Carcassonne

Game Mechanics

Carcassonne includes two very simple mechanics in board games, tile placement and area control.

Each student analyzes the area before laying down a tile, matches a pattern when placing the tile, and determines whether they can capture an area (e.g. castle, road, monastery, farm) for the most points.

Critical Thinking

Analysis (study the board and pieces)

• Visualize what a completed map of the area might look like when all the tiles are laid.
• Being able to recognize the worth of the different scoring opportunities (e.g. roads, castles) .

Synthesis (understand the rules and how to play)

• When to start a new scoring opportunity or work on an existing one.
• Understand which tile you are likely to draw.

Evaluation (learn how to win)

• How to start a scoring opportunity that connects to another player's existing but unfinished opportunity.
• Where to lay down a farmer to maximize the scoring of cities.

Geography and History

The board the students build by playing the game represents southern France, near the Spanish border. From the game description:

"The southern French city of Carcassonne was founded on an important trade route between the Mediterranean and Atlantic. Because of its strategic location, the city was often conquered and has known many rulers. As a result of this varied history, the city is famous for its unique mixture of Roman and Medieval fortifications."

• Visit Carcassonne
• Wikipedia listing
• Google Map of the Carcassonne area

Some topics you can explore with your son/daughter:

• Looking at a map of Carcassonne, why was its location so important?
• Reading the history of Carcassonne, why would scoring a castle (two points per tile) be worth more than a road (one point per tile)?
• Who do the meeples (i.e. miniature people) represent in real life? Lords? Builders? Serfs?

Resources and Links

• Board Game Geek - You'll find there's lots of expansions for Carcassonne, including a great two-player version called Carcassonne: The Castle.
• Pictures - During the class I had a slideshow set up to show pictures from Board Game Geek of people playing the game in Carcassonne!
• Online - This is one of the better board games that have come to the iPhone/iPad platform, and you can play online as well in other platforms, including Board Game Arena and Nintendo Switch.