Exilian

Off-topic and Chatter: The Jolly Boar Inn => Tabletop Games - The Game Room => Topic started by: Jubal on December 07, 2014, 06:03:12 PM

Title: Carcassonne
Post by: Jubal on December 07, 2014, 06:03:12 PM
I've been playing quite a bit of Carcassonne recently.

For those who don't know, Carcassonne (named for the French town) is a game where you take it in turn to place tiles and try to claim the various towns, monasteries, and farms that you create in the process. It's a relatively well known boardgame not least because it's very tactical despite the mechanics being nice and simple.

Anyone else play? I found a site that lets you do online play if anyone wants a go sometime :)
Title: Re: Carcassonne
Post by: Fish Priest on December 08, 2014, 12:22:55 AM
Does the site have any of the expansions?
Title: Re: Carcassonne
Post by: Jubal on December 08, 2014, 12:28:27 AM
Yes - not sure how many as I've only joined games rather than setting any up, but the river expansion and the trade expansion have both turned up in games I've played.
Title: Re: Carcassonne
Post by: Cuddly Khan on December 08, 2014, 06:35:02 AM
I haven't played that version, but I've played one called Hunters and Gatherers before. I like it. So where's this site you speak of? LINK LINK LINK!!
Title: Re: Carcassonne
Post by: Jubal on December 09, 2014, 11:45:51 AM
Oops, meant to include the links!

So playing Carcassonne online:

http://www.brettspielwelt.de/Spiele/Carcassonne/?nation=en
This is the site that has the proper game, plus expansions, playable with other people.

http://www.kongregate.com/games/badim/carcassonne
There's also this, which has an AI. It has a couple of bugs with it (doesn't react well to trying to share points for a feature), the AI is a bit dim (though I don't always beat it admittedly), and the scoring is a bit different. If you've never played this can introduce you to the concepts pretty well nonetheless.
Title: Re: Carcassonne
Post by: Fish Priest on December 09, 2014, 11:48:01 PM
OK, so it seems to have Princess and Dragon, Traders and Builders, and Inns and Cathedrals- I imagine the river is an expansion that's basically become part of the base game, even though my family's set doesn't have it. Of the others:

I don't recommend Princess and Dragon, as it introduces what's basically an attack mechanic or two- a dragon that eats meeples, and princess tiles that let you kick opponents out of cities. It also fundamentally changes the game by sometimes letting you place meeples on already-placed tiles. I feel like Carcassonne with this expansion is a different and less good game.

Traders and Builders (which you've played apparently) is complicated but still good. It adds to the game- by having cities that produce trade goods as a new way of scoring points, for instance- but doesn't change the core of it like Princess and Dragon does. It also has meeple-pigs which are extremely cute (and meeples with hats).

Inns and Cathedrals is excellent. It's the only expansion (other than the river) that I straight-up prefer playing with to without. It adds a small amount of complexity, and that's all. It also makes finishing your roads actually worth something!

Also, this website seems to have 7 Wonders, Power Grid and Kingsburg!
Title: Re: Carcassonne
Post by: Jubal on December 16, 2014, 12:36:12 PM
Princess and dragon I think is tempting to people simply for having a meeple dragon :P