Foreword

Takenoko is a gorgeous game with a cute panda and interesting interdependence.

How to Play

Goal

The goal of the game is to score the most points by expanding the communal garden, growing bamboo, and/or feeding the panda. Each player is free to take objectives of any of these three types throughout the game. All of the objectives are linked; so, as players pursue one objective, they might also advance another, either knowingly or unknowingly.

Setup

Each player starts with a player sheet, 2 action chips, and one of each of the objectives: Plots, Gardener, and Panda.

Place the Pond plot tile in the center of the table. Place the panda and gardener on that tile. Finally, place piles of the other components in easy reach.

The Turn

On a player’s turn, they select and perform 2 of 5 actions. (After the first round, each player also rolls the weather die at the start of their turn.)

Actions

Objectives

Objective cards are how players score points. There are 3 types of objectives: Plots, Gardener, and Panda. Each objective depicts a condition that must be met on your turn to complete it. If you meet that condition on your turn, you can play that objective card face-up in front of you to complete it. A player may not draw a new objective if they already have 5 uncompleted ones in hand.

Plots card: expand the communal garden and irrigate it as depicted.

Gardener card: grow bamboo on the plots depicted to the height depicted.

Panda card: eat bamboo of the type depicted.

Objective-Action: Draw 1 objective card of any type.

Plots

Plots are the hexagonal tiles that are used to expand the garden and grow bamboo. There are green plots, yellow plots, and pink plots. Each plot grows bamboo of its corresponding type. Some plots have improvements, explained below.

Plot-Action: Draw 3 plots from the plot pile. Choose 1 plot and place it adjacent to the starting pond plot and/or adjacent to two other plots. Place the plots not chosen on the bottom of the plot pile.

Irrigation

In order for bamboo to grow on a plot, the plot must be irrigated.

A plot is irrigated if:

• it is adjacent to the starting pond tile
• it has an irrigation channel on at least one of its edges (connected to the starting pond plot)
• it has a watershed improvement on it

Irrigation-Action: Gain an irrigation channel piece.

Irrigation channel pieces can be placed immediately or saved for later. If saved, they may be played any time on your turn for free. Irrigation channels must stem from the starting pond plot or another irrigation channel.

As soon as a plot becomes irrigated for the first time, it gains a bamboo section of its corresponding color.

Gardener

The gardener is used to grow bamboo. The gardener starts on the starting pond tile.

Gardener-Action: Move the gardener at least one space in a straight line and grow bamboo, if possible.

When the gardener grows bamboo, he grows a bamboo section on the plot he is on and any immediately adjacent plot of the same color. Any of these plots that aren’t irrigated or already have 4 sections of bamboo do not gain a bamboo section.

Panda

The panda eats bamboo, Om Nom Nom! When the panda eats bamboo on your turn, you gain it and put it on your sheet. When you complete a panda objective card, return the depicted bamboo sections to their respective piles.

Panda-Action: Move the panda at least one space in a straight line and eat a bamboo section, if possible.

Weather Die

The weather die is rolled at the start of each player’s turn (after the first round), and it provides the current player 1 of 5 bonuses. If a ‘?’ is rolled, the player chooses any of the 5 bonuses.

These bonuses are:

• gaining a 3rd separate action this turn
• growing one section of bamboo on any irrigated plot
• allowing 2 identical actions this turn
• moving the panda and eating a section of bamboo
• gaining an improvement tile

Improvements

There are 3 types of improvements. Some plots start with an improvement. Each plot may only have 1 improvement on it. If a plot has neither an improvement nor bamboo on it, a player may place an improvement (gained from the weather die) on that plot on their turn.

Enclosure: The panda may not eat bamboo on a tile with an enclosure.

Fertilizer: When a plot grows bamboo, it gains 2 sections instead of 1 (still subject to max 4 sections per plot).

Watershed: A plot with a watershed improvement is irrigated automatically.

