Pyramid Review
Carcassonne: The Castle
Published by Hans im Glück Verlags-GmbH/Rio Grande Games
Created by Reiner Knizia
Carcassonne game system designed by Klaus Jürgen Wrede
10-piece jig-cut castle wall, 60 castle tiles, 18 wall tiles, 14 pawns and 2 keeps in two colors, color rule booklet; $19.95
Short of going into outer space, it seems like there aren't many more places into which the Carcassonne series of games can expand. Trust Hans im Gluck, then, to go to the other extreme. For the first time, instead of a wide-open playing surface limited only by the edge of one's dining room table, a Carcassonne game has built-in limits. Enter Carcassonne: The Castle.
The object of the game is to score the most points by occupying the right tiles in Castle Carcassonne.
Once more, thematic changes have been made to the Carcassonne formula. Here within the walls of the castle, there are no fields and no livestock for farmers to watch over. Instead, small market stalls dot the open courtyards. Roads are simple paths with wells and bounded by town squares, and since the whole game takes place inside a single structure, pawns gain points for completing houses and towers instead of fortifications or cities.
The heart of the game is still about laying tiles and placing one's followers on these spaces to score points. Where previous versions of the game allowed players to connect the tiles wherever they choose, The Castle forces players to play in the castle walls.
The walls enter play in a number of . . .
This article originally appeared in the second volume of Pyramid. See the current Pyramid website for more information.
Article publication date: January 23, 2004
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