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Back to the Board - Carcassonne
Heartless Gamer writes to mention a feature on Grimwell online looking at the great board game of Carcassonne. Yet another terrific title from Rio Grande, the article takes a look at a possible introductory title for someone who might not have played a more serious board game. From the article: "Once you place a farmer, you can't get that follower back. The question thus becomes, do you play it now while the field is empty or do you wait, hoping your opponent won't claim the field the following turn? Farms can mean big points at the end of the game but could also mean missed points during the game if you run out of followers to play. The game plays smoothly once the players are briefed on the rules. Turns fly by and games complete relatively quickly. The only trick area of gameplay is ensuring players placing farmers are not overlapping other farmers. There can be a lot of land tiles between farmers, so a keen eye is required to ensure the rules are followed. Fortunately, the rule book has plenty of examples to help the players out."
Or as we like to call it, "The Trogdor comes in the night" expansion.
I like this game a lot. Some other favorites are Settlers of Catan[And its two expansions], Age of Mythology [The boardgame], Betrayal at House on The Hill, Arkham Horror, Power Grid, and Puerto Rico. Check the games out if you want something new to sit down and play with your friends... we're hooked. -TKSV
For deep, engrossing, widely variable strategy, try Puerto Rico. It's different every time you play it. For more of a "get in your opponents' way" kind of experience, I'd recommend Power Grid (yes, there's an English version). Finally, if you're into path-building but want a bit more ramdomness in your game, try Settlers of Catan. All good, all German. We used to play these games all the time at lunch at a place I worked a while back, and it's one of the things I miss most about my time there.
"In a 32-bit world, you're a 2-bit user. You've got your own newsgroup, alt.total.loser." -Weird Al
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...can a board game ever be high art?
Doesn't it make you feel good to know that our freedoms are protected by politicans, lawyers and journalists.
I love this game, but honestly haven't played it for a long time, because I have to look at the rules everytime I play it (after a break). I had the original RIO game, plus an expansion, but now... I can't remember the rules that well. Further, not only is it bad that I don't entirely remember the rules, but it just got so difficult to explain to folks how to score it, and friends come and go, and well... I was never quite sure I was scoring it right by the end... when we want to play a quick game, games with difficult scoring, tend to take a backseat to the easier-to-explain variety. --Ray
http://www.beanleafpress.com
Those Carcassonne guys gave Ben Sisko more than his share of headaches.
Where were you when the voynix came?
The group I play with prefers Carcassonne: The Discovery. Is has a different spin on managing your meeples, and is a shorter but more strategic game. The other Carcassonne games are good too, though.
Check out http://www.meeplepeople.com/. I'll also team up with the previous posters regarding Settlers, Puerto Rico and especially Power Grid. PG is our group's favorite right now, and we often talk about how the various aspects of the game could be modelled in code.
We also like
Ticket to Ride: Europe ;-)
Category 5
Citadels
Seafarers of Catan
We think we might like Twilight Imperium (3rd Ed.) but it takes like 8 hours to play (the box says 240 minutes...HA!), and we've only managed
to play once
Everyone should be part of a gaming group, even if it is just casual fun.
When you are 80, your brain will thank you.
lillian
Summa Sedes Non Caput Duos
This is a great game for people looking for games in the Catan/Amun Re/etc style but with quicker gameplay and simpler rules without sacrificing much of the "heart" in theses games.
The best thing is that it can be played 2 player. It's best with 3-5, but it's still enjoyable with 2.
This is a great game, and it's fun for 2 players or as many as 5 (you can get a sixth color in an expansion) -- plus it only takes 45 mins or so to play. The rules are simple enough that you can bring this out at a party and get a game going quickly. Another great game along these lines from Germany is Alhambra. Of course, Settlers of Catan is a classic too.
Others have mentioned Puerto Rico, and The Settlers of Catan, which are awesome games, but I always find myself coming back to the old school wargaming goodness of Titan which, even though it is an elimination game with a completely different style and feel as all of the newer, more slickly designed games that are all the rage now, nothing beats throwing a fistfull of dice around to really get the blood pumping. It even has a free java implementation.
"Remember, there never were pineapple-almond cookies here."
Is trivial pursuit. Ab out half the time I do not even use the board and I can relax and read the cards at my leisure. With the 6th edition came out months ago I still have not gone through half of the cards.