End of Game

The final round of the game begins when a player completes a set number of objectives:

2 players – 9 objectives
3 players – 8 objectives
4 players – 7 objectives

Once a player completes the requisite number of objectives, that player takes the Emperor card (worth 2 points) and finishes their turn. Then, each other player gets one more turn. After the last player takes their final turn, players total their points from completed objectives. The player with the most points wins.

In case of a tie, the tied player with the most points from panda objective cards wins. If still tied, all tied players share victory.

Conclusion

Takenoko is a good family game, and it is gorgeous. The rules aren’t that complicated, but there is enough to think about to keep me interested. Games that can be played at different levels simultaneous appeal to me greatly because I play with non-hardcore gamers frequently.

I can play the game trying to optimize my strategy, read my opponents, and anticipate the flow of the game. Other players might try to optimize their play without worrying about the other players. Then there are players that play the game turn by turn just to enjoy the artwork and the company. Takenoko supports all of these players. Granted I do have a greater win-percentage when I play all out, but it isn’t guaranteed (since there is an appropriate level of luck), and, more importantly, the game feels close throughout.

Specifically, I am a fan of the interconnectedness of everything. I like that I can work on multiple objectives at the same time. Advancing a plot objective card and a gardener objective card simultaneously when they both care about pink plot tiles is incredibly satisfying. Or, when I need a 3-height pink bamboo tile for a gardener objective card and I need pink bamboo for a panda objective card, I can send the panda to a 4-height pink bamboo tile and advance both cards. It sounds boring in text, I give you that, but seeing these things in game and then successfully executing them is satisfying.

In addition, we generally have a lot of fun just interacting with the panda and gardener miniatures. Overall, this is a solid family game.

Foreword

Kingsburg is a 2-5 player worker placement game that uses dice as its workers. This mechanic allows for plentiful options without overloading the players.

Worker Placement

Goal

The goal of the game is to build buildings, score points, and fend off yearly attacks.

Game Overview

The game is divided into five years. Each year has three Productive Seasons where players roll dice, influence advisors, and build a building (the meat of the game). These are separated by minor, kingly interventions, and at the end of the year, there is an attack that can potentially lose players points.

How to Play

Each year is divided into 8 phases:

1. Aid from the King
2. Spring Productive Season
3. The King’s Reward
4. Summer Productive Season
5. The King’s Envoy
6. Autumn Productive Season
7. Recruit Soldiers
8. Winter – The Battle

Productive Season

The bulk of the game takes place in the three Productive Seasons (Spring, Summer, and Autumn). In these Productive Seasons, players roll their dice, influence advisors, and optionally build a building.

Roll the Dice

All players roll their three dice. The player with the highest combined total will be last to influence an advisor in this season. To represent this, place that player’s colored disk at the bottom of the Turn Order Chart. The player with the next highest combined total is placed second to last. Repeat until everyone’s disk has been placed.

Influence Advisors

The advisors range from 1 to 18. Players use their dice to select (influence) these advisors. Each advisor grants the selecting player resources. The higher the number of the advisor, the more resources it grants.

The first player on the Turn Order Chart selects first. They can use one, two, or all three of their dice to select an advisor with a matching number.

For example, if they rolled a 3, 5, and 6. They could use all of their dice to select the 14-advisor. They could use two dice to select the 8, 9, or 11-advisor. Or, they could use one die to select the 3, 5, or 6-advisor.

Once the first player selects an advisor, the second player selects an advisor, etc. until all players, in order, select an advisor. After everyone has selected an advisor, players can potentially select a second advisor, in turn order. Any dice that weren’t used on the first selection, can be used for this second selection. For anyone with a die remaining after the second selection, there is a third/final selection. So, a player could either get one high numbered advisor or multiple low numbered advisors. The only caveat is that no advisor can be selected more than once in a season.

Build Buildings

After influencing advisors to gain resources, each player may use those resources to build a building.

