Rio Grande Games 170 - Carcassonne, englische Ausgabe

Carcassonne

My husband and I are always on the lookout for new games, especially 2 player ones. Though we play games with friends, we don t have kids and like to play games sometimes when we re home alone or on vacation.

We bought this game a few years ago when we were living in Texas. It was Christmas and we couldn t afford to fly back to Canada for the holidays so we drove to Austin instead. That s when we stumbled upon this game. My husband is a figure modeler and we were at a hobby store when I wandered to the game area. I was pleasantly surprised by the array of games they had. I d never seen so many different kinds. I was used to the games you find at Target or Wal Mart - Monopoly, Careers, Risk etc but not these wonderfully designed and illustrated games from Europe.

Carcassonne is made by Rio Grande Games, a company I have come to love and search for when I m looking for new and exciting games. The author of the game is K.J. Wrede and the wonderful illustrations on the tiles are made by Doris Matthaus. The game was made in Germany in 2000.

Carcassonne is a tile laying game where each player takes turns randomly choosing a new tile and placing it on the game area. Because each player adds onto the structure, each time you play the game it s different.

This game is unlike any other I ve played. When we first got it that Christmas in Austin, we played it every day, sometimes 2-3 times day. I couldn t get enough of it! The strategy involved was new and unique and I fell completely in love with it.

The name Carcassonne comes from the southern French city. In early days, it was an important trade route between the Mediterranean and the Atlantic. Because of its long history, the city is known for the wonderful mixture of Roman and Medieval fortifications.

The beautiful thick cardboard tiles are fashioned to look like different components of the Carcassonne area. Tiles depict pieces of roads, fields, cities and cloisters.

The object of the game is for each player to develop the Carcassonne area by laying their land tiles. They are 72 tiles in this the original version (more on this further down) and with each turn, the playing area grows larger with more possibilities. Players expand and add to the roads, fields, cities and cloisters, but they score points by claiming each individual component by placing followers on the first tile in the given component.

Followers are actually little pieces of wood shaped to look like people. Followers become thieves, farmers, knights or monks depending on what tiles you place them on. A wooden piece becomes a thief follower, for example, when it is placed on a road. Each follower on the board is a scoring marker for the player it belongs to.

Preparation
One tile is always the beginning tile (it s clearly marked). This tile is set down and the rest of the tiles are shuffled and stacked so you can t see what they are (I have a bag I put mine in). Also provided is a scoring track. That s placed within reach of all players because players can score throughout the game.

Each player has 8 followers to begin with (they come in 5 colors for up to 5 different players). A player places one follower on the scoring track and keeps the other 7 near by.

The youngest player goes first (the game is suitable for children 10 years old and over).

Playing the game
Play goes in a clockwise order. Each turn, a player does the following:

1. Must draw and place a new tile
2. May put down one of his followers on the land tile he just placed.
3. If after placing his tile either a cloister, road or city is completed, he scores points.

There are rules concerning where you can place a tile but they are simple and easy to understand.

Game End
The game ends when the last time is placed.

More scoring occurs at the end of the game. Incomplete cities, roads and cloisters are scored.

Farms are are now scored.

Final overview
Though there are some rules to cover before play, this game is easy to play and understand but it is also challenging and fun.

I love the way the game grows with each tile placed. I like deciding where to place each tile and what tiles to add your followers to. I also like the versatility of the game. My husband and I often play just the two of us but we have played with friends. Up to 5 people can play comfortably although I did notice that the game was a bit different with more people. I prefer playing with 2 people - partly because I got more turns!

The game says it should take 30 minutes to play but we find we usually take an hour. That might be because our game now has more tiles since we ve bought expansion games (original expansion, Traders & Builders, and The Princess and the Dragon).

I absolutely love Carcassonne. I think it is one of the best games we own - and we own a lot!