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Saturday, May 12, 2012

Carcassonne

Day 10 - Carcassonne
Designed by Klaus-Jurgen Wrede

Carcassonne is one of my absolute favorite games and it really was my "gateway game" into my addiction to Euro or German style board games. Carcassonne is named after the impressive French city. Carcassonne has many aspects that make it one of my favorites and one of the games that I highly recommend to others often and one reason is the amount of players - Carcassonne is designed for 2 to 5 players (6 with the Inns and Cathedrals expansion). This allows for great 2 player games and you can easily play with more players as well; one reason I enjoy Carcassonne more than Settlers of Catan. Carcassonne is a simple tile laying game where you draw a tile and add it to the board. You have the option of placing one of your meeples (or wooden figures) onto different areas of the tile to score points. You can place a meeple in a city (making him a "knight"), in a field (making him a "farmer"), and on a road (making him a "thief") etc. You score points when claimed areas (cities, roads, etc.) are completed (or you can score partial points at the end of the game for unfinished items). The game is different each time and has huge replayability because each board is created differently each game. The balance of strategy and luck (drawing tiles) is great. Carcassonne also has many expansions available to add to the base game. 


Tonight, we (The Wife, Bryan, and myself) played with the Inns and Cathedrals expansion and the Traders and Builders. I recommend people buy these two expansions first, in that order. Inns and Cathedrals adds the sixth player, adds a bigger meeple that counts as two, and of course the inns and cathedrals which make certain roads and cities worth even more points if completed (but if you don't complete them - watch out, because you will get nothing). Traders and Builders also adds a lot to the game by adding two new wooden pieces (the builder and pig) and more tiles to play with, and the trading good tokens. There are many other expansions and each one adds a new fun element to the game and each one can be played with all of the other expansions (you don't need to buy them in order). The Wife came out victorious tonight in a very close game. If you haven't played Carcassonne yet, what are you waiting for? You can buy an app version for your iphone or go and buy the base game from your local toy or game store (or amazon). You can also purchase the "Big Box" version which includes most of the main expansions. Well worth it. One of the best games ever and that is How Lou Sees It.


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