Carcasonne - Game Report

I picked up the latest expansion for Carcasonne yesterday (The Princess &
the Dragon) and pulled it out to play with Julie (my wife for those of you
who don't know) last night. So after dinner (Chinese, yum!), we pulled out
the old favorite Carcasonne.

Unfortunately, we realized that we hadn't played the expansion prior to
that - The Count. So, to ease the confusion, we decided to take it one
expansion at a time. After a brief read of the rules, we sat down and
started playing. While we both enjoy Carcasonne, we both concluded that the
time has come to stop playing with every expansion each time we play.

For those of you who don't know, Carcasonne is a tile laying game where
players earn points by claiming and completing cities, roads, and cloisters.
When you add other expansions, points are multiplied by playing certain
tiles. Additional points are earned by collecting commodities as well.
Sound confusing? It is a little bit but that confusion is from the multiple
expansions and the new rules that accompany each new expansion.

I love original Carcasonne and find it a great game for those who haven't
ventured off the beaten path of Monopoly and Sorry. The Count is a great
concept in and of itself, and I think we would have enjoyed the game more if
we hadn't tried with all the expansions published to that point.

The Count rules are quite simple, actually. When a player finishes
something that they don't score points for, they may place a follower
(meeple) in the city of Carcasonne. Later in the game, when something is
scored, they may, at their choice, move any number of their followers to the
item being scored. It works well to take majority of a high scoring item
away from someone, adding a bit more of a "stick it to your neighbor" factor
to the game.

On the surface, I liked the Count expansion. And I'm sure I'll like The
Princess and the Dragon as well. But I think I might start playing
Carcasonne with only a couple of the expansions to make the game play faster
and less cumbersome. As with all things, too much of a good thing is still
too much.