Trash or Treasure? #2: Carcassonne

Of all of the venerated gateway games, Carcassonne has to be the most elegant, yet deeply strategic game of the bunch. Each turn is simple: draw one tile from a bag or blind stack, place an edge of the tile next to a compatible edge on an already placed tile, and decide whether or not you deploy a “follower” on a feature of that tile. The edge (or center) of every tile can be part of a feature such as a city, a road, or open land in service of creating a “farm” or completing the tile spaces around a cloister (or monastery or whatever). When a follower is put on the most recently-placed tile, that follower either scores points when the city, road, or cloister is complete (and is then removed), or the follower remains on the feature until the end of the game. The base game has 72 tiles and each player has seven followers (note: an eighth follower is used for the scoring track). After the last tile is drawn and played, all incomplete features and farms (or open areas bounded by cities and roads) are scored. I won’t discuss the details of scoring, but, basically, highest score wins.

In practice, Carcassonne is fast-paced with only a three-move turn (i.e., draw, place, and put) and seems very tactical, especially at higher player counts; at four or five players, you can keep track of what is drawn, but options change with each new tile, affecting any long-range thinking. However, Carcassonne shines at two players; with only 72 total tiles to play, each player is assured 36 tiles, and as the game progresses one can anticipate which tiles might be drawn or, more crucially, which tiles are no longer available. This leads to creating game states in which it is rendered impossible for the opponent to complete a feature, thus locking up their follower (in a city fragment, for instance) for the rest of game. In turn, this limits the opponent’s scoring opportunties.

When I started out in the board game hobby, after Ticket to Ride, I tried Carcassonne -- not the base game, mind you, but the base game with the Inns & Cathedrals and Traders & Builders expansions, which added goods scoring, different buildings, and more specialized followers. My first game was played during a lunch with three other people. Because I had no familiarity with the tile inventory, the game felt tactical, and yet if I watched enough features, I could build out multiple scoring opportunities by waiting for the right tile. As time passed, I purchased Carcassonne for myself, as well as FOUR expansions I really enjoyed, and would play protracted games of Carcassonne with no less than six players (one expansion provided another set of followers for a sixth player). One particular expansion, The Princess & The Dragon, introduced the Dragon, which was moved by whomever drew a volcano tile, and then by every other player. Whenever the Dragon was placed through another player’s incomplete feature, that player’s follower was removed and given back to the player. This led to chaotic games during which NOBODY could make any long-range plans and had to focus on completing and scoring roads and cities quickly.

By my reckoning, Carcassonne was the first tile-laying game of its kind in which players collectively constructed the board and scored based on how they constructed it. In 2000, Carcassonne must have been a revelation as it won the coveted Spiel des Jahres -- an award given to the game and designer who created the most innovative family game of the year. Since that time, tile-laying games have become much less uncommon; three years later, in 2003, Alhambra would win the Spiel des Jahres with a variation of tile-laying in which players purchased their tiles and built out their own palaces. Games like Alhambra, Kingdomino, Isle of Skye, Patchwork, Calico, Cascadia, The Castles of Mad King Ludwig, and Suburbia employ the tile-laying mechanism with varying degrees of complexity and interwoven game mechanics.

Should I trash or treasure Carcassonne?

At its weight (1.80 out of 5, according to Board Game Geek), Carcassonne snatches the catchphrase of “a minute to learn, (but) a lifetime to master” out of Othello’s figuratively grubby little hands. Very few games take a simple turn structure and turn it into a brutal combination of take-that, one-uppsmanship, and analysis paralysis like this game. At higher play counts and with more expansions, Carcassonne can descend into near-party-game madness; at lower player counts, the game becomes tighter, more strategic, and more cutthroat. It takes several plays to realize this dichotomy between tactical group play and strategic one-on-one maneuvering, but the more Carcassonne is played, the more depth is surprisingly revealed.