To build a building, you must turn in resources matching the cost in the circle on your Province Sheet. To show that you built a building, place one of your Building Tokens over the cost. You then immediately gain the victory points to the right of the flag (advance your token on the Scoring Track around the board). In addition, you gain the effect in the text for the rest of the game.

For example, if you spend two gold to build the Statue, you immediately gain three victory points, and for the rest of the game, anytime you roll the same number on all of your Productive Season dice, you may reroll one of those dice.

At the start of the game, you may only build a building in the leftmost I column. In order to build a building in the II, III, or IV column you must build each building in that row in the preceding columns first. For example, if you want to build the Embassy, you would first have to build the Barricade, then the Crane, then the Town Hall. Once those are built, you may build the Embassy.

The Rest of the Year

Everything else that happens in the year revolves around the Productive Seasons.

1) Aid from the King

The player with the least built buildings gains a white die for the next Spring Productive Season. This die is rolled in the Spring Productive Season with the rest of your dice. You can use that white die with at least one of your other dice to select an advisor. (The bonus white die does count for determining turn order in the Productive Season.)

If two or more players are tied for the least amount of buildings, the tied player with the least goods (gold, wood, or stone) gains the white die. If still tied, all tied players gain one good of the their choice.

In the first year of the game, since all players will be tied in buildings and goods, all players gain one good.

2) Spring Productive Season

**See Productive Season above**

3) The King’s Reward

The player with the most built buildings gains a victory point. If there is a tie, all tied players gain a victory point.

4) Summer Productive Season

**See Productive Season above**

5) The King’s Envoy

The player with the least built buildings gains the King’s Envoy. In case of a tie, the tied player with the least goods gains the King’s Envoy. If still tied, no one gains the King’s Envoy.

The King’s Envoy can be used in a Productive Season to either:

A) Select an advisor a second time in a Productive Season

or

B) Build a second building in a Productive Season

For selecting an advisor a second time, the advisor can either be already selected by a different player or by yourself. Place the King’s Envoy marker next to your dice to show that you are using it.

For building a second building, you must follow the column rule (build from left to right) and have the resources to build both buildings.

When you use the King’s Envoy, return it to its starting spot. If the King’s Envoy is not used by phase 5 of the next turn, the King’s Envoy is reassigned.

6) Autumn Productive Season

**See Productive Season above**

7) Recruit Soldiers

Phase 7 directly relates to phase 8. I recommend reading phase 8 first.

In turn order defined by the Autumn Productive Season, players may recruit soldiers by turning in two goods (gold, wood, stone) per soldier. Players may recruit as many soldiers as they can afford. The goods could be the same or different.

Soldiers do reset to zero at the end of each year.

8) Winter – The Battle

Before the end of each year, one of five random enemies attacks. Each player is attacked by the same enemy.

Each player has a combat value and each enemy has a strength. If a player’s combat value exceeds the enemy’s strength, that player gets a reward. If a player’s combat value is less than the enemy’s strength, that player is penalized. If a player’s combat value ties the enemy’s strength, nothing happens.

A player’s combat value is determined by their soldiers, buildings, and the king’s reinforcements. Each soldier you have on the Soldier Chart adds 1 combat value. Buildings like Guard Tower, Fortress, and Farms add or subtract combat value. For the king’s reinforcement, one player rolls a die and every player adds that number to their combat value.

For example, Blue has two soldiers on the Soldier Chart for +2.
Blue has Guard Tower (+1), Blacksmith (+1), Palisade (+1), and Farms (-1) for a net +2.
For king’s reinforcements, a 3 is rolled for +3.
In this situation, Blue has a combat value of 7.

In addition, the player that beats the enemy by the most, gets a bonus victory point. In case of tie, all tied players get the victory point. If no player beats the enemy, no one gets the victory point.

End of Year

At the end of the year, advance the Year Track by one and place the season token back at Aid from the King. At the end of year 5, the game is over.

