Carcassonne was originally released by Hans im Gluck in 2000. It won the SdJ that year, and since has become a phenomenon. There are now 4 large Carcassonne supplements, 4 small Carassonne supplements, and 5 variant games. Within our Eurogame community, only The Settlers of Catan has been more successful in sheer bulk of releases.
This week I’m beginning a series that will analyze that phenomenon — talking about how Carcassonne works and also examining how the game system has changed over the last six years. This first installment will examine the mechanics of the original game, while in future articles I’ll be talking about how the game’s evolution through a series of expansions and new games.
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