If you're one of people who's been enjoying what Catan brought to XBLA, then get ready for Carcassonne, another European board game powerhouse landing next month. Carcassonne is more about tile and villager placement than Catan's resource management and diplomacy. The game, which premieres in June, had some more details released onto the villagers before the big unveil.
IGN reports that the visual style is very similar to Catan, however players will not by able to rotate the playing field, only zoom in and out and pan. Games are under 20 minutes in two-player and under 10 for five-player and includes Vision camera support. The XBLA version of Carcassonne also includes the "River I & II" expansion packs that were apparently released later for the board game. Players lay the river to begin the match in this version instead of starting with the basic castle/road starter tile of the original game. Sierra says other add-ons to the board game like Inns & Cathedral and The Tower will be released through Xbox Live. We hope the transaction ends up being truly micro. Carcassonne is expected to cost 800 MS points ($10 USD). We can only hope the Carcassonne gamers are as civilized as the Catan crew.
Reader Comments (5)
Posted: May 18th 2007 9:05PM Ghengis said
I've said it before, and I'll say it again -- PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE add same-console multiplayer. I didn't get Catan because I don't have a second 360 for my wife to play on, and the situation hasn't changed. If I can't play with somebody else in my own house, I'm not buying.
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Posted: May 18th 2007 10:26PM JOJOBASS said
I would love same-console multiplayer as well, but I just don't think it's possible. With Catan, other players aren't supposed to know what cards the other person has. If everyone is looking at the same screen then how can you keep these cards secret? What I wish they would do at least is include a System-Link option for Catan and the upcoming Carcassonne. At least that way you don't need 2 people with Live in order to play. To the best of my knowledge Catan does not have System-Link.
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Posted: May 19th 2007 10:36AM JonahFalcon said
Offline multiplayer will be supported in Carcassonne, officially.
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Posted: May 21st 2007 3:22PM (Unverified) said
Hmm. While I know the highlighting tile placement speeds up gameplay alot, it also gives alot away in terms of placement ideas for unobservant players. A big part of the paper version is seeing opportunities in the first place. Mixed feelings.
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Posted: May 21st 2007 8:14PM (Unverified) said
Carcassonne will have local multiplayer, up to 4 on the same console. As #2 indicates, hidden information is a big deal but fortunately there's no hidden information (no "hand") in Carcassonne. Actually that's pretty unusual for most board/card games.
To #4 I totally understand the reservations, had them too. Long story short: you want players to focus on the significant decisions such as which placement is best rather than where the valid spots are to begin with. Even the original rules suggest players help each other out. :)
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To #4 I totally understand the reservations, had them too. Long story short: you want players to focus on the significant decisions such as which placement is best rather than where the valid spots are to begin with. Even the original rules suggest players help each other out. :)
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