Pyramid Review
Carcassonne: Hunters and Gatherers
Published by Rio Grande Games
Written by Klaus-Jürgen Wrede
Illustrated by Doris Matthäus
Translated by Jay Tummelson
$19.95
In our household, Carcassonne, the German board game of 2001, remains a firm favorite. This is particularly so because it lives up to its description as being "especially good for two players," just as it is for up to five players. The five-player maximum was expanded with this year's Carcassonne: The Expansion to add a sixth participant, as well as a host of new tiles that make a good game even better. So when word came of a further expansion, there were smiles all round.
However, Carcassonne: Hunters and Gatherers is not an expansion set but a new game. Well . . . it's not an entirely new game, since it uses the same style of play as Carcassonne, but with a theme, scoring method, and set of strategies all its own. Carcassonne: Hunters and Gatherers moves the game's subject from the Roman-Medieval town of Carcassonne back to the Stone Age, when rival tribes hunted wild animals across verdant meadows, gathered nuts and berries from the bountiful forests, and caught fish from the many streams and lakes, all to provide their peoples with the means of survival.
This being a German boardgame, and a Carcassonne variant no less, the production values are as excellent as they ought to be. Inside the solid box, the prospective tribal chief will find . . .
- 79 one-inch square full-color land tiles on sturdy card
- 12 . . .
This article originally appeared in the second volume of Pyramid. See the current Pyramid website for more information.
Article publication date: December 6, 2002
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