Tiny Towns Review

I’m a big fan of spatial reasoning games. Over the years, games like Patchwork and Isle of Cats have always brought me joy. I don’t know if it’s something left over from all the Tetris I played as a child, but figuring out little puzzles to get everything to fit just right is just… fun!

So when I was first introduced to Tiny Towns, I was immediately intrigued. I loved the idea of having to put your resources on the board just right, but adding in different scoring elements? Oh yeah, this one’s gonna hit the spot…

We Built This… Town…

Each player is the mayor of their own… well, tiny town. There’s a back story about creatures and predators and all that, but it’s not really that important.

What is important is that the game tasks you with building structures in the 4×4 grid on your player board. This construction happens by placing resources in the patterns specified by the available buildings. A tavern, for instance, requires two bricks and a glass resource to be placed all in a single line, while the cloister requires four resources in a very particular L-shaped arrangement.

On a turn, one player is designated as the “master builder”. That player announces one resource type, and all players have to add a cube matching that resource to their player board. If anyone has resources in an arrangement that matches a building, they may remove the matching cubes from their player board and place a building token. The building has to be placed on a site where one of the resources was that built the structure. 

Watch Where You’re Going

Placement is important for a few reasons. For some of the buildings, you get points based on location. The inn, for example, gets points if it’s not in a row or column with another inn. The bakery gets points if it’s next to buildings of a particular type. You’ll also have to be careful to keep your board open for future buildings. If you don’t leave enough room for the pattern needed for a particular building – well, tough. You won’t be able to create that building for the rest of the game.

If you ever reach a point where you can’t build anything else, then your game is done and your town is complete. You’ll wait for everyone to finish their building, then calculate your points. And, as per usual, the player with the most points at the end of the game wins!

Lookin’ Good

When Tiny Towns hits the table, its charm is immediately evident. The box art is great, and all of the little building meeples are great. The artwork on the different building cards is also wonderful, and it all comes together to create a really attractive look.

The game is also very creative in how it adds variety. Each building meeple is associated with four different building types, and you randomly choose which building for each type at the beginning of the game. It’s a small thing, but it allows for increased replayability without having to have a bunch of components that are only used for certain setups.

Monuments are another element of the game that add a little spice. Each player is dealt two Monument cards at the beginning of the game and select one to keep. These special buildings are unique to each player, and they can provide some major scoring opportunities if used correctly. This small wrinkle ensures that everyone will have their own strategies and approaches as they move through the game.

Like Coming Home

Tiny Towns is a game that strikes a perfect balance for me. It’s simple enough to teach in just a few minutes, but it’s complex enough that I have to weigh my options on each turn to decide what I should do. It’s not so complicated that I will sit for several minutes trying to decide what to do, but it also has enough going on that I feel that my choices are important.

People that don’t like spatial reasoning games are probably going to get a bit frustrated with this title. However, given that you’re not putting down polyominoes or anything like that, maybe it’s easier? I’m not sure.

What I do know is that Tiny Towns is a game that I really enjoy. It’s one that I could play with almost any group, and each time it’s going to be a solid experience. With the addition of a few expansions over the past few years, there’s a ton of variety that can keep people coming back for more. Tiny Towns is a game that I’d recommend for any hobby gamer to add to their collection. It’s certainly one that I’ll be keeping on my shelf for a very long time.

Tiny Towns is available at your local game store, from the AEG webstore or online through Amazon today.

Highs

• Easy to learn while still providing enough challenge
• Looks great on the table
• A decent amount of variety right out of the box

Lows

• Spatial reasoning haters beware!

Complexity

Time Commitment

Replayability