Carcassonne – a fun time in the countryside
If you haven’t played Carcassonne yet, then you’ve been missing out.
If the only family board games you’ve played are Monopoly, Life, Battleship, Chutes and Ladders, and the like, then you’ve got a whole new experience waiting for you.
Check out our Carcassonne video review to see how unique a board game it is.
Can the whole family enjoy Carcassonne?
Absolutely. If you can match one tile to the next, then you can play Carcassonne. And everyone loves taking part in building the board as they go. Every time you play, the countryside takes on a different look and delivers a new experience. It’s never the same board twice.
It’s fun for all ages to play – youngsters will love simply matching pieces, building the board, and playing with their Meeples, while older players will see the strategic aspects and go for points.
Take our word for it – you really want this game in your family game collection.
We’ll also warn you that there are expansions for Carcassonne. We’ve picked up a few ourselves and they’re fun to play too. In fact to do this board game video review, we had to pull those pieces aside since we keep them all bundled together.
Update: We recently posted our review of 3 expansions for Carcassonne:
Carcassonne as a Gateway Game
What’s a gateway game?
If you haven’t heard the term before it refers to a game that’s used to break the ice into a new type of gaming experience. They’re the games that open the gate to a new world of board games.
So if the only games you’ve come across are those you see in Target, Walmart, or Toys R Us, then we recommend you broaden your horizons. And we hope our site helps you get a taste of all the games that await you once you step into a board game store. Just walk through the doors of your local game store and you may be amazed at what you’ll find.
Or hop on over to our sponsor sites and grab a game without leaving your seat.
What are you waiting for?
Carcassonne = Great game, great game mechanics, great pieces, great fun!
And you can get it for a great price!
| The Board Game Family Game Ratings | |
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Caleb |
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Brooke |
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Jaden |
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Trevor |
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Mom |
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Dad |
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Average |
| Pick up a copy! |
What a fantastic site. This is EXACTLY the information I’ve been searching for. Up until recently I would head off to a wargame club once a fortnight to get my “gaming fix” as it was just too hard to find a game that we could play as a family.
Well that’s no longer the case. Carcassonne has proven to be a hit with the kids and I think I’ve got my wife interested. I believe we’ll have our first family game within the week.
The videos here are informative, honest and a breath of fresh air in a time where everything is market driven.
Thank you, I’m off to buy Pandemic.
I love this game, games that are like this are my favorite!
Which expansions are your pick? Which ones get the most play time and which ones weren’t worth the money?
Scott, we have only 2 of the Carcassonne expansions – the first 2: Inns & Cathedrals and Traders & Builders. We like these because they add elements to the game that give additional scoring options. We haven’t tried The Princess & the Dragon and it didn’t appeal to us because it’s more about attacking others and decreasing scoring opportunities. For a game when we want to go after each other, we’ll play something besides Carcassonne. The Tower also seems like more of an attack style. We have considered Abbey & Mayor, but haven’t tried yet.
For most plays we use all the tiles from the 3 games we have (plus River tiles) but only go with the scoring for original and Inns & Cathedrals. Occasionally we’ll add in the scoring options for Traders & Builders.
I would also agree on the expansions to choose. I actually play with the same expansions as you. Inns & Cathedrals (also provides the BIG guy and the 50/100 Pts tile) and Traders & Builders (provides Cloth Bag). The River II is also a must, as it helps staring the game and getting more options. The other expansions are also more “attack” oriented and this is the the goal of the game (ok, except if someone steals my field with a BIG guy, now it’s war) 😉 I always play with all the tiles as well.
Sylvain – that’s why we didn’t jump on getting the other expansions as well. Even though we like competitive positioning for points, we don’t like the idea of destructive attacks.
Thanks or the great website. Have you ever tried Carcassonne: South Seas? I don’t own any Carcassonne game, but my wife loves it and I want to buy it for her birthday. I was wondering if south seas was worth it since it looks beautiful and seems less competitive (which is better for her taste). Anyway, keep up the good work.
Vincent – we haven’t played South Seas before, but we’ve heard from others as well that it’s a fun game.
Thank you sir. I made my mind and got south seas. I am not disapointed at all. It is every bit as fun as Carcassonne and our kids love to have a supply of wooden bananas, fishes and seashells. I appreciate what you do, keep up the good work. Thank you!
Vincent
This game is awesome !! Received it on Monday and we already played it 6 times!! We are quite new to the board-gaming world and this was the most highly recommend game to start with. Goodbye monopoly and scrabble !!
Ps your site is awesome!
Johanna – That’s great to hear! It’s so fun to find games that you love to play over and over.
And thanks for the kudos about our site and reviews.