Carcassonne Review

Z-Man Games | Territory control | £36.99 | 2-5 players | 45 minutes | www.zmangames.com 

Rather like Settlers of Catan, Carcassonne has become a name that’s synonymous with tabletop gaming and you’re just as likely to find it in toy shops sitting alongside the likes of Monopoly and Cludeo, as you are 7 Wonders or Game or Thrones. As such, it’s a great introduction to newcomers and the rules are relatively easy to grasp, no matter what your experience.

Players are tasked with placing different tiles that represent the medieval French city of Carcassonne, some of the tiles feature fortifications, while others have roads or just fields on them. However, along with laying down your tiles you also need to pop some little wooden people on the tiles as well to act as knights or farmers and claim those areas. For example, if you’re trying to build a road you’ll need a coloured person placed on it to show that it belongs to you. If you manage to complete the road by ensuring it starts and ends at a village/settlement then you’ll score points depending upon how long the road is. Likewise if you place a little chap in a fortification, you’ll get the points depending upon how large the finished wall city is. Every time you complete a road or city you’ll get your wooden person back, meaning you can potentially use them to score some more points – so the risk is do you try and go for big points but lose your person for several turns or go for quick, smaller points?

Once you’ve grasped the basics of Carcassonne, which really shouldn’t take too long, there are countless expansions – in fact the latest version from Z-Man includes two free mini expansions to take your game to the next level. But there are plenty of other options that add things like sheep and even dragons. A definite tabletop classic!

If you enjoyed this, be sure to take a look at the upcoming 20th Anniversary Edition of Carcassonne, plus a conversation with the creator of Carcassonne, pick up some top tips for your game, and a look at almost all of the expansions available to you for Carcassonne (and if you should consider them or not).

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Finish the game off with a quality, lightweight insert from 

 Compatible with Carcassonne® and the first five expansions 1 - 5, and has bonus trays for expansions 6, 8, 9 & 10.

13,50 €

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