Small World heads above the clouds in expansion Sky Islands

Small World is getting a new expansion this year that will see the hit battle for world domination take to the air.

Small World: Sky Islands introduces seven extra races to the original box’s roster of 14 different fantasy factions, as well as seven unique special powers. Two of the additions revealed so far include the scavengers and the storm giant.

There’s also an additional game board that opens up the competition to the skies, showing either two or three floating islands. The main board is subsequently used as if one fewer player were taking part to account for the increased number of territories.

The sky islands are accessed by a beanstalk and a stairway on the main map, but races can’t start conquests in the new areas unless their powers specifically allows them to. The faction that dominates an entire sky island earns an extra coin at the end of each turn.

As well as the extra gameplay features, the set expands the maximum player count by one, allowing six people to play.

Sky Islands is planned for a European launch in November, after debuting at Essen next month. It’ll cost €28 (£25).