As I mentioned earlier, the tile-laying mechanic has had time to percolate and mature, so there is a panoply of choices now available. As of 2022, Cascadia emerged as a hexagonal tile layer in which you build out your own landscape and place one of several animal tokens on any open hex that can accommodate the animal token. With a scoring system that changes with each game, Cascadia has a variability that is not present in Carcassonne’s scoring system. At first blush, it would appear that a game like Cascadia is “doing it better” than Carcassonne...

Yet, in my mind, Carcassonne is STILL the finest tile-layer of its kind at the two-player or three-player count. The tiles are cutely drawn (if I can even insinuate that this game is “cute”), the followers (which we all know now as “meeples”) are iconic pieces in the board gaming world, and heinous crimes against humanity that can be perpetrated on a shared map instills a level of interaction absent in many of the games I mentioned. Carcassonne also transforms into an engaging party game with seven or even eight players (buy more pieces!). Carcassonne is a strategic gem, especially if your opponent knows the inventory of tiles as well as you do.

Though I have considered selling Carcassonne and all of the expansions and mini-expansions I have collected, I always convince myself NOT to trash this masterpiece. I thoroughly enjoy Alhambra and am growing to like Cascadia (and I have the quasi-team-oriented Between Two Castles of Mad King Ludwig), but Carcassonne has a undefinable whimsy to it. Maybe it’s the adorable followers, or maybe it’s that particular shade of green on all of the field tiles. I dunno...

No, I do know! I’m treasuring this one.

Should you trash or treasure Carcassonne?

If you own Carcassonne, I have to be honest and say that it is your judgment call. I do recommend treasuring it, but there are enough casual-level tile-layers out there that you can choose one of the games I mentioned and use THAT as the entry point into gaming for your non-gamer friends. There are also other themes out there; if medieval landscape building is not your thing, why not build a city in Suburbia? Or build a space station with Among the Stars? Thus, trashing Carcassonne is really up to preference.

If you don't own it, buying the base game would not set you back more than, say, $25 US. I strongly suggest sticking with the base set unless you REALLY enjoy it. Not as ubiquitous as Ticket to Ride, Carcassonne can be found in some big-box stores like Target and Barnes & Noble, online through Amazon, and, of course, the local game store. However, places like Walmart do not carry Carcassonne (unless it’s a fluke).

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Unlike Ticket to Ride, I can argue that games have come along with different themes that may compel you to buy something besides Carcassonne. For me, though, this game will always have a special place in my heart, and is one that is still visually appealing and cute. Nowadays, the art has been revamped; it’s very attractive art, but I still prefer the original art from the game’s Rio Grande Games days.

What to Do If... Board Games Have Become Less Fun

Like most hobbies, table gaming (i.e. board and/or card games) is subject to the ebbs and flows of life. A table gamer may experience weeks, months, or even years of high-peak interest in his hobby, seeking consistent game sessions and new and exciting games to open, sort, and explore. Conversely, a table gamer may be overwhelmed with life changes, such as switching jobs, marriage, having children, moving to a new neighborhood, checking out an unfamiliar church, and so on. What is difficult to understand, though, is when one's interest in a hobby seems to wane for no significant reason. Though I would contend that there is always a reason, the underlying causes may be almost impossible to identify.

Nonetheless, there are ways to handle periods of your life during which, for one or many reasons, board games are just not as fun as they used to be or are not that fun at all. Some of these methods are painfully obvious, yet some of them may be unfamiliar to you.

Take a Well-Defined Break from Gaming

The simplest method for dealing with this malaise is to stop gaming for a while, though I would not recommend taking an open-ended break. I suggest taking a clearly delineated break by defining the start and end of the break. Call it a "fast" from gaming. The fast could be for 10 days, 20 days, one month, or even a few months. By defining the parameters of the break, you establish that mental barrier for which to aim. By fasting from gaming, you may regenerate that keen interest in the hobby, yet develop a healthier perspective of it. After all, gaming is a relatively minor hobby and should not override more important concerns, such as one's faith, or even family, job, and friends.

Explore Other Hobbies

Another obvious solution is to engage in other activities. I would suggest physical activities, like hiking or sports, to disconnect from the cerebral pursuits of gaming and exercise other areas of your brain.

