The world of board games is a constantly evolving landscape full of some of the biggest and grandest games you have ever seen. Each one trying to outdo the next in size and scope, games seem to get bigger and bigger on my table with each season. But what if we went the other way and took some of the best parts of the games we like and shrunk it down in size? What if you still could get the same experience but in a much smaller package? Today we will explore that idea and see if big things do come in little packages!
Tiny Epic Tactics is published by Gamelyn Games and designed by Scott Almes with art from Nikoletta Vaszi, Naomi Robinson and Benjamin Shulman.
Overview
In Tiny Epic Tactics players will attempt to earn victory points by capturing other players units and controlling the three different Control areas on the map. Players alternate turns until a game condition is triggered, allowing for one more turn for all players.
Gameplay
Tiny Epic Tactics comes with a lot of stuff packed into the box. There is a large map scroll and then the box itself unpacks to form the Evergreen Forest as the 6 map boxes now become terrain. The game has Unit cards, tokens and trackers for each player along with a custom die and other tokens. There are 5 different modes of play. These include:
2-4 player Competitive
2 vs 2 Team play
2-4 player Battle Mode
1 Player Solo Adventure
2 Player Cooperative
Each player begins with 4 Unit tokens of their chosen color, 4 Health trackers and 4 Units, 1 of each type of class. These are Fighters, Wizards, Rogues and Beasts Each of the trackers will look and keep account of your Units Health, Ammo and Mana.
Players find their starting positions and then are each given 2 Tactic cards, choosing to keep 1 to start the game. The Control card and flags are place near the Tactic deck on the side of the play area.
On a player’s turn, you perform these in-order steps:
1-Check for majority control in an area and advance the flag token if you have it. This is done when a player is on the Trigger space for that area at the start of their next turn. If you have majority control of those spaces you advance the token. This area is now considered triggered and will advance at the start of your turn if you have majority and that can also be stolen from you by an enemy player. If it reaches the Control space, the area is secured and that majority player gets the Flag Token.
2-Take up to three actions amongst your units. These include Movement, Melee attacks, Missile attack and Casting a Spell. You can take one action per unit but if that unit takes a second action on a turn it is considered Weakened and gets a Weakened Token on the card. These change as you lose units you are able to do more with them without the penalty.
Weakened units do not take actions on the next turn and are healed at the end of that turn, but you make pay 2 health to heal them and use them on the next turn. You must be careful with health, once you reduce it to zero your unit is captured.
Actions:
Your unit has Movement speed equal to the value on the card and is able to move all around the board. Terrain effects movement, climbing up costs one more movement per level and different terrain like Peaks cost more to move up into as well. Some Terrain will actually cause you to take more or less damage during an attack as well. If you pass into a Village you immediate regain 4 health and replenish all Ammo/Mana on your character. Portals allow for instant movement around the realm as well.
Attacks are done a few different ways, starting with a melee attack. These are performed by all characters and can be done on an adjacent space when you are at the same elevation. Knock backs can happen and are rolled for here as well.
Missile attacks are done by Fighters and Rogues and these characters use one Ammo to initiate the attack. Each character has a Range value for their attack and you must roll for misses. This will deplete your ammo as well if you have any misses.
You may cast a Spell as well if you use a Wizard and pay the Mana costs. Spells can be powered up with the roll of dice and the payment of additional Mana as well.
There are also Counters that players may use if their unit is being attacked by Melee, Missile or Spell attacks. The Tactic cards are there as well to help you in the game. They have a condition that if something happens then you will get a free action on your turn. You can hold up to two in your hand and each turn you will draw a new one so that you always have two.
The end of the game is triggered when one player has had all of their units captured or one has player has taken the final flag token. Play then continues until everyone has had a turn past the player that triggered the end of the game. Points are scored based on Flags captured, units that you capture or ones of your own that survive and 1 point for each Village your unit controls.
The game also has a competitive mode for 4 players through a 2v2 Team mode, A free-for-all in which you are just doing combat and trying to capture an artifact, a Team mode of Battle play and even a 1 player Solo adventure mode.
Impressions
What could be better:
Print. I know it’s a small box game but the print on this one can be hard to read, so keep that in mind for eyes that strain to read smaller print. It’s not awful but it was a challenge for a few people.
Tactic Cards. Some of the cards felt way better than others to the point that we knew the person who got the card that let them add a new character to their party was probably going to win. Maybe pick and choose what you want to keep in when you’ve played it a few times if certain cards seem to strong when you get some games in also.
What we liked
Design. This game packs a lot of design quality into a small package. The game leans into the size but doesn’t lose anything because of it. The box opens into the map well and the character cards, tokens and other resources we need are all available for easy use.
Graphics. I love the art on this one, from the terrain to the characters. They all really pop and have a fun whimsical aspect to them. They really add to the game overall. The characters especially are great and I love the detail that was put into them. It is a good looking game overall.
Gameplay. This game isn’t hard to pick up-you can jump into this one pretty quick and start playing it immediately. I am impressed at how easy of entry game it is but yet so detailed as well.
Overall
Tiny Epic Tactics gives us exactly what we would hope for in a Tiny Epic game package. The game is detailed and has depth of play with a good amount of table presence for as small as the box is. It delivers exactly what we would want in a combat game without being overly complicated just for the sake of it. I am happy with the gameplay an find the variety of choices on how to get it to the table intriguing. I especially love the team vs team aspect of this and how easy it is to play that out. This game gives us everything we are looking for in a tactical game wrapped in a great sized package.
So if you are looking for a combat game that is easy to pack up and take on the go and doesn’t sacrifice gameplay, Tiny Epic Tactics delivers on that. I would recommend this one to anyone looking for that experience and especially if you have enjoyed anything in the Tiny Epic series previously. Make sure to get to your hands on a copy of this one and try it out soon! If you want to find a place to pick it up, make sure to check it out here:
Deluxe Edition: https://www.gamelyngames.com/tiny-epic/tiny-epic-tactics
Retail Edition: https://www.amazon.com/Gamelyn-Games-Tiny-Epic-Tactics/dp/B07Y2JPYKG/ref=sr_1_2?dchild=1&keywords=tiny+epic+tactics&qid=1585860616&sr=8-2
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