Carcassonne Board Game (BASE GAME) | Family Board Game | Board Game for Adults and Family | Strategy Board Game | Medieval Adventure Board Game | Ages 7 and up | 2-5 Players | Made by Z-Man Games

Carcassonne has become one of my household's favorite games. We enjoy it so well that we have since purchased a couple of the expansions and have taught quite a few people how to play. If you're on the fence, this is a great way to get into Carcassonne without jumping into it's 10 or so expansions. You get the base game, two mini-expansions, and great meeples.The Good: Artwork on the tiles is great. It looks good, and is easily understood. The included meeples are all painted wood and look fantastic. I'm pretty sure Carcassonne's meeples are actually credited with the now hallmark shape of a "meeple". The game has great table presence, like building an empire on your dinner table! Setup is relatively quick, I feel it plays equally well at 2 players as it does at higher player counts. This version of the game also includes the Abbot & River mini-expansions which I now include every time we play.The Bad: While the cardboard tiles & score track look great, take care when separating them from their cards. Several of mine didn't appear to be pre-cut well enough, and if you're not careful you can tear some of the printing.The Indifferent: Meeple placement & scoring rules can be a bit overwhelming for new players, especially if they are relatively new to modern board games. I recommend, and I believe the instructions do as well, limiting the scoring options for the first couple plays. For instance, we left out the two mini-expansions as well as the "farmer" for the first playthrough.Overall, my wife and I and our 10 year old son love this game, and we have had nothing but great reactions from others we've introduced to it. Now we play with all base rules, the two mini-expansions, and two additional expansions. That is a testament to the playability of this game once you learn how it works.

This game is well made and great fun. The rules are clear and I like that they start off with a simple set of tiles and rules, then allow you to add more tiles and rules with the included mini-expansions. I would go so far as to say that for me personally, this is my favorite board game. I prefer it to Settlers, Scrabble, Monopoly, Risk etc. The game play is simple to teach but strategic so you can continue to replay it and enjoy the game.This Game Includes Tiles, a Scoreboard and Playing Pieces ("Meeples"). It includes a couple mini-expansions of "The River" and "The Abbot"I highly recommend using The River from the second or third time you play. It adds some nice tiles to begin with, and by building out in a more or less straight line allows you to build a much more open board for players to build off of once the "real" game starts. The only reason I suggest using the regular tiles first is just to get a feel of how different and more open it is with The RiverWe play with The Abbot as well and that adds another level of strategy.I find that playing two players is a bit of an intense game because every turn you know that whatever you play you are setting the table for the next player. It is fun and about half the games I played have been 2 player games. The scoreboard and "looping" around the board can be a bit of a problem with 2 players but not a big deal.We are going to try the house rule of holding 3 tiles and see if that adds to the strategy, but it is a lot of fun with the rules as-is.I have since purchased Carcassonne 1 - Inns and Cathedrals and Carcassonne 2 - Traders and Builders (2015), but I've only used I&C once. Honestly the base game + The River + Abbot is great fun by itself and I'm not sure for most people I would recommend anything past that unless you have a regular group of gamers you play with.Base Game + River (and not playing with farmers) is easy enough to teach people as they are playing the game and since each tile is flipped one at a time and there is nothing "hidden" in your hand it's easy to play and walk through the turns together.

If you like tile-laying games, this is a fun one to play. It's deceptively easy. You can play it casually, or you can figure out some really sneaky strategies to make it cut-throat! This edition came with two mini-expansions: the River and the Abbott. I recommend both, as they add color and challenge to the game. We've played this with people in their 40's, 60's and 80's and all enjoyed it.

Carcassonne is a fantastic board game that combines strategy, creativity, and a bit of luck! The tile-placement mechanic is simple to learn yet offers deep gameplay, making it suitable for both beginners and seasoned players. Each game feels unique as you build the landscape, complete cities, and claim fields.The expansion being included with the base game makes it even more fun if you're bored of the standard gameplay or you just want to add a little more challenege.