Each player is given their own 4x4 square board to build on. A series of building cards are placed in the center of the table, representing what can be built in this particular game. (Each of the wooden building pieces can represent a number of different kinds of structures, each with their own way of scoring points; the numerous combinations of different cards makes for a lot of differing strategies and replayability.)
The game has five building resources, and the rules are simple. On your turn, you name one of the five resources. Every player must take one of what you named, and place it on an empty space in their own grid. To build a building, you must create a particular pattern of particular resources within your grid; as soon as you do, you remove that pattern from your board and establish the building that matches that pattern on one of the spaces you just emptied. Continue around the table, gathering resources, constructing buildings, and scoring points, until no player has any empty spaces left to work with. The player with the best score wins.
For a simple rules set, it's surprising how much it feels like there's a learning curve here to master. That's because there are a lot of ways to think about the spatial puzzle this game presents. You never know what resources your opponents will call for on their turns, yet you have to take them all the same. While the patterns required to make a building can be placed in any orientation (and even mirror imaged), the simple fact is that a 4x4 grid fills up fast. It's a fun challenge to plan for what you want while still leaving space to switch to what your opponents might force on you. And every building you successfully build makes for one less space you can store resources to build again -- each space holds only one piece, building or resource. If you aren't careful, your own past successes can hem in your future progress.
Frankly, it's rather easy in this game to make a mistake and yet not realize it until several turns later. For many games, that would probably be a drawback. Here, the entire experience is quick enough (while still giving you plenty of decision points in that short play time) that if you make a mistake, you don't have to live with it long. Learn from your error for the next game -- which you might very well turn around and play right away.
But there is an aspect of the game I'm a bit leery of. It's actually similar to a feeling I had about the popular game Welcome To.... Every player gets exactly the same resources all game long. They have the same space to build with, and they have exactly the same buildings they can choose to build. Well... almost. At the start of Tiny Town, each player is dealt one unique building (with a unique power) that they and only they can build. It remains a secret until the player has assembled the pattern to build it, at which time they may construct it like any of the normal, shared buildings and begin to benefit from its power.
With Welcome To..., players have literally the exact same decisions the entire time. That means that in any given game, if only you'd made the exact same choices as the winner, you could have shared the victory. Nothing you do has any direct impact on anyone else. Tiny Towns doesn't quite go that far. Having a secret building -- even just one -- does give each player a reason to consider doing something that no one else may want. It adds some unpredictability to what opponents might choose too. It's very good for the game, I think... but it might be that just one building isn't enough in the long run? Each time I've played Tiny Towns, there's been a bit of a sense at the end that the players who lost did so less to bad strategic choices than collective whim and luck of the draw. Maybe. Like I said, it's a fast game that doesn't leave you too much room for serious regrets at the end.
So despite my reservation, I could see playing more games of Tiny Towns in the future. And as fast as it is, with as many players as it can take, I could see it being a game my group plays a fair amount. If I had to settle on a grade now (and I guess I do; I'm writing this post), I'd say Tiny Towns deserves a B. But I could truly see that going up or down with future plays. One thing is certain: it is aimed at that sweet spot that tries to satisfy more serious gamers while being simple enough to coax new players into the gaming hobby. And while I'm not certain it's a bullseye, it's definitely on the target.
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