Carcassonne Board Game Review

Carcassonne by Z man games is the latest board game we have been sent to review by the Asmodee UK Blogger Board Game Club is a game I have walked past many times expecting it to be too hard or complex for us. It was only when I discussed it with a friend who was so enthusiastic about the game and how awesome it was I picked it up to play.

Don’t be put off! The game is amazing! A little bit complex for my 7-year-old but my nearly 11yr old loved the idea behind it and couldn’t wait to get stuck in. So, what actually is Carcassonne?

Cascassonne is a tile placing game. Doesn’t sound exciting? Just wait! In Carcassonne each player takes turns drawing and playing their tile. A lot of thought goes into this. The tile must be placed in a correct position. The tile HAS to match up to what is on the tiles next to it for example a castle wall can’t suddenly stop and head into a river, a road cannot become a dead end. Once the tile has been placed to the players satisfaction the player then has the option to place a meeple (a wooden man) on the tile. This is where the strategy of the game becomes! This is where you can change the game play depending on the age of the players. The eldest at 11 wanted to start on the strategic aspects of the game and start building point where as my youngest just wanted to get his tiles down, matching and meeples out on the board.

Now the meeples can be placed on a variety of your tiles – roads, farms, cloisters, castles etc then when the object they have been placed on becomes complete the meeple scores points and then and only then can the meeple be replaced. This doesn’t happen with a farm though be warned. Once all the tiles are placed the meeples on the farm score points as do all the meeples placed. Then the player with the most points wins!

What did we love about the game? Well we liked the simplicity of the rules. It wasn’t too much for the kids to follow and when we took it to friends it was quick to explain and get stuck into. It also doesn’t matter who you play against. They don’t need to be harden gamers, this is a game that can be whisked out at any time to be played. The game with it strategies can be as hard as and as complex as you wish to make it. I would say aim from age 10yrs up and each game takes between 40mins to an hour to play through. Another thing I love about this game is if you play it regularly you don’t need to worry about getting complacent. You can also buy extension packs to add on and make your lands bigger. It rrps for£28.99 on Amazon and I would highly recommend purchasing this for the summer ahead!