Carcassonne (iOS)

Carcassonne was my first tile game. Maybe it was your first too? Maybe you haven’t played it yet? Since Andy P covered every technical aspect, I will describe the game itself for those who haven’t played it yet.

Carcassonne is a tile game. What that means to me is that the original game had big chunky pieces of cardboard squares (probably not the actual technical term for it). You place tiles next to other tiles that line up with it and try to score points by risking your little guys (aka Meeples) on them. You build cities and roads and when you complete them you take your Meeple back and score.

This may seem simple- a road that curves to the left matches up with this road that goes straight.. But watch out, because your straight road can’t just slam into your opponent’s city wall. And so you try to find a piece that will complete your road, but then your opponent picks up that one piece you need and have been patiently waiting for! Argh!

This game takes a little bit of luck, a lot of strategy and it would help if you remembered exactly how many football shaped pieces are there with a road sticking out of one side!?

I like the iPad implementation of this game. You never have to worry about running out of table space as one does with expansions in real life. Also, there is no cleanup time! However, I do prefer looking at the whole board in real life compared to the small iPad screen. Yes, you can zoom in, which is great. And it does automatically keep track of scoring for you, which is also a plus. But there is something to be said about seeing the whole table filled with tiles and plotting your sweet revenge on your opponent who sits across from you. (shrug) Call me old fashioned, lol. One thing I do not like, there are only 2 expansions available. But in a pinch, this digital version is good.

Introduction
This is the digital iOS implementation of the popular tiles laying game Carcassonne.
The tabletop version of the game is from Rio Grande Game while the app has been developed by TheCodingMonkeys.
The app is Universal (same purchase will work on both iPhone and iPad) and can currently be downloaded for $9.99. Through the app you can also purchase a couple of expansions: River ($0.99) and Inns And Cathedrals ($1.99).

Gameplay
It seems a little pointless to explain the rules or gameplay of Carcassonne as all of you here must know about it. But for the few people that were hiding under a rock for the past 12 years, here is a quick explanation of the game.
The game consists of 72 tiles with different combinations of Roads, City walls, Fields and Cloisters on them (24 different tile designs). The players will then draw a tile and place it on the board so that its sides match the adjacent tiles.
The classic game of Carcassonne faces off 2 to 5 players. In this set-up each turn each player will draw one tile and place it on the board. Each player will also start the game with 7 followers (Meeples) who are key to actually score points. Placing tiles on the board does not score any point, but each time a player places a tile, should he have any Meeple left, he can place one on that tile on either the Road, the City, the Cloister or the Field. Then, if the Road completes (there is a crossing or a City at each end), the City completes (the City is surrounded by walls with no gap) or the Cloister completes (the Cloister tile is surrounded by 8 tiles), the player with more Meeples on it will score points and all Meeples on the given Road/City/Cloister will go back to their players. Meeples on Fields cannot be recovered during play and will score only at the end of the game depending on the number of completed Cities it borders. Note that you cannot place a Meeple on a Road, City or Field already occupied, but two Roads, Cities or Fields occupied by different players might join on subsequent turns in the game in which case, when scoring occurs, the player with the most followers on it will score. On game end, unfinished Roads, Cities and Cloisters will also score points. And talking about the game ending, this happens when the last tile in the draw pile is placed on the board.
In the digital version of Carcossonne, there is also a solitaire game. The basic tile laying rules are identical to the classic multiplayer version, but the goal is to build Roads and Cities of sizes 2 to at least 6 in consecutive increasing sizes within an area as small as possible. The game ends when this is completed or when the 72 tiles are exhausted. You score points for completed Cities and Roads of increasing sizes but points are deducted for each tile placed and when you increase the size of the square your tiles fit in. Note that in this solo version the tiles are not randomized but ordered depending on presets scenarios.
The expansions give you few more tile types to play with (Inns, Rivers and Cathedrals) which change the way you place tiles (River tiles are placed at the beginning to the game) and the scoring mechanics (Roads with Inns and Cities with Cathedrals are worth more points when completed, but none if incomplete at the end). The Inns and Cathedral expansion also gives each player a double follower which is played like all normal followers but is worth double when deciding who scores points.

Implementation
The app gives you many options to play a game of Carcassonne.
As describe above, there is the solitaire game that you can play to compete on the leaderboards (via Game Center).
Then, for the classic multiplayer Carcassonne, you can play 2-5 players games. You can do so alone against multiple AI, pass and play mixing AI and human players or asynchronous online using Game Center. Online you can choose to invite friends or go for a random game. The few times I tried random games I found willing opponents quite quickly.There are 5 levels of AI that would probably be of adequate challenge for most players.
To learn the game for both solitaire and multiplayer set-ups there is an interactive tutorial that can be supplemented by an easy to read rulebook.
The design of the app is clean and simple yet pleasing and goes well with the theme (building a medieval countryside town) and design of the original game. All the assets can easily be seen on the screen and with zooming capabilities the game is easily playable on both iPhone and iPad.

Verdict
The digital version of Carcassonne is the first “modern” board game I played when it came out on Xbox and showed me that there is more to board games then Monopoly, Yahtzee and Scrabbles; so it has a special place in my heart.
Yet, trying to be objective, the digital version of Carcassonne on iOS is a great game.
Carcassonne the game is an easy to learn (especially that in its digital form, scoring is automated) hard to master kind of game. The classic multiplayer game is a good mix of luck, strategy and player interaction. Some games can be brutal as each player tries to block the others, but you can easily adapt your play when playing with kids or your significant other. The solitaire game can be interesting but I have to say than if you want to play alone, I have more fun playing against the AI than the solo games.
The iOS conversion of the game is an example of how a board game can be implemented on a portable device. The app is clean (especially on Retina devices), pretty and simple to use, yet it offers a lot of options to always be able to play a game alone or with others.

I recommend this game to anyone with an iOS device.

I have owned Carcassonne the board game and it is a great game, but constant updating of the scoring each turn and the sometime confusion with the farming meeple/tiles scoring at the end can get a bit tedious.
The digital version however is so much simpler.
It has a great 1 player option where you can play against different computer characters (with their own varying degrees of AI)
For me it was the scoring that made this a big HIT with me.
I find no sooner had I finished a game I was ready for another.

The board version is great…… but for me this is better.

Looking forward to trying it against others with the app.

This is a fantastic digital version of the classic tile game. I fell in love with this game after seeing it played on Tabletop. (I had been out of the loop for MANY years…)

Expansions can be purchased separately in app, and may be turned on/off as desired. And scoring includes an option to include/exclude fields. (This was really helpful when learning the game and developing strategies.)

I love the solitaire version of the game. It is a nice addition to an already very fun game.