Winning the Game

The player with the most points at the end of the game is the winner. In case of a tie, the tied player with the most goods remaining wins. If still tied, the tied player with the most built buildings wins.

Conclusions

I enjoy Kingsburg because it provides me with a lot of strategic choice while still being fun for the family. I like being able to plan out exactly which buildings I am going to get in which order. Then, based on that, I like figuring out the best way to optimize my dice rolls in the Productive Seasons, taking into account what resources I need and what advisors my opponents might go after. Watching my strategy unfold as planned can be incredibly satisfying.

I have also played Kingsburg with minimal planning. In these games, I just start off with a general idea, and I leave myself open to potentially disrupt my opponents in the Productive Seasons. Whether or not I do disrupt my opponents, building buildings on a whim can be quite satisfying as well.

With regard to the dice as workers mechanic, I am a fan. This mechanic randomizes which of the 18 advisors you can potentially choose from each Productive Season; this keeps the game interesting because you have to decide the best potential combination of these random elements. I much prefer dice randomizing my options than determining success or failure. While consistently getting high rolls can be beneficial, a player won’t straight out lose for not rolling the highest consistently.

The thing I dislike the most about this game is that certain enemies can destroy your best building. If you don’t defeat specific enemies, generally the lower strength enemies of the year, you can lose your rightmost building. I really dislike this in theory because it allows for massive feast or famine strategies. You can completely ignore combat value bonuses, and if the King’s reinforcements are consistently high, you are in a better position than the person that defended themselves. If the King’s reinforcements are not high, you fall dramatically behind your opponents that prepared their defenses. In addition, no one likes losing things. Thankfully, this has not actually been much of an issue in the games I have played. The odds of losing a building are very low, but we basically all protect ourselves form them anyway. So even though this idea worries me, I still enjoy and recommend the game.

If you do like the game, I highly recommend checking out the first expansion, To Forge a Realm. The expansion adds more buildings and randomizes which ones you might start with each game. This alone significantly increased my enjoyment of a game I already liked. There is also a reworked combat variant that replaces king’s reinforcements that I look forward to trying. The added player specific powers also seem like they could add a lot.

Overall, I enjoy the game, recommend trying it, and if you like it, I highly recommend the expansion.

Game Overview

Push Fight is a two-player abstract strategy game where the board rapidly changes.

Object of the Game

Players fight to push one of their opponent’s pieces of the board, utilizing only two moves and a push each turn.

The Pieces

In Push Fight there are 3 pieces: Circles, Squares, and the Anchor.

Each player controls 3 Squares, 2 Circles, and the Anchor alternates between the two players.

Squares can push.

Circles cannot push.

The Anchor prevents the last square that pushed from being pushed.

Setup

The light pieces setup first on one side of the center dividing line. Then the dark pieces setup on the other side. The anchor does not start in play. The light pieces take the first turn.

For your first game, I recommend the standard setup below:

For future games, there are no restrictions on how you setup your pieces on your side of the line. You do not need to put a piece in all 4 spaces adjacent to the line. You are also allowed to place pieces on the edge of your side of the line.

Playing the Game

Each turn consists of two optional moves and one mandatory push. You do not need to use both moves, but your moves can only be made before your push.

Move

When you move one of your pieces, you may move through any number of unoccupied spaces in a single move. You may not move diagonally.

For example, this would be a legal move:

Push

After you have finished making your moves, you must Push with one of your Squares. How pushing works:

• You must Push your chosen Square in the direction of at least one adjacent piece (that piece can be an opponent’s piece or your own)
• If you Push into a row of adjacent pieces, you push that entire row

• After you push, take the Anchor and place it on the Square that Pushed

• You may not make a Push that would move the Square with the Anchor
• You may not make a Push that would move a piece into the top or bottom wall

• The first player to Push one of their opponent’s pieces off either edge immediately wins the game

Conclusions

This is one of my favorite games. The rules are very simple, but, due to the move and push mechanics, the state of the game changes rapidly every turn. I almost certainly have played over a 100 games of this. When you first start playing, the games are pretty quick because it is easy to fall into a trap. As you play more, the games get longer and the turns get a lot more interesting. Once you know what you are doing (I say it takes a minimum of 5 games before it starts to click), the staggering possibilities start revealing themselves. I do not want to go into too much detail, since I think that the discovery is part of what makes this game great.

