tabletop gamers. All of these games come in a super small box, offer high strategy, high replayability, and a short playtime. Theoretically, making these games the ideal, for travel and everyday carry. This version is the "Ultra Tiny" variant of one of the most loved entries in this series, Tiny Epic Kingdoms. Whilst the normal variants cost around $25, the "Ultra Tiny" variant offers the exact same experience, in a smaller package and for just $10.
"You will be exploring lands and factions, expanding kingdoms, exploiting opportunities, and exterminating all those who question your rule…but so will everyone else! The results of this tiny conflict are nothing short of epic!"
Starting with the box/design. The box has a nice matte finish, regular readers will know that I love this type of finish, it's durable, looks great, and feels even better. The biggest selling point of this game is the pocket-able size, it was able to travel back and forth from my friends place to my home inside of my jacket pocket while also being sat, stepped, and fallen on. The art is beautiful and lines the entirety of the box. There is a short description on the back along with the contents, credits, and the advantages of the game.
Next, the big question, is the game actually fun? The answer, it depends. If you are a person who constantly travels, loves games, loves strategy, but don't have the time to play them; this is the game/series for you. If you're a casual gamer who prefers luck-based or less strategy focused games, this is not for you. This game is all about conquest, and furthering specific resources in order to not immediately meet the end of game conditions and end up losing. There are some cool mechanics, such as following the action of another player, and players taking up actions on the action card so that others can't do the same thing, along with the unique region and war benefit system. The game, while the 31-Page rulebook can be a little intimidating, is relatively simple. Setup can take 1-2 minutes but is straightforward and easy. Gameplay is also super simple, but can be a tad bit confusing when you're first reading through the rules. My usual group of friends were driven away and begun to complain and get bored due to the setup process and me being a bit unfamiliar with the rules, but as gameplay progressed, really got in to the game and begun to have fun.
For just $10, I'm calling this the best tabletop game that I have ever purchased. It offers great strategy, replay-ability, a relatively short play-time, and a super small footprint. I'm extremely excited to play this with my friends, on the lunch table, on Monday.
Thanks for reading everyone, I'll catch you later!
