Introduction

A group was assigned the task to play and analyze a game. In order to analyze we had to explain of the core system, components, system and the interaction between them and how the players interpret it. This is an exercise in understanding games and how they work, in order to learn more about what can make a good system and what can be altered. As Adam Mayes says: “Steal what you like and work with it”.

One of the instructions was play the game 3 times as it gives you a bigger chance to understand the game.

Carcassonne

This is a turned based board game were the players start with a tile and then builds a map out from it.

The core system of Carcassonne is how to use and play the tiles in order to gather resources as components of the game are small figures, a random tile and resources.

What makes this game interesting is the management of your recourses as it has a high risk and reward. The ability to steal someone else resources adds a big flare to the game.

Round 1

Our version of Carcassonne had an expansion pack that we decided to leave it out so that those that never played before would get a better chance to learn and understand the game.

The first round took a long time and the biggest reason behind this was the former players giving “helping” the players. The help might have caused the thinking process to take a longer time that was necessary needed.

As a note I wrote “People are taking too long to explain the backstab theory instead of showing them, making people think a lot longer than is needed”. This is a memento that tells the experienced players to do one thing. Hold back a little in helping the new players since we confuse and alter their thinking patterns.

But I also wrote “They all learned it fast” indicating that the learning curve of this game is almost none existing.
Anyone can pick it up and understand it in less than 10 minutes.  With someone there that already played it would take less than 5 minutes to explain.

Small summary:

Best part of this game is that it’s easy to just pick up and play

Worst part is the help that the experienced player tries to give the new players, because that will alter the thinking period. So if you play with an experienced player tell them to only give hints when you ask for it.

Round 2

Since the players already knew how the game worked from the first round the game went a lot quicker to finish. People now got less help and the focus was set on the game. If a piece came that was harder to set down people tried to help themselves or the player depending if the piece he held was something they needed or if they could ruin someone else’s plan.

Best and worst side of the game is the random element of the tiles, there are no advantages to being an experienced player or being a beginner because if you are not lucky you will not get the pieces you need. This makes every round interesting but if you have played the game and you only get pieces you don’t need or can do something with because others placement this can make the game boring.

So in retrospect I would say that the best part is that you can always play again.

Round 3

This time we decided to add the expansion pack “Rivers”. Biggest reason was that it would give us a small advantage and the rules were easy to follow.

Because of the added expansion we got some new things to learn but it lasted for a short time. Now instead the problem came from those that just wanted to play for fun and those to play serious. If you only want to play fast and have fun you only used your head to place the card for and quick advantage or just to screw with someone. The serious players stopped to think longer times in order to place the tile to get the largest amount of resources as possible

Best part of the game it’s easy to expand and keep interesting and the map never comes out the way you first think which makes interesting gameplay.

Worst part of the game is when you have to wait for other players to think of a placement for their tile every time they wanted to do something.

Target group interpretation

To find a target audience you have to look at several things, how does the cover look, where do they sell the game and how is the gameplay.

From the gameplay content the target audience would include everyone that find it fun to play board games and the age group would range from 8-99. It’s easy to learn and play, you can help or play to win, making it easy to connect between the ages. This makes it a family/friend game making it fun for everyone.

But from the interpretation on were in Sweden you can buy the game and the cover the game genre alter. The cover is a bit bland with the colors, from the cover you can see a knight riding towards a fort and looking at a highborn lady walking towards him. They are both smiling and all is good. It’s very realistic in its design and you get no hints of the game. Only those who seek interesting and new game experience would buy this game thinking it was something more serious, the back of the box shows pieces and tiles being set giving you the interpretation that the game might take longer time than needed. The age group hint here is the only thing that would make you think it’s for everyone but is easily overlooked.
The game is only sold on online board game sites were they sell things like Dungeons & Dragons and not everyone would look at such a site, also if it’s sold in a store it’s in a gaming store for those who play more difficult and strategic games, making the age range around 15-35.

So from this I conclude the following.

First target group: experienced board game players and age range from 15-35.

Second target group: Family and friends of the first group.

Summary

The most interesting part of this game is that there is almost no learning curve, making sure that the experienced players don’t have a big advantage when playing with beginners. Thanks to the core system being tiles with patterns and that you randomly build the map as gameplay goes along the game is always different and can be a lot of fun. The experienced players can see more often than the beginners were to put his follower piece in order to get the most resources but a beginner can build in such a way that the experienced player might lose all the points he planned to get. It’s a game were everything can happen and it isn’t over until the fat lady sings.

The bad sides of Carcassonne is the thinking period that a player has is infinitive making some rounds long and tedious. A timer is needed when you play in a big group or the game can take forever. Another problem that appeared several times when we played was that a player ran out of followers. When you are out of followers, when that happen the player still get a tile but if that tile was really valuable he could not use it for anything and a the feeling of waste depending on your current score can be horrible. It’s of course one of the strategic decisions you have to make during gameplay, but you would want to be able to take back a follower for a penalty price of course. A player that is almost finished with a structure can get in big trouble when only certain pieces are needed making it really annoying when you never get it and see it all go to waste. This is already solved by the creator in an ingenious way, buy more expansions and get more and different tiles.

The good sides of Carcassonne are the easy way to learn how to play it, making sure you can always find someone to play with. There is always a place to put your tiles witch make the game interesting is that it’s not always a place that you necessary want it to go. That’s what makes it possible for those who have not played to win against those who have played the game often. A part of the game that is fun that often the experienced players wants to help the one playing, sometimes too much but it can bring real fun moments. Since it’s easy to control your actions in this game you can play with a young crowd with an old. The older players might even help the really young to win causing a joyous occasion for all. There are no age restrictions to this game from the age of 8. When you play it might seem like all you have been doing is fall behind in score. But when the final tally is done you can have won the entire game. It’s this unpredictable element that makes this game interesting and the player wants to play until the end.

I would highly recommend you to play this with family members and friends in order to have  a great time and as a personal note I would like to say don’t think too hard when you play this game just do it for fun. Help the new players and have a great gaming experience.