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PrintReviews are out of four stars.
'Small World'
There's not enough space to go around in "Small World" (board game; $50; ages 8 and up) a fun, light territory-control strategy game with a silly fantasy flavor.
Two to five players each pick a fantasy race, such as Elves, Halflings, Orcs, Skeletons or Trolls, and take turns conquering patches of land. It takes two of a race's limited stock of markers to conquer an empty territory, plus one for each enemy piece or other marker there.
Each controlled territory gives a victory point to its controller at turn's end; whoever has the most at the end of the last turn wins.
Each race has an innate power: Skeletons gain a new marker for every two occupied territories they conquer, Humans get an extra point for each region of farmland they occupy, and so on. Races are randomly paired with special powers for an additional bonus. Commando Orcs can conquer with one less marker than usual, for example.
No matter the race and power combo, eventually a race will be unable to expand any longer. At this point, the savvy player forces that race into decline, remaining in control of territories already conquered by the race but unable to fortify its defenses or use its powers. The player then chooses a fresh race and power combo to begin conquering anew.
'Little Big Planet'
"Little Big Planet" ($39.99; everyone) for PSP has nearly everything the PS3 version does, aside from the multiplayer options, which are gone. The game's story mode features new levels, new music and new items with which to customize the player's little Sackboy avatar.
But once those levels are done with, even a solo player can find plenty to do in a game like this, in which users can create and upload levels for any other player to try.
A robust editor allows players to tweak existing levels or create their own from scratch.
This version's game play is identical to that of its big brother: same side-scrolling action through whimsical levels, same slightly floaty controls that can make maneuvering through them frustrating at times. But the game's charm and friendliness wins out over its annoyances.
-- Justin Hoeger, McClatchy Newspapers
Doug Oster writes a blog, "Growing With Doug," exclusively at PG+, a members-only web site of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Our introduction to PG+ gives you all the details.