Before you buy this game, I would recommend trying it out online here. If you want to buy it, Penny Arcade is the current distributor. As a heads up, the price did jump up by around $15-20 when Penny Arcade became the distributor, so I would recommend waiting for a sale. It is currently marked as limited edition.

Foreword

Sushi Go! is one of the simplest drafting games.

Drafting

There are 2 major forms of drafting: simultaneous hidden drafting and sequential open drafting. Sushi Go! uses simultaneous hidden drafting.

Simultaneous Hidden Drafting

In this form of drafting, every player starts with an equal number of hidden resources, usually cards. Each player simultaneously picks a resource (keeping it hidden) and then passes the remaining resources to the player on their left (sometimes right). This then continues until there are no resources remaining to pass.

For example, in a 4 player Sushi Go! game each player starts with 8 cards. Everyone picks a card and passes the remaining 7 to the player on their left. Then everyone picks a card from the 7 passed to them, followed by the remaining 6 cards being passed, etc.

Simultaneous hidden drafting is also used in Epic’s cube draft and dark draft formats, Magic: The Gathering’s 8 player draft, Medieval Academy, Seasons, and 7 Wonders.

Sequential Open Drafting (Not used in Sushi Go!)

How to Play

Goal

The goal of the game is to score the most points over 3 rounds of drafting.

The Round

Sushi Go! uses Simultaneous Hidden Drafting, described above, for each round.

For a 2 player game, 10 cards are dealt to each player.
For a 3 player game, 9 cards are dealt to each player.
For a 4 player game, 8 cards are dealt to each player.
For a 5 player game, 7 cards are dealt to each player.

Since this is Simultaneous Hidden Drafting, each player simultaneously picks a card from their hand, and then all players reveal their chosen card at the same time. Afterwards, the remaining cards from each players’ hand are passed to the player on their left. The round completes after the last card of hand is picked.

After the 3rd round, the player with the most points wins.

The Cards

Nigiri (Egg, Salmon, and Squid)

Nigri is worth a set number of points at the end of the round. Egg Nigiri is worth 1. Salmon Nigiri is worth 2. Squid Nigiri is worth 3.

Wasabi

Wasabi triples the value of the next Nigiri card you draft. So, say you draft a Wasabi card on turn 1. Then, on turn 3 you draft your first Nigiri card, a Squid Nigiri. That Squid Nigiri goes on top of your Wasabi and those cards together are worth 9 points total. You may not use multiple Wasabi cards on a single Nigiri card, and you may not use a single Wasabi card with multiple Nigiri cards.

Tempura and Sashimi

Both Tempura and Sashimi require a set of cards to be worth any points. A set of 2 Tempura is worth 5 points. A set of 3 Sashimi is worth 10 points. If you do not have a full set, you score no points from those cards. If you have 2 complete sets, you score full points for both. So, say you have 5 Tempura and 2 Sashimi. You have 2 complete sets of Tempura so you score 10 points from Tempura. You do not have a complete set of Sashimi so you score 0 points from Sashimi.

Dumplings

The more Dumplings you have, the more points you score per Dumpling. If you have 1 Dumpling, your Dumplings are worth 1 point (1 point per Dumpling). If you have 5 or more Dumplings, you Dumplings are worth 15 points (3 points per Dumpling).