Return to a Beloved Game from Your Past

One way to revitalize your interest in table gaming is to revisit a game from your past. These kinds of games I call recharger games. For example, I used to really enjoy playing Carcassonne with a few expansions, especially Inns and Cathedrals. By returning to a game from your past, you may rediscover those game-youthful feelings you may have left behind and forgotten. If you have been tempted to sell that old game, do not sell it; keep it as a reminder of your "younger" gaming days. If you sold that old game, I recommend buying it again and keeping it ready. Remember: just because you have "evolved" as a gamer does not mean you cannot enjoy those past gateway games that got you involved in the first place.

One more thing to mention: even opening up an old game and thumbing through its components may be enough to enjoy gaming again. Sometimes, I like to crack open Core Worlds just to look at the card art and read through the potential combos. That game is definitely one of my go-to recharger games.

Reconnect with an Old Game Buddy

Another way to rekindle your hobby fire is to call upon a game friend from the past. Be sure to call someone with whom you really enjoyed playing games. However, consider the possibility that the old gaming buddy has either moved on from gaming or has "evolved" into other games. Recapturing that wistful feeling of positive nostalgia may be only one-sided; factor that into the reconnection and you will frame the reunion with balanced expectations.

Buy (or Make) an Expansion

Occasionally, all you need is to shake up an old game with a novel expansion to renew your gaming spirit. However, I would extend this to a riskier idea: creating a home-brewed expansion. When I am a bit bored, I like to think about ways to tweak the existing rules by synthesizing new cards, game boards, and tokens. Playtesting these ideas can energize a gaming veteran by making her analyze the rules to find loopholes and advantageous combos that can be exacerbated or mitigated by a homemade expansion.

As an added bonus, there are a few methods that I would NOT recommend because these can be counterproductive:

DON'T Sell the Old Games...Yet

Selling old games does not solve the problem of loss of interest... unless the issue is not that. You may be selling games because you are absolutely no longer interested in table gaming OR you have elevated table games to an unhealthy level of interest such that you value them over truly significant parts of your life. Of course, if you are just in a lull, hold onto your old games until you are certain of your course of action.

DON'T Buy a New Game

Sure, it's exciting to buy new games, sort components, sleeve cards, and organize contents for a night-long session of gameplay, but I have found that this does not alleviate waning interest on a long-term basis; instead, it staves off the malaise for a short time. It also establishes a "cult of the new" pattern of thinking. In other words, you are only able to ward off boredom by buying new games. This is an expensive route with diminishing returns. As I have heard in so many movies, if you are not enough with the games you have, how can you be enough with a new game?

DON'T Seek New Game Friends with an Expectation of Renewing Interest

It may seem like an excellent strategy to try out a new gaming group, but the worst aspect of this method is that you may become further disillusioned trying to renew gaming interest with people you barely know or may not even like. This could backfire spectacularly because new players are an unknown quantity. For instance, if you are a competitive person who enjoys engaging in table talk (i.e. light trash-talking), but you join a group who shies away from such banter, you may end up further discouraged.

DON'T Play Your Way Through the Doldrums

Much like a lot of athletes, trying to play your way through a slump can worsen your negative sentiments because you start feeling like you are in a pit you cannot escape. However, this is not always true; sometimes, an unexpectedly exhilarating session of play may recharge you.

In general, when suffering through a downswing in gaming, I advise avoiding new situations, games, and opponents, and return to past games, opponents, and groups with whom you relished playing. Of course, this approach may not work for you; perhaps, something novel may energize you. New friendships can also inspire you to continue.

I should mention, though, that there is the danger of table gaming becoming that idol that one comes to worship, as if the hobby becomes so integral to one’s daily routine and thoughts that all other aspects of one’s life become secondary. Christians think in terms of “idols,” and I believe that this approach is a useful way to reassess what table gaming means to you. In fact, Philippians 4:19 offers intriguing insight in which Paul wrote of idolaters: their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things. Does gaming dominate your thoughts and free time? Does most of your discretionary funds go towards it? If so, I strongly recommend taking a long break from table gaming and focusing on pursuing God. Such a pursuit realigns our perspectives, which, ironically, can enhance our enjoyment of any hobby. As is often overstated, table gaming can become “too much of a good thing.” In that sense, the best way to reignite gaming interest is to realign your priorities.

