Big box games and big epic themes go together like loose cannon cops and partners that are three days from retirement. For those times when there isn’t enough time to soak up a Sunday afternoon with a sprawling empire building game, Gamelyn Games offers the Tiny Epic series of games. These games offer a taste of big box games in much smaller, affordable and portable packages.
They’ve recently launched a Kickstarter for an expansion to Tiny Epic Galaxies that rocketed past its goal in the first day, so this seemed like a perfect opportunity to explore the different genres that the line has shrunk down from epic proportions to fast, kid-friendly gameplay.
Tiny Epic Kingdoms
The game that started it all lets players build a small map full of mountains, plains, ruins, and more to explore. They choose from a variety of classic fantasy factions at the beginning of the game that offer special abilities to help with coming out as the empire on top. Since its initial release, the game has expanded in two ways; the Heroes Call release added more factions, territory and titles, while Ultra-Tiny Epic Kingdoms reduced the already small box experience into a Love Letter sized deck of cards in a drawstring bag.
Tiny Epic Defenders
Tiny Epic Defenders is a cooperative game that brings the harried fun of a tower defense game off line. There’s an Epic Foe that’s threatening a fantasy castle and the players have to play against the game to make it to the final battle. Each of Gamelyn’s games has an excellent solo option for when players can’t make it to the table, but this game puts those rules at the center of a frenzied battle. Can the Warlord, Sorcerer, Warlord, and Cleric work together or will the Demon Lord smash down the walls?
Tiny Epic Western
Gamelyn’s next foray into civilization building takes on a Western theme. Each player is looking to build and control a small town in the Old West. They play and create buildings for the town but then, if another player builds a building everyone wants, a meeple showdown goes down resolved by a hand of poker and a set of custom bullet shaped dice. Pre-orders are currently available, with Kickstarter backers getting their copies shortly.
Tiny Epic Galaxies
Tiny Epic Galaxies offers a mix of exploration and development for its tiny game, which will be featured on Tabletop in Season 4. Fans of Roll For The Galaxy will find similarities with its dice roll based action, but the game also allows players to trigger planet’s special abilities while they aren’t controlled by anybody. The central question of the game is using a planet’s ability right away for a short term advantage versus devoting time and effort to colonization and victory points. The Kickstarter expansion offers an exploration expansion and pilots that give different ships different abilities and a neat little sleeve that helps fans carry both boxes around.
What is your favorite big game feel in a small game package? Let us know in the comments!
Image credit Gamelyn