Carcassonne The Tower (Expansion #4)

Players 2-5 (Best with 3)

Playing Time  60 Mins

Age 8+

Complexity  2/5

REQUIRES Carcassonne Base Game to play!

The Tower is the fourth major expansion for the Carcassonne game. Tower segments are added to the game, as well as some new actions. Instead of placing a Meeple as usual on their turns, players can now either place a tower segment on a tile with a space for a tower, add a tower segment to a tower already standing, or place a Meeple on top of a tower (which "finishes" it).

Placing a tower segment allows you to capture other players' Meeples, so long as they are in view of the tower in an orthogonal direction. If the tower is 1 piece high, they can capture Meeples that are within 1 tile of the tower; if the tower is 2 pieces high, they can capture Meeples within 2 tiles of the tower; etc. Not only do players lose whatever they may have scored with that Meeple, but they also have to pay 3 victory points if they want to free their Meeple.

Carcassonne is a tile-placement game in which the players draw and place a tile with a piece of southern French landscape on it. The tile might feature a city, a road, a cloister, grassland or some combination thereof, and it must be placed adjacent to tiles that have already been played, in such a way that cities are connected to cities, roads to roads, etcetera. Having placed a tile, the player can then decide to place one of their meeples on one of the areas on it: on the city as a knight, on the road as a robber, on a cloister as a monk, or on the grass as a farmer. When that area is complete, that meeple scores points for its owner.

During a game of Carcassonne, players are faced with decisions like: "Is it really worth putting my last meeple there?" or "Should I use this tile to expand my city, or should I place it near my opponent instead, giving him a hard time to complete their project and score points?" Since players place only one tile and have the option to place one meeple on it, turns proceed quickly even if it is a game full of options and possibilities.

First game in the Carcassonne series.

 

2012 Ludo Award Best Board Game Editor's Choice Winner
2004 Vuoden Peli Family Game of the Year Winner
2004 Vuoden Peli Family Game of the Year Nominee
2004 Hra roku Nominee
2002 Årets Spel Best Family Game Winner
2001 Spiel des Jahres Winner
2001 Spiel des Jahres Nominee
2001 Spiel der Spiele Hit mit Freunden Recommended
2001 Nederlandse Spellenprijs Nominee
2001 International Gamers Awards - General Strategy; Multi-player Nominee
2001 Deutscher Spiele Preis Best Family/Adult Game Winner
2000 Meeples' Choice Award

- $24.99