Hey, I agree that these are great games, but the article seems to be about games for beginners. Puerto Rico and Tigris and Euphrates certainly do not fit in these category. I think however that great games like the different flavors of carcassone, and even El grande, and Power Grid are great for beginners and seasonned players alike. Settlers of Catan is really cool if you play with the Cities & knigths expansion, but a bit lame (IMHO) without, that is a lot of rules to stomach for a starting player. My favorites also include Caylus (yes, I like both Puerto Rico AND Caylus;) and Princes of Florence, but I would recomend neither to starting players.
A great place to look for games is boardgamegeek that as listings by ranking, number of players, etc..
That being said, anyone wants wood for sheep?
I can play this with my daughters (10 and 5), and the ten year old wins about one third of the time, without me holding back too much. It's a wonderful family game, for people ages 5 and up.
Carcassone is a terrible game. There's almost no strategy involved. When you draw a tile, you often only have a single place to put it (either because you're forced to as the only move, or because it's the only option that'll help your people). I felt like I'd have more fun flipping coins and counting winners based on the heads.
If you had more control over tile placement, the game would be a hell of a lot more interesting.
The difference is in social culture. In Germany, Austria, and several other areas of Europe, it is quite popular for people to sit in a pub and play board games. That's how many people spend their free time. In the UK people tend to play board games at home, and pubs are for drinking and chatting. In Austalia local pubs are rarer, and filled with slot machines. Is America much the same?
Germans really make the nicest games, I'm hooked to the card trading game "bonanza" / bohnanza (in german; bohn is bean). You basically grow different kinds of beans and when you have enough beans you can trade them for gold. But the player is limited in the number of beans they can grow so you have to trade with other players. Very funny.
...what matters is what you like, not what you are like...
Don't forget the famous settlers of Catan from Germany, as well as for sale and bohnanza. All spectacular games in their own right - the first through pure strategy - the second two through haggling. Citadels is also a fun little game, rife with strategy particularly through guessing about opponents. My wife, myself and our couple friends play these games fairly frequently.
/sarcasm
I wouldn't say Americans haven't created great games (balderdash & stratego come to mind), but more so Americans haven't in a long time. Americans aren't alone though - the best the Japanese have done recently is stuff like Pokemon & Yu-Gi-Oh.
Instead Americans have been busy with other great games.
Stratego isn't really American. It's temporal roots go back rather far.
Hexy - a strategy game for iPhone/iPod Touch
Whilest in principle I would agree the German games are more original, I disagree partly with the Carcassonne franchise as it has been getting several re-hashes/tweeking with the 'Hunters and Gatherers', 'The Castle', 'The City', 'Arc of the Covenant' variations, and to be honest having played them, they are pretty much the same game with slight changes to rules/mechanics.
The original was the best version. And all the expansions to the original base game do help with its longevity, but at some point it became like all the other popular games getting stupid numbers of expansions. Milk that cash cow!
I prefer Peurto Rico as it has better multi-player mechanics, as what you do affects the other players.
See my art -> http://herbevore.deviantart.com
Yeah, that's right - worse than Monopoly, even. I just can't understand why some people seem to love it so much. Some of my friends play every now and then, and I've joined them a few times. Fundamentally, I suppose I'm unwilling to devote 8 to 12 HOURS of my time to a single game of Titan, when I could play multiple rounds of any other game in the same amount of time.
I suppose if there were some kind of payoff to be had after all that investment, it'd be one thing, but the climactic final battle between armies is just like every smaller skirmish before it, except with more dice.
Amusingly, the back of the rulebook has a short history of the game, explaining all the changes that were made to the rules to make the game SHORTER. I imagine that the first game played by the original rules is actually STILL GOING ON somewhere, even today.
Everyone knows that the REAL best game is Blokus!
If it is taking you 8 to 12 hours, you are playing it wrong. Try a few games of the computerized version, Colossus. You should be able to play a game against five computer opponents in about a half hour. That is if you don't play too conservatively. Those legions are for attacking with! You can even play on-line against human opponents, but it will take a bit longer.
"Remember, there never were pineapple-almond cookies here."
Bars here are pretty much just places to drink, eat food, dance, and play some small assortment of games like pool or darts. What I wouldn't give for a board game bar ...
Brettspielwelt (BoardGameWorld in German) has been online for a really long time and has around 40-50 various Rio Grande games which one can play multiplayer via some java applet and standalone client.
