Line #18 TabletopGame/Carcassonne


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8	Tile-based boardgame (and its numerous sequels) in which players compete to control and complete cities, roads, and fields. Part of the EuroGame genre.
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10	It takes place in the southern UsefulNotes/{{France}} medieval city of [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carcassonne Carcassonne]], with each player representing the land developers responsible for the city's famous fortified architecture and layout.
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12	The gameplay has players drawing tiles with roads, cities, fields, and farms on them, and placing them on the table to match other tiles. When a player places a tile, they can put one of their "meeples" (small wooden pieces representing workers) on one of its features. When a given feature is completed (trails having two endpoints, cities being completely enclosed, etc.), the player with a meeple on it scores points and retrieves their meeple. The game ends when every tile has been placed, and the player with the most points is the winner.
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14	A number of video game versions also exist, including versions for PC by Deep Silver, iOS devices by The Coding Monkeys, the Platform/XBox360 by Sierra Studios, and the Platform/NintendoSwitch by Asmodee Digital.
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17	!!This EuroGame provides examples of the following tropes:
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19	* ArtEvolution: Compare the art of the original to the art of ''New World''. The latter is much more vibrant and detailed.
20	* ArtifactTitle: Several expansions and sequels don't have much to do with the eponymous city anymore. One reason for the MarketBasedTitle below may have been to avoid this.
21	* AwesomeButImpractical: Building massive cities (10+ tiles.) They can potentially get you a ''ton'' of points, especially with Expansions that add Cathedrals, Commodities, and the like to cities, but can easily be disrupted and made impossible to finish by a single stray tile placed by an opponent. It's generally best to close cities as quickly as possible for this reason.
22	* {{Bizarrchitecture}}:
23	** Despite tiles having to match previously placed ones (see PatchworkMap, below), the random nature of the game can lead to cities that have very strange shapes or roads that loop pointlessly or wind in odd ways. There is also no obligation to finish features, so dead-end trails and cities with missing walls can show. Even more common in ''New World''.
24	** One tile has a standard narrow city segment crossing from one end of the tile to the other -- and then a second one crossing ''over'' it by means of an enormous bridge of masonry held up by a pillar built in the middle of the first segment. Whether it ends up being two separate cities with one straddling over the other or one city crossing back over itself for some reason, it's a pretty weird architectural choice. [[GameplayAndStorySegregation Gameplay and Theme segregation]] at play - this tile was originally added in an early mini-expansion of 6 tiles covering niche situations. In this case, trying to connect city tiles while blocking a "city steal" attempt.
25	* BoringButPractical: Roads. Most players groan when they draw a road tile, but roads are a decent secondary source of "now" points and can be used defensively to split your opponents' fields and disrupt their cities. Careful road placement can also split or join fields, which can have a large impact on end-game scoring.
26	* CherryTapping: Roads again. Your average road will likely get you about 3-4 points, but because you may only need to place one or two tiles to complete a road, it can give you a small influx of "now" points which can add up over the course of a game.
27	* TheChessmaster: The best players are always thinking a few steps ahead. Do you see that guy with his meeple spaced around the board on random bits of cities? Give him a few turns and suddenly he'll be sharing your cities, stealing your commodities, and plunking cathedrals down in your other nearly-finished cities to make sure you get no points from them.
28	* DeathOrGloryAttack: Placing a Cathedral in one of your cities. If you're able to complete that city, it will be worth 50% more. If not, you get no points for the city during the final tally. Placing an Inn along a road is similar, but less severe since it's generally easier to complete a road and roads are generally worth less than cities.
29	* DexterityChallenge: The DenserAndWackier ''Catapult'' expansion adds the dexterity-based Catapult round: The players get one chance to use the catapult for stuff like knocking out opponents' followers, which forces them to take them back.
30	* DigitalTabletopGameAdaptation: The game has several digital adaptations including for PC by Deep Silver, iOS devices by The Coding Monkeys, the Platform/XBox360 by Sierra Studios, and the Platform/NintendoSwitch by Asmodee Digital.
31	* EnemyMine: Actually a good strategy when playing with more than two players. For instance, Alice, Bob, and Charlie are all playing. Alice is in the lead with 60 points. Bob has 50 and Charlie is in last with 20. Charlie has a city nearly completed and Bob draws a piece that can finish Charlie's city while also allowing Bob to share it. Bob places the piece so that he and Charlie both get 20 points from it. Bob is now ahead of Alice by 10 points while Charlie is still too far behind to matter. That said, beware that ChronicBackstabbingDisorder is possible, if not likely...
32	* ExactWords: In the Expansions with Commodities, the rules state that whoever ''closes'' a city gets the Commodities. It doesn't matter if you have no claim to the city at all. Your opponent who does own the city will still get points for it, but you'll get the (potentially much more valuable) Commodities. And if your opponent is only one piece away from finishing a city anyway, it's likely in your best interest to do this to prevent them from getting the points AND the Commodities.
33	* ExpansionPack: The original game has ''20'' expansions of varying size and complexity; some just add new tiles, while others add whole new mechanics and pieces.
34	* ExtraTurn:
35	** The Builder piece added by the ''Traders and Builders'' Expansion allows this. You can place it on a claimed city and from that point on, until that area is completed, you get an extra turn whenever you add on to that property.
36	** In the ''Hunters and Gatherers'' spin-off, completing a forest with at least one piece of gold allows you to draw a card from the bonus pile and play that.
37	* JuniorVariant: ''My First Carcassonne'' has larger tiles and meeples for smaller hands than its grown-up counterpart. Further, tiles have roads in all-directions, meaning they connect to all pre-existing tiles, and scoring is simplified to "first to complete 8 roads".
38	* KingmakerScenario: Almost inevitable when played with more than 2 players. Players who fall significantly behind in score can still help or sabotage the winning players.
39	* LoopholeAbuse: Players are not allowed to put a meeple on a feature if it already has one there. They are, however, encouraged to put them on different features and connecting it later. This is arguably a core part of the game rather than just a loophole, as the rulebooks specifically note how scoring works in this situation: if there is a tie for most meeples, all tied players score full points, but if one player has the most meeples only they get points for it.
40	* MarketBasedTitle: ''Carcassonne: Mayflower'' -- which takes place in freshly colonized America -- was renamed ''New World: A Carcassonne Game'' when it was exported to the States.
41	* OfficialGameVariant:
42	** The game's website used to feature a [[https://wikicarpedia.com/index.php/Selected_Rules_Variants list of selected variants]].
43	** The official [[DigitalTabletopGameAdaptation Board Game Arena adaptation]] has a "strategic variant" where the players get a hand of 3 tiles instead of just having to draw one and play it. This allows for more planning.
44	* OneWordTitle: Named for where the game takes place.
45	* ThePlace: The game's named for where it takes place.
46	* PatchworkMap: Averted. The board is built from randomly-drawn tiles, but the features on each newly placed tile have to match the ones on the previously-played adjacent tiles.
47	* PrisonerExchange: The tower expansion allows removing meeples from the board to capture them. When two players have each other meeples, they're automatically exchanged, otherwise they can be ransomed for 3 points.
48	* VolcanoLair: Whenever a volcano is placed, the dragon flies towards it.

Context TabletopGame / Carcassonne