The Haunted Game Cafe » easy board game http://www.hauntedgamecafe.com/news game store and coffeehouse Thu, 09 Sep 2010 01:47:35 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 The Perfect New Board Game http://www.hauntedgamecafe.com/news/the-perfect-new-board-game/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=the-perfect-new-board-game http://www.hauntedgamecafe.com/news/the-perfect-new-board-game/#comments Tue, 16 Sep 2008 06:25:09 +0000 D. Sproul http://www.hauntedgamecafe.com/blog/?p=39 If you haven’t played any games since Sorry and Trivial Pursuit, but want an easy-to-learn family game, please let me recommend Carcassonne. Named after a French castle and city, Carcassonne players begin with a single “starter” tile placed on a tabletop. Then each player chooses a new tile and matches it to the tiles already placed, simply matching tile sides: grass with grass, castle with castle, road touching road. Easy, right? It becomes more challenging as players try to fit tiles into open spots while matching two to four sides at once (and meanwhile not helping your fellow players). Each player earns points by placing their wooden men on roads and castles and completing them, or on abbeys, and surrounding them with other tiles. Last -  the seemingly innocuous “farmer,” whose lucrative points can launch a player from last place into the winners circle in the last gasp of the game. Farmers are just wooden men staked out on the grass. (Lying down on the job, no less!) They garner points by supplying every finished castle their farm (or grassy area) touches. Sounds simple, but a well-placed farmer could award a player more points than a finished castle, an enormous amount for a wooden man who’s been lying at his leisure for most of the game.

Why This Game Makes a Wonderful Choice for Everyone

It’s easy to learn, involves little strategy, and kids aged 5 or 6 years and up can play easily with adults (without the adults losing their brain cells from boredom). Whatever big plans a player may have may be useless if they never pick up the needed tile, so you can chat while planning just a little. There are “river” tiles included with the original game for players who want to make it more challenging. And there are many other expansion tiles available to change the game a little or a lot. So give this entertaining and easy to learn game a chance. Carcassone is sure to be great fun for everyone.

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