Maki Rolls

Maki Roll cards have 1, 2, or 3 Maki Rolls on them. They are depicted at the top of the card. At the end of the round, the player with the most Maki Rolls scores 6 points. The player with the second most scores 3 points.

If players tie for the most Maki Rolls, the points are split between those tied players. In that situation, no second place points are awarded. If players tie for the 2nd most Maki Rolls, the points are split between those tied players. In both cases, ignore any leftover points after evenly splitting the points.

Puddings

Puddings are the only cards that carry over after each round (the rest are discarded). At the end of the 3rd round, the player with the most puddings scores 6 points. The player with the least puddings loses 6 points. Points are evenly split for ties.

Chopsticks

Chopsticks let you take 2 cards instead of 1 when drafting. If you have a drafted Chopsticks card in front of you, after everyone (including you) has picked their card, you say “Sushi Go!,” and you replace your chopsticks card with another card from that hand.

Conclusion

I’ve said it many times, and I’ll say it again: I love drafting. Sushi Go! is an excellent game for introducing people to drafting. The art is adorable which can attract people, it’s quick, and the drafting strategy isn’t too complex.

In general, the idea of drafting can be bit tricky to get your head around initially. This is because most of the interesting aspects of it are emergent and not directly explained in the rules. When drafting, you want to look at not only what will be the best card for you right now, but based on the other cards in the current and previous hands, what are you likely to get back later in the game. (Since, in a 4 or less player game, you will see each starting hand at least twice).

In addition, once people start taking cards, you can deduce whether you can finish Tempura or Sashimi sets, or if you need to prevent another player from getting all the Dumplings, etc. So, in other words, a large portion of a drafting game’s potential relies on reading your opponents and paying attention to what is happening around you. Although, with this game you can still have fun just working toward your own goals and enjoying the art/theme.

The game I largely want to compare this to is Medieval Academy. (Click here for my review of Medieval Academy.) I think Sushi Go! is a bit simpler, it gives a better feel for drafting with the larger starting hand sizes, and the theme can be a bit more accessible. However, I prefer Medieval Academy. I prefer playing it, and it is the game I use when introducing new players to drafting. Medieval Academy adds on a spatial racing type game-mechanism, and I feel like it can be a bit more engaging. Sushi Go! is strictly drafting. A strictly drafting game is good for teaching the mechanism, but I just don’t feel like there is enough to keep me interested. On the positive side, Sushi Go! is quicker and requires less setup than Medieval Academy.

Overall, if you are looking for a game to teach new players drafting, I would personally recommend Medieval Academy over Sushi Go!. If, however, you want a smaller, quick to play, strictly drafting game, Sushi Go! does work for that purpose. Sushi Go! is a nice game to start or wrap up a gaming session. It’s easy to break out and play since you can carry it in your pocket and you just need a little table space. But, it isn’t a game I would specifically get people together to play.

Foreword

Carcassonne is a popular game that spawned the term “meeple” used to describe wooden, humanoid game-pieces. It is also a prime example of a tile-laying game.

How To Play

Setup

Each player takes their 8 meeples. One is placed on the scoring track and the rest will be used throughout the game.

Place the starting tile in the middle of the table. The starting tile has a distinct back, and on its front, it has a castle, road, and field segment.

Mix up the rest of the tiles face down and put them into easily reachable stacks.

A Turn

On your turn you draw a tile, place the tile, and optionally place one of your meeples on that tile.

When placing a tile, you must put it orthogonally (not diagonally) adjacent to 1 or more placed tiles. Every side touching another tile must match like segments to like segments: road segments to road segments, castle segments to castle segments, and field segment to field segments.

Once you have placed the tile, you may place one of your meeples onto that specific tile. You can either place it on a city, cloister, field, or road, but you can not place it directly onto a segment that already has a meeple. For example, since the red player already has a meeple on the road, the blue player cannot extend that road and put one of their meeples on it.

