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Small World Underground

#97786BGG ↗

2011 · 2-5 players · 90min · weight 2.59 · 11,492 ratings

v2 v3 fit 0.303

BGG raw

ID
97786
Name
Small World Underground
Year
2011
Rank
330
Min players
2
Max players
5
Playing time
90
Min playtime
30
Max playtime
90
Avg weight
2.5888
Num weights
411
Bayes avg
6.87704
Average
7.22068
Users rated
11492
Num owned
20092
Wanting
351
Wishing
2061
Num comments
1657
Fetched at
Sat Apr 25 2026 16:15:46 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time)
Mechanisms (5)
Area Majority / InfluenceArea MovementDice RollingKing of the HillVariable Player Powers
Categories (3)
FantasyFightingTerritory Building
Description (1125 chars)

"This world's not big enough for all of us, so it's time you step aside to make room for me." That's the spirit of Philippe Keyaerts' award-winning Small World, and the 2011 release Small World Underground is a standalone game that keeps that spirit intact, while putting a new spin on the game play. Small World Underground includes 15 fantasy-themed races of creatures along with 21 special powers. Each player will control several creature/power combinations over the course of the game – spending points to draft these combinations – and will use those creatures to claim control of various subterranean locations. Some locations hold relics or are designated as "places of power", and monsters must first be conquered before a player can claim these special benefits. At the end of each turn, a player scores points for the regions he holds, and the player with the most points at game end wins. Small World Underground is playable on its own, but can be combined with other Small World releases. The publisher recommends that players be familiar with Small World before playing Small World Underground.

LLM v2 (wide)

Core verb
conquer and decline
Decision shape
mixed:combinatorial+spatial
Reward schedule
immediate
Aesthetics
["Challenge", "Fantasy"]
Core loop pitch
Pick a race+power combo, blitz regions for coins, then put it in decline and start a fresh race.
Translation difficulty
Easy
Difficulty reason
Original Small World ported well; same engine reskinned for underground with new powers.
Direct digital port
Small World 2 (mobile/Steam, Days of Wonder)
Port kind
first_party
Closest loop translation
none yet
Primitive tags
["race_power_combo_draft", "controlled_obsolescence", "decline_mechanic", "region_majority_combat", "diminishing_token_pool"]
Confidence
0.7
Extracted at
Mon Apr 27 2026 11:40:03 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time)
Raw v2 JSON (879 chars)
{
  "game_id": 97786,
  "name": "Small World Underground",
  "core_verb": "conquer and decline",
  "decision_shape": "mixed:combinatorial+spatial",
  "reward_schedule": "immediate",
  "aesthetics": [
    "Challenge",
    "Fantasy"
  ],
  "core_loop_pitch": "Pick a race+power combo, blitz regions for coins, then put it in decline and start a fresh race.",
  "mobile_translation_difficulty": "Easy",
  "translation_difficulty_reason": "Original Small World ported well; same engine reskinned for underground with new powers.",
  "direct_digital_port": "Small World 2 (mobile/Steam, Days of Wonder)",
  "direct_digital_port_kind": "first_party",
  "closest_loop_translation": "none yet",
  "primitive_tags": [
    "race_power_combo_draft",
    "controlled_obsolescence",
    "decline_mechanic",
    "region_majority_combat",
    "diminishing_token_pool"
  ],
  "confidence": 0.7
}

LLM v3 (deep)

Not yet enriched at v3 (deep pass).