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Back to the Board - Carcassonne

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the not-just-electronic dept.

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."

7 of 68 comments (clear)

  1. Comment removed by account_deleted · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  2. Carcassonne: The Discovery by lillian · · Score: 2, Interesting
    Mmmmm, games!


    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
  3. Re:Great game by happy_place · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I think the rules to the basic Settlers of Catan are much simpler to explain to a newbie, than Carcassonne. Perhaps it's just because one doesn't fully understand the impact of your moves in Carcassonne until after you've entirely completed a game, and scored everything... so you are forced to play through an entire game or two before you can really get the strategy... Settlers of Catan, you just say, "Be the first to get X points..." (which has always been something of an arbitrary and unfulfilling end to an otherwise enjoyable game). :) --Ray

    --
    http://www.beanleafpress.com
  4. german games by angrymilkman · · Score: 2, Interesting

    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...
    1. Re:german games by kubrick · · Score: 2, Interesting

      We got given that a while ago. The funny thing about it is that the person with the highest level of trust among the group outside the game often ends up winning, because they're using that trust in order to swing the trades necessary... and the accountant we play it with doesn't always do well, because everyone's paranoid about trading with him. :)

      I like the forced order of the play as well (FIFO from the cards drawn). It means that your trades and played cards have to be woven together very neatly to keep up a good flow.

      --
      deus does not exist but if he does
    2. Re:german games by angrymilkman · · Score: 5, Interesting

      If you like the social aspect of games there are two other games i can recommend: - Die wervolfe fon dusterwald - its a game about werewolves everybody gets assigned a card (werewolve, citizen, witch, hunter etc). The goal of the game is for the werewolves to kill the citizens and for the citizens to identify and burn the wolves. Its a brilliant game that can be played with up to 18 people. its a really cool game where everybody gets parranoid accussing others of being a wherewolf - kuhhandel - again a card trading game similar to bohnanza but very complex (you have to get four of the same animals and every turn you can either auction off an animal or force trade with other player and there is no real strategy for winning which makes it such a brilliant game. I wonder why almost all games come from germany? don't they have computers or tv's ;-)

      --
      ...what matters is what you like, not what you are like...
  5. carcassonne? by rlbond86 · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Everyone knows that the REAL best game is Blokus!