5.21.2009

Mom. I'm board.

Craig and I love games but struggle to find good ones since it is just the two of us most of the time. Most board games aren't even possible for two people (Clue) or while technically they work for two players, they aren't any fun (Risk). For a while we were stuck with just Uno, Scrabble and Jenga. We also have chess but I'm not a big fan as I don't like games that are too competitive.

But now we have a new favorite game that is great for times when it is just the two of us - Carcassonne.

I was looking around the game section of a toy store in Austin a while back and saw it. Never having heard of it, I read the box and decided I liked it for two reasons:

1) It said "Great for two players." I believed them.

2) It won some German game award and Germans really seem to know their games.

Turns out, it is a really good game. We have been playing it all the time. It's a German-style board game (Settlers of Catan is another of this type, but see what I mean about Germans and their games, they have their own style!). Basically it involves laying down land tiles and claiming the items on them (roads, farms, cities) with your little followers to collect points. It's a perfect combination for Craig and I, it takes thought/skill and not just luck so he is happy, but it isn't super-competitive and even if you feel like you are way behind, the game isn't over which makes me happy. If any of you other couples are looking for a fun game you can play, check it out.

2 comments :

  1. Is Carcassonne better for two players than Settlers of Catan? Neal and I sometimes play Settlers, but it's not quite as fun for two as it is for more.

    We have the same problem trying to find two-person games. I think Monopoly works with two, but Neal is more of a Monopoly purist and disagrees.

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  2. Well, I've never played Settlers with less than three people so I can't really say how it compares to that. But "according to boardgamegeek.com Settlers is
    "best with 4, recommended for 3-4", while Carcassonne is "best for 2, recommended for 2-5" so I would say yes, it is better.

    And actually, I have thought about how it would be to play Carcassonne with more people, like if we had a game night, and I'm not sure it would be as fun as just Craig and I.

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