Rules Discussion: Rule-Breaking Pieces

There is something about the sanctioned breaking of rules in a game. Sure, cheating should be anathema to any board gamer worth his or her salt, and wanton disregard for rules should be the rationale for banishing any gamer to the outer reaches of society. I would even proffer that gamers who flaunt the rules in favor of "house rules" should be hung by their pinky toes in the town square (that's humor, by the way). Okay, that's a bit extreme (especially since I sometimes resort to house rules when I don't understand a game's mainstream rules AND I don't have time to research the rulings), but being given license to break the rules is an intriguing concept. What if someone told you to ignore your dice roll in Monopoly and just buy whatever property you wanted, but at double the price? What if you could attack a territory far from your own in Risk? What if you could decline the card exchange in Hearts? Such "rule-breaking" adds a spicy element to a game, confusing long-time adherents, but in a beneficial way. 

Sanctioned rule-breaking is often in the purview of house rules and game variants, though you also find it in game pieces that change the fundamental rules of a game. For example, i

n the Abbey & Mayor expansion of Carcassonne, there is a Wagon piece that not only allows a player to claim a feature, but to move the Wagon on to another attached feature upon completion of the feature the Wagon was occupying. For example, if your Wagon is on a city tile with an attached road and you complete the city, the Wagon moves onto the road after scoring. In Carcassonne, this is a hugely important rule-breaking piece for one reason: even though you complete a city, road, or cloister, if you have no more followers to place, you cannot claim any adjacent feature on the tile that finished that city, road, or cloister, even though the follower is returned to you because follower placement happens before scoring, not after scoring. If you have no followers, you cannot take advantage of the tile you just placed. With the Wagon, though, you can move it onto an attached feature, potentially scoring that feature, as well.

The Wagon is probably my favorite follower in Carcassonne (the Barn is not a follower, but it is also an awesomely powerful piece). I must admit that the Wagon is not necessarily a rule or mechanic in and of itself, but it is the only piece in Carcassonne that breaks the follower placement rule. Rule-breaking pieces or cards can be found in many other games. Another example (though a minor one) are the gates in Alhambra, which allow you to place a walled edge of one building tile against the wall edge of another building tile, yet preserve the "being able to walk to the fountain" rule of tile placement. Yet another instance is the station in Ticket to Ride: Europe, which lets you connect to a city when all other routes into that city are taken and thus blocked.

I have found that rule-breaking pieces are often found in expansions to games, as if breaking the rules of a base game is in the strict purview of expansions (though base game variants and the aforementioned house rules are also viable means by which a game's rules can be altered). In other words, we buy the base set to learn the rules of a game, and then we buy expansions when A) we are bored of the rules in the base set, and/or B) we feel oddly compelled to discover how it feels to break or tweak the rules of the base set. Both sentiments are similar, but there's a difference: while option A encapsulates that feeling we get after playing a game ten or more times (or less), option B speaks into that innate pioneering spirit to explore the unknown or test the waters. Or, it may just be the effect of our sinful natures to feel the compulsion to break rules. I hope that's not the case, though, because I really enjoy expansions...

In any case, rule-breaking pieces can enliven a once-moribund game experience and renew interest in a classic; this is how Settlers of Catan stays alive, in my opinion. Carcassonne is no different, which is why my interest in the game remains piqued after all these years; expansions have breathed life and vitality into the game. Yet, to be fair, Carcassonne's base set presents a strategic depth that people don't often realize unless it is played repeatedly; once you know the game's tile inventory, you know the frequency of certain tiles, and thus you know how to prevent your opponent from finishing key features in the game. Absent that, though, expansions do add spice to many games and are an undeniable means by which a one-hit-wonder designer (like Klaus Jurgen-Wrede, though he did create Pompeii) can stay gainfully paid with his or her one masterpiece.

Do you have any other base game or expansion pieces or cards in any game that break a base game rule or mechanic that you would like to discuss?