BaD: Shortest Games #11

On 02/19/2022 at 11:18 AM by KnightDriver

I discovered Carcassonne back in 2007 on Xbox 360. It was a Live Arcade downloadable game based on the popular German board game of the same name. It is still available on Xbox Series S|X through backwards compatibility. I reinstalled it to see if I had any achievements left to get. I didn't.

Before I get into the details of Carcassonne , I finished a previously mentioned game in this series, The Gunk. Yes, I took a look at a walkthrough, figured out what I had missed, and continued on unaided to the end. I was very close to the final boss battle it turns out. I'm glad I finished it. Fun game.

Gameplay for Carcassonne is turn-based. You place tiles with the objective to create the highest scoring region when the tiles run out. You build castles by placing walls. You can drop down churches and roads too. You populate them with meeples in order to "own" the areas you create and get the points for them. The Xbox version works very well. It's easy to play and looks great. I had no problem with the controls or menus.

I totaly love this game. It got me into real boards games again, although, not as much as I would like since I don't have people who will play with me. Still, I'm always on the lookout for good board games to add to my shelves.

Ever since 2007 I've been wondering when more of these types of boardgame-to-videogame conversions were going to come out. Ticket To Ride is the only other one I can think of. However, I did just notice that a more 3D verision of Carcassonne has come out in 2017 called Carcassonne: Tiles and Tactics but only on Steam and Switch so far. I would love for it to be on Xbox.

Howlongtobeat.com says Carcassonne (X360 version) takes 3.5 hours. I guess that's right for the single player mode but my friend and I played multiplayer a bunch of times, extending the time played. I even tried playing some randos online too.

Sierra Online Seatle developed the original Xbox Live Arcade version.

daftman

02/19/2022 at 11:53 AM

I've always wanted to get this board game. I didn't know there was a digital version but I'm not surprised. Looks fun!

KnightDriver

02/20/2022 at 10:56 AM

At some point, I'd like to get a bunch of board-games, especially from the time of the "board-game Renaissance" which I think started late 90s, early 2000s, with game like this. Settlers of Catan, Ticket to Ride, Carcassonne and others.

SanAndreas

02/20/2022 at 02:23 AM

I got my sister Carcassonne (the board game) years ago. Me, I'd just like a video game version of Mouse Trap or Stratego.

02/20/2022 at 11:14 AM

I was just playing a game called Banner of the Maid on Xbox. The battles reminded me of Stratego with lines of armies attacking each other on a square of ground. I a played that as a kid and recently saw it at a thrift store and thought about buying it again. It's very simple though, only a little more than a game like Battleship.

The game Panzer General that was on Xbox 360 Live Arcade reminds me of Stratego a lot. It's not back compat though, so only on Xbox 360 still.

Cary Woodham

02/20/2022 at 08:24 AM

Is the the game with the little wooden "Meeple?" I think I played the board game version of this a long time ago with friends.

02/20/2022 at 11:15 AM

Yea, I'd love to play the real board game. One of these days...

PixlBit