Fanatical have got seven digified board games on sale, and there are some gooduns tucked between those I’m not familiar with. Small World 2 and Splendor are my highlights, though there’s also the likes of Pandemic, Carcassonne, Mysterium and Ticket To Ride. Carcassonne Board Game is a clever, tile-based board game set in the southern French city of Carcassonne, famous for its unique Roman and Medieval fortifications. Players develop the area around the city, one tile at a time, deploying their followers on the roads, in the cities, in the cloisters, and in the fields.
Carcassonne Board Game Expansions
Sometimes, when a board game loves a personal computer very much, they create something new. Fanatical have got seven digified board games on sale, and there are some gooduns tucked between those I’m not familiar with. Small World 2 and Splendor are my highlights, though there’s also the likes of Pandemic, Carcassonne, Mysterium and Ticket To Ride.
Digital board games tend to be a poor substitute for playing against real world fleshsacks. But sometimes there are no fleshsacks within reach.
Fanatic have taken a leaf out of Humble’s book, selling their goods in tiers. £0.69/$1 gets you a threesome, £3.59/$5 gets you some more, and £7.15/$10 gets you the job lot.
The lowest tier features deece-o territory control in Small World 2, collaborative psychic ghost cluedo in Mysterium, and ‘Chinese checkers but slicker I guess’ in Abalone. The digital version of Mysterium is fun, but it’s a shadow of the tabletop one. Here’s Pip (RPS in peace) doing an excellent job of explaining why in her review, and me explaining why it’s my go-to example for how physical board games escape the immutability of videogames. It’d still totally be worth the price of a pack of crisps, even if it didn’t come bundled with Small World 2 – which benefits from a computer handling all the faff.
Tier two has cooperative disease scouring in Pandemic, rolling, moving and yawning in Talisman, and pleasant jewel collecting in Splendor. Pandemic is a classic in all the right ways, and Talisman a classic in all the wrong ones. I’ve got a real soft spot for Splendor, though. It’s a gentle beast, with a satisfying arc to every ten minute game. Playing in cyberspace does mean you don’t get to handle its lovely chips, mind.
The illustrious heights of tier three let you assemble a splodge of rural France in Carcassone, and train tracks in Ticket To Ride. I haven’t played the digital versions of either, but the origi-cardboard takes are both… nice. They elicit no strong opinions from me, but I know a lot of people who have a lot of love for Carcassone.
For £7.15/$10, it’s worth a punt, innit?
Carcassonne Board and Traditional Games
Carcassonne is a German style board game that uses tiles as its base. Designed by Kalus-Jurgen Wrede in 2000, the game has become a popular success around the world. The game is named after a small medieval town in the south of France named Carcassonne and has received a number of updates and new editions. From the options available, there is a variety of different Carcassonne board and traditional game versions for you to choose from.
How to play
This German style board game builds a medieval landscape as the game progresses. The game is suitable for 2 to 5 players and starts of with a single tile that faces up and 71 other tiles facing down which are picked from each player. When a player takes their turn, they pick a new tile and place it next to the already picked tiles. Players get points for specific tiles that have different features such as city, road or field. The player with the most points wins and the game ends once the last tile has been placed.
Game Type
Over the years, since 2000 when this game was first released, there have been a number of improvements, new editions and expansions. You can choose from 3 different options: board game, tile game and family game . The Carcassonne board and traditional game versions vary in editions and the most recent editions offer games a redesigned, more modern tile game that has 2 new expansions, which are the river and the abbot.
Carcassonne Board Game Rules
Suitability
The game can be quite hard to grasp to start with and takes some concentration and patience and therefore it is suitable for children aged 7 and over. The game contains small parts that could be harmful to children of a young age especially if the pieces get broken or are used in the wrong way. The game takes roughly half an hour to complete which is why it is important that all players are able to take part and concentrate for that amount of time.
This board game has several choices available to choose from. Use your skill and knowledge to build a city around you and your players, one tile at a time and try to score as many points as possible to win! If you're competitive and enjoy a good board game then the Carcassonne board and traditional game versions is definitely worth looking at and is perfect fun for all the family.