Check the Wikipedia entry on them: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BrettspielWelt and here is the English portal: http://www.brettspielwelt.info/
My favorites are Carcassonne(of course!), Peurto Rico(games can be VERY LONG though), and Tichu.
Zombies is a great friggin game...quick and fun... And you get to kill zombies and screw your friends at the same time...not the most thought provoking game but fun as hell...
"Helping to keep you two steps ahead of the Thought Police!"
For some strange reason the game my mates and me (Germans) play most is Axis&Allies, though we do know and played Carcassonne, Settlers, Puerto Rico etc. I reckon it's just because of the atmosphere of the game.
If you haven't played before, think of Carcassonne the beautiful child of a marriage between Dominos and Risk -- you keep laying new tiles onto the map even as you're trying to take it over.
One of the great advantages of Carcassonne, IMHO, is that a complete game takes only about an hour (if all players have played before). So few of our favorite board games can produce a satisfying, complete experience in that short a time. A round of Carcassonne takes about the same time as some games of cards.
"We reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals." --The American President (20.1.2009)
Carcasonne is an excellent entry point into the world of strategy board gaming. The rules can be learned in about 15 minutes, but it takes many games to really get a sense of winning strategies. It is also infinitely replayable, since the board is different every time you play. Truly, one of the great games of the last few years.
Basically, the players take on the roles of president and ministers of a banana republic. Each round consists of splitting the country's "foreign aid", voting on the budget, and (attempted or succesful) assasinations of other players.
Players can also declare a coup (if they have a coup excuse), at which point there is a military phase, followed by either the ex-president or a traitor being sent to the firing squad.
Another nice feature of the game is blank currency notes, which can be palmed off to other players.
If you have never played it, I would recommend checking it out. The only potential downside is that requires 5 - 7 players to make it work properly.
I recommend "Through the Desert."
/.'ed.
Non random.
Multiple simultaneous strategies (longest route, oasis capturing, territory capturing).
Every game plays differently.
It plays very fast (30 mins for average game).
And it looks like boardgamegeek has been
She was like chocolate when she drank... semi-sweet at first and then increasingly bitter.
Has anyone else played Carcassonne in Tunis? ..and even losers can enjoy the jasmine.
The players are much more congenial and better looking.
I found the game to be deeply satisfying...
Sure, you can play a game of Titan against computer opponents in half an hour, but that's not a realistic comparison with playing the actual boradgame, because of the following differences:
1. The computer players in Colossus are pretty dumb.
2. Dice rolling and counting is immensely faster with the computer doing it.
3. Same thing for setting up the battle maps.
4. Perhaps most importantly, you can play very agressively when you're the only human player. If you lose, you don't have to wait 5 hours for the game to finish before you can play again.
It's not just me - read any review of Titan you can find on the web. Lots of people complain about it taking 6-12 hours to play with more than two players.
I'll second Junta. Like it a lot more than any of the German games. Most of those play well enough but tend to the simple side playwise. Which, of course, is what people want (people love the mind-numbing "gameplay" of Risk). Combine it with the short length (fantastic!) and you get sales hits. They deserve the attention but hopefully there'll someday again be a market for more involved games.
For elegant but simple and fast, Cosmic Encounter simply can not be beat. Unfortunately it's not available at retail anymore but there is online play for a cheap subscription (or free trial) at www.cosmicencounter.com. *Highly* recommended. Each player has a random alien race which can break one of the game's few rules. Work with the or against other players to grab enough land for a win. That's it. Takes minutes to play a round. Ain't gamed until you've backstabbed Virus with Zombie while attacking Sniveller.
Feeling so good natured I could drool
Zombies? If you want a real GAME try Politics as Usual. No dice Just random campaign financing. With the midterm elections and Ned Lamont outing Libermen, it's time to play along with the big boys!
Whoever's side your on, you will love this game!
I have become a huge fan of Cheapass Games in recent years. Most of them don't have quite the intensity and involvement of Carcassonne, Settlers, or Puerto Rico, but they are still a lot of fun. They have a sense of humor and are incredibly cheap (some can be had for less than $5, and there are even a few freebies that you can print out from their website). If you're interested, I would start with Kill Doctor Lucky and U.S. Patent No. 1. The one catch is that they don't include common pieces (dice, pawns, money, counters, etc.), but I'm sure anyone reading this thread has more than enough to go around.