Carcassonne box

Carcassonne news from UK Games Expo

It’s the last day of the UK Games Expo 2015 here at the Birmingham Metropole and I have just walked out of a seminar on the success of Carcassonne.

I was hoping to share photos with you. However, as there were prototypes on display, photography was understandably forbidden.
I can tell you that there are 3 stand alone Carcassonne games due to be released this year. The largest of which is… Star Wars!

Disney control much of the look feel of the game, but Klaus-Jurgen thankfully has complete control of the rules. It’s the familiar tile laying placement of Carcassonne only with dice based battles along flight paths (roads) and planets. Will it retain the iconic meeple piece or have a trademarked ship/token? No one is certain and we’ll have to wait and see!

The second game shown has a working title of ‘across country’ and is aimed at family market. The background is countryside and you build fields instead of cities. Each field can grow a crop and you get bonus points for growing all five types. Also there is a new mechanic where meeples move along roads as you build them.

The third one shown was the ONLY prototype in existence as it was hands drawn by the designer himself. Amazonas starts with one large river tile and you place tiles to extend it, build villages along side, form tributary rivers and move boats around docks.

It’s great that there are still fresh ideas in the Carcassonne family as it celebrates 15 years next year. The audience was very keen to have Germany’s famous ‘Carcassonne on tour’ at the expo next year when it upscales to be in the NEC. It may well come to pass.

Watch this space as this Carcassonne fan-boy will be sure to tell you!

For me, this is one of the joys of attending the UK Games Expo. The panels are often informative, always enjoyable and sometimes, like this, allows you to connect with the designers and publishers.

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