Carcassonne Board Game

Product Information

A game of Carcassonne lasts around 45 minutes. The aim? There’s a bunch of square tiles in the box, with different features on them. Roads, fields, monasteries, and walled cities. Like the actual medieval citadel. You’ll compete to build up the French countryside in a communal manner, but you’ll score your own completed features. Once the last tile gets placed, there’s some end-game scoring, and the player with the most points wins! If you’ve played Carcassonne before, you’ll know some of the features here. Your turn consists of tile placement into a communal, ever-growing landscape. You can place one of your meeples onto that tile, with the aim to complete objectives to score it later. But Hunters and Gatherers takes place in a time before castles and monasteries. Instead, this is a land of forests, rivers, lakes and meadows – complete with wild animals! The now universal word ‘meeple’ was coined in November 2000 by Alison Hansel while playing Carcassonne, the fusion of ‘my’ and ‘people’ is now a synonymous term in the board gaming fraternity for any small figural playing piece. Gameplay

Carcassonne | Waterstones Carcassonne | Waterstones

At the end of the game, there’s no punishment for any incomplete monasteries. They still score one point per tile surrounding them. Fields & Farmers – High Risk, High Points?Imagine if Carcassonne took place during the Stone Age. Pictured it? You’re thinking of Carcassonne: Hunters and Gatherers! This standalone game features the core Carcassonne mechanisms, but with its own twist. This is also a 2020 updated version of the original 2002 title, from Z-Man Games. Farmers work slightly differently as they stay on the board until the end of the game. The farmers make up the area control aspect of Carcassonne. As with the other meeples, only one farmer can be placed on connected grasslands at any one time. A field can consist of any number of continuous grassland spaces that are not separated by roads or cities. At the end of the game, each completed city that a farmer is connected to scores three victory points. The puzzle-like tile placement is very satisfying when you finally get that perfect piece but can be disappointing if it doesn’t quite fit! Seeing the map sprawl in front of you gives this game real table presence. With so many amazing board games out there is it possible to single out a favourite game, something you believe to be greater than all the rest? I’m going to have a go at pitching my absolute favourite of all time and that is Carcassonne, specifically Hunters and Gatherers. Here’s why. Why Hunters & Gatherers If you are even remotely aware of the existence of Carcassonne, then you will be aware of the sheer multitude of modular expansions that are available. Some of those have been incorporated into this edition. The ones you may be familiar with are The River and The Abbot expansions. There are also an additional 5 tiles for The River that are new to this edition of the game.

Carcassonne: Hunters and Gatherers (2020) | Board Games Carcassonne: Hunters and Gatherers (2020) | Board Games

Beware: this can turn into an area majority game if you’re not careful! It can get competitive (with farmers, in particular). If a player combines a feature with an opponent and one of them has the majority of meeples within, the majority alone scores it. The Modular River Set-Up The setup of the game is simple. Place the starting tile face up in the middle of the play area. Place the remaining game tiles face down to the side and give every player a set of meeples.

Key Facts

This should be your first objective when playing this version of the game. You must try and complete (laying the closing tile) as many forests as you can and gain as many of the 16 bonus tiles as possible. These bonus tiles are extra turns and usually have a better than average points value attached with them. Lots of fish, bigger animals to hunt, or another special rule. If you get the majority of these tiles, you will have had more turns with the prospect of higher scores. My experience, particularly in 2 player games, is that whoever gets the majority of the bonus tiles usually (but not always) comes out on top. Combine Your River Network With Your Hunting Fields The other expansion in the box is the one that is specific for this box edition and is simply referred to as ‘The Anniversary Expansion’. In this expansion you will be able to use 3 new abilities based on the drawn tile: place a meeple next to another of your already placed meeples along the row/column the arrow is facing (making it act a little like the big meeple from Inns & Cathedrals); place a meeple in any unclaimed territory along the row/column (pretty sure there are elements of this in Princess & Dragon); or simply taking another turn (taking inspiration from Hunters & Gatherers). All in all, it is a simple little expansion that is easily learned and used or can simply be removed if wanted. Artwork & Components

Games, Carcassonne Under the Big Top, Board Game Z-Man Games, Carcassonne Under the Big Top, Board Game

With that being said, even with its massive staying power, is there a need for Carcassonne 20 th Anniversary Edition? Let’s find out… What Is New? The meeples simplicity makes them brilliant especially in their bold colours. The tiles are good quality. I have played my copy countless times and they don’t show signs of wear. The instructions are clear and concise but may daunt those who aren’t used to reading rules. Take it step by step and you will be fine!

It is a 2-5 player game. Gameplay is very different for the total amount of players involved. A two player is a totally different version of the game compared with playing against four other people and requires a different strategy. As of 2014, Carcassonne also includes two mini-modules in the box: The River, and The Abbot. Later in this post, I’ll teach you how to play Carcassonne with these variants. Firstly, however, let’s take a look at how to play Carcassonne in its original base game form. It’s a perfect ‘gateway game’ for board game beginners and younger players. Set Up The Carca-zone The classic style of Carcassonne put into the rural forestry and rivers of the natural environment. It looks stunning for me but others may see it as quite simple. I would say there is a lot more detail in this game over its original predecessor. Plus, the bonus tile adds some additional quality detailing. The Future This dilemma is had by all who play Carcassonne and it is what makes this game so fiendishly fun. While the artwork and the general theme may be quaint and friendly, it is you, the player, who can turn that image around and become rather militant in your tile placing antics!

How to Play Carcassonne | Board Games | Zatu Games UK

The second mini-expansion features the Abbots. Give one to each player in their colour. You’ll notice that square gardens sit on some of the tiles. They’re not a primary feature like a singular road or an entire monastery. However, you treat them like a monastery, for scoring purposes…This review is for the Z-Man games version which caused a ridiculous uproar when released that the tiles were too bright and colourful. Oh, and don’t mention the change to the colour of the roofs – this caused uproar! Well, there comes a time where sentimentality can stifle progress. I like the tiles. I even prefer them to the images I have seen of the old pale and placid artwork of the original version. Change isn’t always a bad thing. If there’s any coat of arms within that city, each one scores an extra two points. (So a city that has two coats of arms in it, which spreads over four tiles, scores 12 points. That’s eight for the 4x city tiles, and an extra four points for the 2x coat of arms.) At the end of the game, incomplete cities score half: so one point per tile, and one extra point per coat of arms. Monasteries & Monks – The Lost Jane Austen Manuscript These are my key strategies to winning Hunters and Gatherers. I cannot guarantee it will win you every game. Adopting some of these plays will significantly enhance your chances of taking the W. I hope you find them useful. In Carcassonne, players are creating an ever-expanding section of southern France. These tiles can depict a combination of cities, roads, cloisters, and grasslands. Each player has a number of meeples that can be placed on the tile to score points. Victory points are scored depending on the piece of landscape that the meeple is placed on. Gameplay Did you know that the term ‘meeple’ originated in a game of Carcassonne? Shortly after Carcassonne’s release, player Alison Hansel created a portmanteau. When describing her wooden pawns, Alison blended ‘my’ and ‘people’ together – ‘meeple’. The term grew in popularity and is now a worldwide term for wooden silhouette player pieces! Turns Are Easy As One, Two, Mee(ple)