It's A Small World (2021) Board Game: Rules and Instructions for How to Play

Objective of It’s A Small World

The objective of It’s A Small World is to add more cards to your scoring tray than the other team by finding matching characters.

Setup for It’s A Small World Board Game

Unfold the game board and place it in the middle of the table.
Insert the four rotating bases underneath the board so they fit in their holes.
Place one Scene board into each of the rotating bases. It doesn’t matter what Scene board you place into each rotating base. Position each of the Scene boards so they are diagonal between two of the rooms.

Insert the Clock Tower into the slot in the back of the card tray. You will turn the wheel on the tower until 1 is showing.
Shuffle the cards and place them in the draw tray.
Insert the flag tile into the back of each score tray.

Setting up the clock tower and card tray

Place a flag sail into each matching boat.
The players will divide into two teams. Each team takes a boat and a card holder. If you want to play a cooperative game, all of the players will use the same boat. They will need to score 20 cards before the game ends.
Place one boat on each of the gray start spaces.

Placing the boats on the starting spaces — The two teams have placed their boats on the starting spaces.

Each team draws four cards and places them in their card holder so they can see what is on each card. If you end up drawing a Clock Tower card, return it to the draw tray and draw another card.

Drawing starting cards in It's A Small World

The team with the smallest player starts the game.

Playing It’s A Small World Board Game

You will begin each of your turns moving your team’s boat one space in the direction that the arrows are pointing.

Moving your boat in It's A Small World — The red team starts their turn by moving their boat forward one space along the track.

Next you will draw a number of cards corresponding to the symbols printed on the space that you moved your boat to. You will add the cards to your card holder. Depending on what cards you draw, you may need to take a special action. See the corresponding It’s A Small World Cards section below for more details.

Drawing cards after moving to a new space — After moving to the next space the red boat is on a space that features two cards. The red team draws two more cards and adds them to their card holder.

At this point you will look at the Picture cards in your card tray and compare them to the four scenes visible in the room that your boat is currently in. If any of your Picture cards match one of the scenes in your current room, you will add them to your score tray. You can score multiple Picture cards on your turn.

Matching Picture cards in It's A Small World — The red team had two cards in their hand that match one of the scenes in their current room. On the left scene they have the card for the person on a flying carpet. On the right picture they have the card of the person holding the fan. They will score both cards.

After you are done looking for matches your turn ends. The other team then takes their turn.

It’s A Small World Cards

There are three different types of cards in the It’s A Small World board game. Each card type has a different effect on the game.

Picture Cards

When you draw a Picture card you will try to find the corresponding picture in the room that your boat is currently on. Whenever you spot the picture in your current room, you will add the card to your score tray.

Clock Tower Card

When you draw a Clock Tower card, you will show the other team. You will then turn the Clock Tower wheel clockwise until the next number is visible.

Turning the Clock Tower — After drawing the Clock Tower card, one of the players turn the dial on the Clock Tower one space to the right.

You will then add the Clock Tower card to your score tray.

Flip the Scenes

When you draw a Flip the Scenes card you can choose to use the card right away, or play it at any time on the current turn or a future turn. Before you play a Flip the Scenes card, you can look what is on the other side of each of the Scene boards.

When you choose to use the card you will turn a number of Scene boards equal to the number of symbols printed on the card. This could either be one, two or all four Scene boards. You will choose which Scene boards you want to flip to the opposite side.

Using a Flip the Scenes card in It's A Small World — The current team has decided to use one of their two flips to flip this Scene Board to the other side.

Results from flipping the Scene Board — After flipping the Scene Board, this team can now look at two more scenes to try and find matches for their Picture cards.

After you use the Flip the Scenes card, you will add it to your score tray.

End of Game

The game ends when the number 6 is visible on the Clock Tower. The current team finishes their turn.

If you want a shorter game, you can end it when the number 5 is visible. For a longer game you can play until number 7.

Each team counts up how many cards they added to their score tray. This includes Clock Tower, Flip the Scenes and Picture cards. The team that collected the most cards wins the game.

Winning It's A Small World — The top team collected 25 cards during the game while the bottom team collected 23. The top team collected more cards, so they won the game.

If there is a tie, the tied team with more Clock Tower cards wins the game. Should there still be a tie, the tied players share the win.

It’s A Small World Board Game FAQs

If you have any questions about how to play It’s A Small World, leave a comment below on this post. I will try to answer any questions asked as best and as quickly as possible.

Components

Game Board
Clock Tower
Card Tray
4 Scene Boards
4 Rotating Bases
2 Boats
2 Flag Sails
2 Flag Tiles
2 Card Holders
100 Cards
Instructions

Year: 2021 | Publisher: Funko Games | Designer: Funko Games

Genres: Children’s, Matching

Ages: 4+ | Number of Players: 2-6 | Length of Game: 20 minutes

Difficulty: Light | Strategy: Light | Luck: Moderate-High

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