One strategy board game just wasn't enough for Xbox Live Arcade, so Carcassonne joins the ranks this Wednesday. This version of Carcassonne will include all rule sets and the Rivers II expansion set.
Players take turns placing tiles to fill out the terrain of a medieval landscape, then earn points for those tiles by placing follower pieces. Follower pieces can lay claim to certain features--like roads, field, and cities--and only under certain conditions. At the end of the game, the player with the most followers wins.
Of course, it's really much more complicated and nuanced than that, but that's the basic idea. Much like Catan, learning the game is relatively simple, but understanding the far-reaching ramifications of your actions takes practice and experience. Fortunately, also like Catan, Carcassonne will offer a full tutorial as well as skill-level based AI so that you'll have plenty of time to hone your skills before taking on actual human opponents over Live.
I hope this trend of adding board games to Live continues. Once everyone grew up and got lives it became much harder to get enough people together for a good game, so having the option to do it over Live is fantastic. Talisman andPuerto Rico are supposedly on the way, but I'd like to see some Scrabble, too.
