Post by Gilvan Blight on Mar 18, 2008 11:23:14 GMT -5
Quickly: a good stand alone Carcasonne game, much more cutthroat the original.
[glow=Blue,2,300]Summary:[/glow]This stand alone game uses the same engine as the original Carcasonne. Players in turn draw a tile and then choose whether or not to place a pawn on the tile just played. The tiles have a variety of features each of which score the players points when they are 'completed' by matching features over multiple tiles. Players have a limited number of pawns and only get them back after features are scored.
The theme in this expansion is a per-historic one. The tile features include Forests, Rivers, Lakes and Meadows. The Forests act like cities in the original game and are worth two points per section when completed if a player has a "Gatherer" in them. The rivers act like roads in Carcasonne but are terminated by steams in rivers or by lakes that form crossroads. The lakes each show a number of fish in them. Rivers score 1 point per river section plus 1 point per fish in the lakes at the end of them, if a player has a "fisherman" on them. The Meadows are the in between pieces that delimit the forests and are bisected by the rivers. These contain wild animals, either Deer, Woolly Mammoths or Saber tooth Tigers. These only score points at the end of the game and only when a player has a 'hunter' placed in one. The scoring of these is rather unique. Each saber tooth tiger cancels out a deer. Any deer left combined with the mammoths are worth 2 points each for the player with the controlling Hunter.
There are two other elements to the game. The first is gold. Most large forest sections contain gold. When a player completes a forest (whether or not they control it) they get to take a bonus tile from a special set of tiles and get to play it for free out of turn. These special tiles contain bonuses like lakes with lots of fish, Aurochs which score an extra two points for a meadow, Mushrooms which score an extra two points for a completed forest, and the ancient shrine which lets a player control a meadow even without a majority of Hunters. The other element is the Huts. Each player starts with two huts. These can be played instead of a normal pawn onto a river or lake. A hut on a lake or river denotes that the player owns the entire river system it is placed on. At the end of the game these score 1 point per fish in the entire river system.
Once the last tile is drawn and final game scoring is completed (Huts and Meadows) the player with the most points wins.
[glow=green,2,300]The Good:[/glow]Just like Carcasonne this is easy to teach and easy to learn. Yet it still has a ton of strategic elements making it a great game. The components are top notch as usual with nice coloured wooden Meeple and Huts. Overall this is a much more strategic game then the original Carcasonne. Having tigers that can remove point scoring deer from the board is a huge strategic change, and can allow for some rather nasty cutthroat play. The gold mines also add a great new strategic level as it gives a player a very good reason to close off another players forest, just for that bonus tile. Overall I find this to be a 'better Carcasonne' I wouldn't say it's better then the original with all the expansions, but it's definitely way better then just the base game. It's also easier to teach and learn and thus more accessible then the original with all the expansions.
[glow=yellow,2,300]The Bad:[/glow]No Bag! They expect you to take the tiles and make little piles of them. This seems silly to me as they could have easily included a bag like they did in one of the expansions for the original game or Carcasonne: The City. Grabbing an extra Crown Royal bag we had sitting around fixed this omission quickly, but I was still disappointed. I personally felt that you didn't have enough meeple. I'm sure it's part of the strategy and game balance, but I'm used to having more then 5 guys to play with from the original and expansions, so only having 5 made it feel like I ran out too quick. Not sure what adding extras would do to the balance though. I'm also not a big fan of the overly bright colourful graphics, they aren't that bad, but I just don't like them for some reason. No hindrance to gameplay though.
[glow=red,2,300]The Ugly:[/glow]This game is a lot more cutthroat then the original carcasonne, which means people who prefer a more friendly game would be better off playing the original. To win at this one you have to effectively 'screw your neighbor' Personally I found this to be an advantage to the game, but I know some people I regularly play with who would not like this aspect. There is some rule dispute over how the shrine is played. Does the player need to own the meadow it's placed in, or can it be played with a hunter on it on another players meadow. Make sure you determine which rules to use before you start or else look forward to an argument. Unfortunately Boardgamegeek.com is down right now so I can't even find an FAQ to find out the right way to play.
[glow=purple,2,300]Overall:[/glow]This is basically Carcasonne +. A better version of the original. The game is more strategic and includes more competitive elements. Due to the screw your neighbor nature of the rules, players that prefer a more happy, do your own thing game would prefer the original. I'm very happy to have added this to my collection and expect to play it frequently.
