Carcassonne
I’ve written previously about board games converted into video games and the mixed results of that effort. Carcassonne is another Asmodee game, converted into digital form, though with far more success than some of the other titles I’ve reviewed.
Look at that lovely river
In reviewing Carcassonne, I have to not only review it as a video game, but as a board game. Carcassonne is a tile placement game where players take turns building and populating the world of Carcassonne. Players place tiles with various physical features - roads, cities, monasteries, cute fields - and populate them with meeples who score when the feature is complete. Though the premise sounds simple, the game itself is chess-like in its strategy and its need to look multiple turns ahead.
Zach planned better than I did.
All of this combined means Carcassonne is a simple game to learn with a lot of potential for complexity. No two games play the same, and the mechanic of building the world together means that there is potential for diplomacy and backstabbing as well as the more simple act of just building.
This is a great example of backstabbing.
As a board game, Carcassonne is fantastic. It’s a classic game that I’m happy to bring out at every games night. As a digital game, though, I’m pleased to say that it also works well. While the process of creating a lobby with friends can be a bit of a headache, it’s definitely less of an issue than with many other Asmodee games I’ve played. The design of the game itself and the dynamic nature of the board make gameplay easy to follow and fun even for those whose turns it isn’t. As a port of a board game, Carcassonne is excellent, and I’m excited for all the future game nights I get to play it in.
Developer: Artefacts
Genre: Board Game, Strategy
Year: 2017
Country: France
Language: English
Play Time: 1 Hour/Round