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Carcassonne | 
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| Brand: Rio Grande Games
Category: Toy
List Price: £14.99
Buy New: £12.38
You Save: £2.61 (17%)
New (13) from £11.46
Rating:  15 reviews
Sales Rank: 33
Autographed: No
Memorabilia: No
Number Of Items: 1
Batteries Included: No
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.7
Dimensions (in): 10.8 x 2.8 x 7.5
MPN: 4098395
Model: 4098395
UPC: 655132001700
EAN: 0655132001700
ASIN: B00005UNAX
Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours
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Product Description
A clever tile laying game. The southern French city of Carcassonne is famous for its unique Roman and Medieval fortifications. The players develop the area around Carcassonne and deploy their followers on the roads, in the cities, in the cloisters, and in
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| Customer Reviews: Read 10 more reviews...
One of the most enjoyable games I have ever played. March 25, 2008
T. Lewcock (England, UK)
40 out of 40 found this review helpful
I've been playing this game now for several years, since it first came out. The game won the German Game Of The Year award, in 2001. I should point out at this point that German board games are considered to be some of the best in the world, as such this is a very high accolade, which the game very much deserves.
I believe that there are two main reasons why this game is so deserving of its Game Of The Year Award: The first of these being that the basic rules of the game are very easy to learn. The second is that despite being easy to learn the rules, mastering the game will take a bit longer, and the randomness prevents a single tactic from becoming a guaranteed win, thus maintaining a more level playing field for games consisting of both experienced and inexperienced players.
Despite being similar, every game that I have played has had a different feel to it. This, I expect, is due to the random nature of the drawing of the tiles. This randomness does not, however, impart a feeling of lack of control; each tile drawn generally has multiple options where it may be placed, a decision that rests firmly with the player.
The choice of location is part of the educational aspect of the game, that of strategy. The player must weigh up the pro's and con's of short-term or long-term gain. This requires a level of mathematical calculation, and needs to be coupled with an element of risk-taking (gambling on the tile(s) needed both being available in the future and actually being the choice of that player). Even then, it may be necessary for a player to recalculate where they wish to play the tile if it does come to them; the situation may have changed through the tactics used by the other players.
Having owned the game for a good half-dozen years, and having used it often I can say that the tiles are wearing well. Despite being made of card the tiles are proving to be quite resilient, even though my tiles are regularly jumbled up in the bag which came with the second expansion. The only word of caution that I feel it is necessary to give is that although the bag is exceedingly useful for running the game it does start to get a bit full with all of the expansion tiles!
There are many expansions available for this game. The rules for each of them are relatively simple, although they will add a great deal to think about. A word of caution here, some some confusion could result the first time all of the expansions are used together. This is because there are increasing options available to a player once they take and place a tile, and the Dragon Flies tiles actually interrupt the game play; so the players have to remember where to carry on from.
If you like the game but think that it is over too quickly or does not provide sufficient tactical thought, then the way ahead is definitely to get one or more of the expansions. Each expansion will add about 30-45 minutes of time to the overall time required to play the game. Playing with the first four expansions, two copies of the Rivers II expansion, the Count of Carcasssonne, and two copies of the King and Bandit results in games that can take up to five hours to play.
One final comment, the game play changes depending on the number of players. This is not a critism, a two-player game is just as enjoyable as a six player game, it is just a different experience; this actually makes the game more appealing, because if you play it with a different number of players each time you have more variety. That said, there would be nothing wrong with playing the game with the same two people every time. Note, you must have the first expansion to be able to play a six-player game.
You'll never ger bored of this board game December 8, 2004
67 out of 68 found this review helpful
A friend of mine introduced me to Carcassone last year and it's spread like wildfire amongst my family & friends. The basic premise is that players take it in turn to pull map tiles out of a bag and place them like a jigsaw so that features such as roads, rivers, fields and cities grow. Any unclaimed feaure can be claimed by placing one of your characters on the tile, and you get points for each completed feature. There's a bit more strategy to it than that, but the basic game is very accessible, playable after 5 minutes rules, and the expansions really add to your options so that you can play as complex or as simple rules as you like (or as time allows).Typically a game lasts about an hour with 5 people, and I can't recommend it strongly enough. If you're considering buying any board game, you won't go far wrong with this one.
Hooked! November 20, 2007
Sonia (Delft, the Netherlands)
10 out of 10 found this review helpful
After playing Carcassonne once I was instantly hooked. Briefly, the game consists of the following. Players pull a tile from the deck and place it against an already present tile. If you create a new object (a city, a road, a monastery, or a farm), you can claim ownership to it. Your score depends on the items you own, whether or not they have been completed and how developed they are.
To win the game you need good strategy and luck. The rules are easy to learn, and the game can be finished within the hour so you can play it more than once in one evening.
To play the game you will need Carcassonne, the original game. There are many expansions available that can only be played with the original game. There are also variants to the original game that cannot be played with the expansions. So read the description carefully before you purchase any additional items.
When purchasing the original Carcassonne I strongly recommend that you also buy at the least the first Expansion: Inns and Cathedrals, which makes the game more challenging and with higher risks.
One to return to again & again June 2, 2007
Ms. J. Jacobs (UK)
14 out of 15 found this review helpful
I love this game! I bought it to play with my kids, to alleviate the usual Cluedo & Monopoly sessions. I would always prefer Carcassonne. Why?
1) The playing pieces are pretty and I am quite happy just doing the layout.
2) So I'm not too bothered about winning, which pleases the kids!
3) Games don't go on for hours.
4) It's a really excellent game if there are only two of you. But it also works well with more.
5) It's different every time.
The only thing against it is that I find scoring the farms tricky. But who cares, the kids do the scoring & I'm happy to lose :-)
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