[glow=Blue,2,300]Summary:[/glow]This stand alone game uses the same engine as the original Carcasonne. Players in turn draw a tile and then choose whether or not to place a pawn on the tile just played. The tiles have a variety of features each of which score the players points when they are 'completed' by matching features over multiple tiles. Players have a limited number of pawns and only get them back after features are scored.
The theme in this expansion is a per-historic one. The tile features include Forests, Rivers, Lakes and Meadows. The Forests act like cities in the original game and are worth two points per section when completed if a player has a "Gatherer" in them. The rivers act like roads in Carcasonne but are terminated by steams in rivers or by lakes that form crossroads. The lakes each show a number of fish in them. Rivers score 1 point per river section plus 1 point per fish in the lakes at the end of them, if a player has a "fisherman" on them. The Meadows are the in between pieces that delimit the forests and are bisected by the rivers. These contain wild animals, either Deer, Woolly Mammoths or Saber tooth Tigers. These only score points at the end of the game and only when a player has a 'hunter' placed in one. The scoring of these is rather unique. Each saber tooth tiger cancels out a deer. Any deer left combined with the mammoths are worth 2 points each for the player with the controlling Hunter.
There are two other elements to the game. The first is gold. Most large forest sections contain gold. When a player completes a forest (whether or not they control it) they get to take a bonus tile from a special set of tiles and get to play it for free out of turn. These special tiles contain bonuses like lakes with lots of fish, Aurochs which score an extra two points for a meadow, Mushrooms which score an extra two points for a completed forest, and the ancient shrine which lets a player control a meadow even without a majority of Hunters. The other element is the Huts. Each player starts with two huts. These can be played instead of a normal pawn onto a river or lake. A hut on a lake or river denotes that the player owns the entire river system it is placed on. At the end of the game these score 1 point per fish in the entire river system.
Once the last tile is drawn and final game scoring is completed (Huts and Meadows) the player with the most points wins.
[glow=green,2,300]The Good:[/glow]Just like Carcasonne this is easy to teach and easy to learn. Yet it still has a ton of strategic elements making it a great game. The components are top notch as usual with nice coloured wooden Meeple and Huts. Overall this is a much more strategic game then the original Carcasonne. Having tigers that can remove point scoring deer from the board is a huge strategic change, and can allow for some rather nasty cutthroat play. The gold mines also add a great new strategic level as it gives a player a very good reason to close off another players forest, just for that bonus tile. Overall I find this to be a 'better Carcasonne' I wouldn't say it's better then the original with all the expansions, but it's definitely way better then just the base game. It's also easier to teach and learn and thus more accessible then the original with all the expansions.
[glow=yellow,2,300]The Bad:[/glow]No Bag! They expect you to take the tiles and make little piles of them. This seems silly to me as they could have easily included a bag like they did in one of the expansions for the original game or Carcasonne: The City. Grabbing an extra Crown Royal bag we had sitting around fixed this omission quickly, but I was still disappointed. I personally felt that you didn't have enough meeple. I'm sure it's part of the strategy and game balance, but I'm used to having more then 5 guys to play with from the original and expansions, so only having 5 made it feel like I ran out too quick. Not sure what adding extras would do to the balance though. I'm also not a big fan of the overly bright colourful graphics, they aren't that bad, but I just don't like them for some reason. No hindrance to gameplay though.
[glow=red,2,300]The Ugly:[/glow]This game is a lot more cutthroat then the original carcasonne, which means people who prefer a more friendly game would be better off playing the original. To win at this one you have to effectively 'screw your neighbor' Personally I found this to be an advantage to the game, but I know some people I regularly play with who would not like this aspect. There is some rule dispute over how the shrine is played. Does the player need to own the meadow it's placed in, or can it be played with a hunter on it on another players meadow. Make sure you determine which rules to use before you start or else look forward to an argument. Unfortunately Boardgamegeek.com is down right now so I can't even find an FAQ to find out the right way to play.
[glow=purple,2,300]Overall:[/glow]This is basically Carcasonne +. A better version of the original. The game is more strategic and includes more competitive elements. Due to the screw your neighbor nature of the rules, players that prefer a more happy, do your own thing game would prefer the original. I'm very happy to have added this to my collection and expect to play it frequently.