The Best Small World Expansion for More Races and Powers

Why the Best Small World Expansion Can Make or Break Your Game Night

The best small world expansion depends on your group — but if you want a quick answer, here are the top picks:

Top Small World Expansions at a Glance:

Expansion	Best For	Adds
Be Not Afraid	Beginners & 6-player games	6 races, storage tray
Cursed!	All groups, best value	2 races, 5 powers
Grand Dames	Race variety fans	3 races, 2 powers
Small World Realms	Custom map lovers	Modular terrain tiles
Sky Islands	Strategic depth seekers	7 races, floating board
River World	New board experience	4 maps, event system

Small World is one of those rare games that gets better the more you add to it. The base game gives you a fantastic mix of fantasy races and special powers — but after a few plays, you start craving more variety.

That’s exactly where expansions come in.

Some add brand-new races and powers to keep combinations fresh. Others bring entirely new boards that change how the game is played. A few even solve practical problems, like running out of race tokens in a 5- or 6-player game.

The challenge? There are a lot of expansions — and not all of them are worth your money.

Quick best small world expansion definitions:

Finding the Best Small World Expansion for Your Table

When we sit down for a game of Small World, we are usually looking for that perfect blend of chaos and strategy. However, as many veteran players know, the “smallness” of the world can sometimes lead to a logistical headache: the species shortage.

In a standard 5-player game, you have 15 species in the base box. By the time everyone has a race on the board and a few have gone into decline, you might find only a couple of options left in the selection row. This limits strategic choice. If you move up to a 6-player game (using the specialized 6-player board), the problem gets even worse. This is why finding the best small world expansion often starts with simply needing more tokens.

Expansions like Cursed! and Be Not Afraid act as a “patch” for high player counts. Cursed! provides enough variety to keep a 5-player game interesting, while Be Not Afraid is almost mandatory for 6-player sessions to ensure there are always enough races to choose from.

Beyond just “more stuff,” the right expansion adds strategic depth. Some players want new ways to interact with the map, while others want wacky powers that turn the game on its head. If you are new to add-ons, checking out a board-game-expansions-review-guide can help you understand how these modules integrate into the base game without overwhelming your players.

Top Race and Power Packs for Every Player

The most common way to expand your game is through small packs that introduce new fantasy races and special power badges. These are easy to shuffle in and don’t require learning a whole new rulebook.

Feature	Be Not Afraid	Cursed!	Grand Dames
New Races	5 (plus 1 extra)	2	3
New Powers	5	5	2
Standout Race	Homunculi	Goblins	White Ladies
Best For	Storage & Beginners	Value for Money	Theme & Variety
Special Bonus	Large Storage Tray	High-impact powers	Gender equity

Be Not Afraid: The Best Small World Expansion for Beginners

If we had to pick just one “first” expansion, Be Not Afraid is frequently cited as the best small world expansion for several reasons. First, the races it introduces are both fun and easy to grasp.

Take the Homunculi, for example. They are one of the most mechanically interesting races; every time they are passed over in the selection row, a new Homunculus token is added to their banner, making them more powerful the longer they wait. Then you have Pixies, who come in massive numbers but must leave only one token in each region at the end of the turn, making them the ultimate “glass cannon” race.

Perhaps the biggest selling point for Be Not Afraid isn’t the tokens, but the box itself. It includes a plastic storage tray designed to hold the races and powers from several of the smaller expansions. As we know, keeping Small World organized is a game in itself, and this tray is a lifesaver. According to the Small World: Expansions Archives, this pack is a staple for anyone looking to support 6-player games effectively.

Cursed! and Grand Dames: Essential Additions

While Be Not Afraid is the “utility” pick, Cursed! and Grand Dames of Small World are the “flavor” picks.

Cursed! is often hailed by the community as the best value for your dollar. It introduces Goblins, who can attack in-decline races at a discount, and Kobolds, who are numerous but must always travel in packs of at least two. The real star here, however, is the Cursed power. It gives you zero extra units, but if you pass it over, you have to pay three victory coins instead of one. It’s a hilarious “hot potato” mechanic that can ruin a player’s economy.

Grand Dames focuses on adding more female-led races to the game, which previously only featured the Amazons. The White Ladies are a defensive powerhouse—once they go into decline, they become completely immune to conquest. The Priestesses allow you to stack tokens into a single “Tower of Ivory” that scores massive points but is vulnerable if you aren’t careful.

When you’re looking for new-expansion-packs-for-board-games, these two are usually the first ones we recommend for sheer variety and personality.

Game-Changing Map and Scenario Expansions

Sometimes, new races aren’t enough. If you’ve played the base maps so many times you know every mountain and field by heart, it’s time to change the geography.

Small World Realms: The Best Small World Expansion for Custom Maps

For the “world-builders” among us, Small World Realms is the ultimate toolkit. Instead of a fixed board, you get dozens of geomorphic, double-sided terrain tiles. These puzzle-like pieces allow you to create custom maps of almost any shape or size.

