Carcassonne

Today’s my birthday. For the second year in a row, Amy and Amanda bought me the same thing. They know me too well.

Aunt Sue went a completely different direction: she got me Carcassonne. Neither Amanda nor I had heard of it before, but it looked intriguing.

After we got home last night, and once our hands and arms were too tired to keep Donkey Konga-ing, we opened Carcassonne and gave it a try. Although the rules booklet was slightly imposing, we dove right in and played a game straight through.

I was very impressed by the game play, which is remarkably simple yet has a very high potential for strategy. Basically, the goal is to construct a map of cities, roads, farms and cloisters in such a manner that allows you to control the highest combined value of all of them. You only have six seven pieces to mark your control, however, and you don’t get to reuse your pieces unless you complete your city or road. You’ve got to weigh the relative value of owning a small city versus trying to build an enormous one but winding up with your game pieces out of play.

We played two rounds: Amanda beat me soundly the first time through, and I realized that my problem was that I was far too passive in allowing her to take cities and roads. I was much more aggressive in the second game, and it paid off. We split 1-1.

Some of the reviews say the scoring rules are complex, but we really didn’t have that hard a time figuring out how to play (especially considering all we had imbibed at dinner). We may try adding in the expansion pack Aunt Sue picked up for us tonight. Even without it, though, I foresee many nights of tightly contested battles for the control of southern French countryside.

[PS. Since it’s my birthday, here’s a link to my Amazon wishlist.]

April 25, 2005 - 09:23 AM