Carcassonne

Most people come to this game after they have already been introduced to the European Designer Games by Settlers of Catan. This is a different kind of game than Settlers but in some senses it shares a lot of commonalities.

The game is easy to learn for a wide audience, it is reasonably quick to play (30 - 40 minutes) and is a very "immersive" game i.e. there aren't long periods of boredom. There are elements of strategy and luck, which makes for a "fun" game experience.

This game is fun for children and adults. For children the "farmers" are a little too complex, but the game works very well without that element.

The game consists of laying tiles to build cities, roads and monasteries in the South of France. Points are gained by creating long roads, building large cities or farming multiple farms. It draws elements of building jigsaw puzzles together with a strategy game of competing for territory.
I have played this game with family members who aren't really into board... Read more

Okay, so the game has been around for awhile, I was just looking in the wrong places. I don't remember how I was led to this game, I was looking at a game site on the Web and they said how this game is consistently rated #1. So I clicked on it, and in a carefree mood I purchased it. I LOVE IT. Even my husband who usually rolls his eyes when a game is pulled out , has said he enjoys this game. We often play it with a 9 and 11 year old, and they are easily able to grasp the concepts, although their strategies could use some work.

What is so nice about this game is that there are no dice, no money to count and no constantly moving a piece around a board. Instead each player on his turn picks a cardboard tile(nice thick quality) and places it on the table, which acts as your board. You basically create your own puzzle each game, so it is never the same. Rivers match up to rivers, or city to city, road to road. You have to decide the best place to put the piece you... Read more

This is a tile-placement game. Square tiles have roads, monasteries, cities and farmland printed on them. Each player in turn reveals a tile and places it such that all edges match edges already placed. For instance, a road has to connect to a road, it can not just stop. Once a player places a tile, they can claim part of the tile (road, farmland, city, or monastery). As these features grow the player gets more points. Monasteries do not grow, points are gained by filling in the nine surrounding spaces.

The skill comes from knowing just what to claim. Each player has a limited number of claim tokens. Once a feature is completed (road, city or monastery), the points are collected and the claim token becomes available for use again. Players must balance their use of the tokens and work to complete features so they can claim even more. One trick is to complete a short road or small city (just two tiles, sometimes three) and then claim it, thus getting the points and... Read more