One of the coolest features of Realms is its compatibility. The tiles feature terrain from both the original Small World and Small World Underground. It even includes Tunnel pieces, allowing you to play a massive game that spans both the surface and the subterranean world simultaneously.

The expansion comes with 12 pre-set scenarios, such as “The Rusted Throne,” where players vie for control of a central seat of power to earn tribute from others. As noted on the official Small World: Realms page, the variety of regions and tile rotations allows for virtually endless variations. It is the best small world expansion for groups who enjoy a “scenario-based” approach to gaming.

Sky Islands and River World: Adding New Dimensions

If Realms is about horizontal variety, Sky Islands and River World are about adding new mechanics to the map itself.

Sky Islands adds a separate, smaller board that sits next to the main map. These floating lands are accessed via “beanstalks” or “stairways.” The catch? If you manage to control an entire island, you get bonus coins at the end of your turn. It introduces a verticality that forces players to decide between spreading out on the crowded ground or fighting for the lucrative but hard-to-reach islands. It also includes 7 new races, like the Scavengers and Storm Giants.

River World, on the other hand, replaces the standard board with maps dominated by water regions. You’ll use Caravels to navigate and fight off Pirate Ships that appear as random events. Unlike the base game, River World features a “Temple of the Seer” that lets you peek at upcoming events, like “Freezing Cold” (which freezes rivers) or “Storms.” According to the rules found at Small World: River World, the publisher even recommends removing the “Flying” power when playing this version to keep the river-crossing mechanics meaningful.

Advanced Expansions: Tales, Legends, and Leaders

For veteran players who find the standard game a bit too predictable, there are expansions that lean into chaos and leadership.

Small World: Tales and Legends isn’t a race pack or a board. It’s a deck of 54 large event cards. At the start of each turn, a new card is flipped, changing the rules for everyone. You might hit an “Ice Age” where mountains cannot be conquered, or a “Tremor” that makes every invasion cost one extra token. While we love this for the variety, it can be overwhelming for beginners. It’s best reserved for groups where everyone knows the core rules by heart. You can find more about how these types of “rule-breaking” expansions work in our best-small-publisher-board-games-review.

Leaders of Small World: Heroic Mechanics

Leaders of Small World adds a “Leader” token for every race in the game. When you pick a race, you can pay an extra coin to take its leader. Leaders act as an additional race token with a “Brave” trait—they can only stay in regions that are not immune (no hiding in the Fortress!).

The fun part? If your leader is captured, they can be held for ransom. The captor gets victory points, and you have to decide if it’s worth paying to get your hero back. The 2013 Kickstarter edition of this expansion updated the set to include 48 leader tokens, covering races from almost every expansion released up to that point. It’s a “cool” addition, but as the community on Small World: Leaders of Small World suggests, it’s mostly for completionists who want that extra layer of personality for their armies.

Frequently Asked Questions about Small World Expansions

Should I get Small World or Small World Underground first?

This is the age-old debate. Based on discussions from the Dominion Strategy Forum, the consensus is that the original Small World is the better starting point. Why? Because most of the expansions were “exclusively designed for the base game.”

While Underground is often called a “2.0 version” with its deeper river mechanics and “Relics and Locations” (powerful items found on the board), it is harder to integrate with the standard race packs without some “mental effort” or errata. If you want the most modular experience, stick with the vanilla base game and expand from there.

Which expansion is best for high player counts?

If you regularly play with 5 or 6 people, Be Not Afraid is our top recommendation. It adds the most races (six total), which prevents the “empty tray” syndrome where players have no good choices left. Cursed! is a close second, as its two races and five powers provide just enough padding for a 5-player game to feel balanced.

Are the Power Packs worth the investment?

Yes! Days of Wonder eventually bundled the smaller, hard-to-find expansions into “Power Packs.”

Power Pack #1 usually contains Be Not Afraid, A Spider’s Web, and Royal Bonus.
Power Pack #2 usually contains Cursed!, Grand Dames, and Royal Bonus.

These are much better value than hunting down the individual small boxes. However, be aware that some players find the A Spider’s Web races (created by Kickstarter backers) to be slightly “theme-breaking” or less balanced than the original Keyaerts-designed races.

Conclusion

Building your Small World collection is a journey. If we were to suggest an ideal buying order for maximum enjoyment, it would look like this:

Be Not Afraid (for the races and the storage tray).
Cursed! (for the high-impact powers and value).
Small World Realms (when you’re ready to stop playing on the same four maps).
Sky Islands (for a fresh strategic challenge).

The best small world expansion is ultimately the one that gets your group excited to play “just one more round.” Whether you’re holding leaders for ransom or navigating pirate-infested rivers, these expansions ensure that this world stays small, but the fun stays huge.

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