However, you can place meeples in such a way that they will eventually be on the same segment. In the case above, if the blue player places the tile one to the right as its own road, they could place a meeple on it. Then, if the blue player later draws a tile that would connect the two roads, it is legal to connect them creating a situation where both players have a meeple on the same road.

If multiple players have an equal number of meeples in a segment, all of those players score full points. If one player has more than anyone else in that segment, only that player scores points.

Trying to sideways take over other people’s segments is the most interesting part of this game.

Scoring

After a tile has been placed and the player has a chance to put a meeple on it, if the placement completes a segment, that segment scores. The player(s) with the most meeples on that segment score points based on the system below, and all players on that segment get those meeples back to reuse. Cities, cloisters, and roads can be completed throughout the course of the game. Farms only score points at the end of the game. (So, once you place a meeple on a farm, you will never get that meeple back.)

Cities: A completed city is worth 2 points per tile in the city. Each pennant in that city is worth a bonus 2 points. If a city is only two tiles, that city is only worth 1 point per tile. At the end of the game, if you have the most meeples in an uncompleted city, you score 1 point per tile and 1 point per pennant for that city.

The first 4-tile city with 1 pennant is worth 4 x 2 + 2 x 1 = 10 points.
The second 2-tile city is worth 2 points.
The third 3-tile uncompleted city with 1 pennant is worth 3 x 1 + 1 x 1 = 4 points.

Cloisters: A cloister is worth 1 point for every tile around the cloister including itself. So, a completed cloister is worth 9 points. Uncompleted cloisters at the end of the game still reward 1 point for every tile around the cloister.

Roads: A road is worth 1 point per tile in the road. At the end of the game, uncompleted roads are still worth 1 point per tile in the road.

Farms: Farms score 4 points at the end of the game for each completed castle they touch. The size of the castle is irrelevant. Since the field segments that connect castles can sprawl all over the place, farms can score a lot of points at the end of the game.

Game End

The game ends when the last tile is placed. All remaining points are scored. The winner is the player with the most points.

Conclusion

The fun in Carcassonne comes from the tile drawing. Whether you are trying to complete your segments or take over another player’s, it all rides on drawing certain tiles. And, since you generally won’t draw the tile(s) you need immediately, the anticipation continues to grow throughout as you hope to draw the tiles you need and hope your opponent(s) don’t draw the ones they need. In addition, most of the time the tiles you draw will have some value, even if it isn’t the one you are desperately waiting for. You need a double sided castle, but you draw an always appreciated cloister instead. On your next turn, instead of that double sided castle, you draw a tile to help solidify your control over the mega farm. Once the game gets going, each tile draw is exciting and suspenseful.

With that in mind, Carcassonne is not one of my personal favorite games. People I play it with really enjoy it, and it is a very popular game, but it doesn’t do much for me. While it feels great when you get that tile you’ve been wanting for for the last 10 turns, it is incredibly frustrating if you never draw it. Getting your segments snatched from beneath you is also frustrating if you can’t prevent them from doing it. This aspect of the game is also the most enjoyable part when you are on the snatching side, so it is attempted a decent amount in games. (I am usually the one attempting it.)

The game also does not offer a lot of strategy, and I like a lot of strategy options in my games, usually. As a power gamer, I feel like most of the time there is a “correct” place to put a tile, and the game-contrarian in me really rebels from that idea.

Unlike Camel Up, that also relies a lot on luck, this game’s luck can be lopsided and this can be unpleasant. If someone gets all of the cloisters, or they constantly get the tiles they need, the luck element can really pile up.

With all of that said, I am still willing to play it occasionally. The rules are fairly simple and aren’t too bad to teach. Most people seem to enjoy it, especially the first time they play it. In addition, this is an excellent gateway into other current board games. For the people that enjoy this game, there are also plenty of expansions and re-themed versions, some significantly better than others from what I’ve heard.

I definitely think this game is worth playing. If you really enjoy it, grab a copy. If not, it’s a good game to know something about.