Vacation in the South of France During Quarantine.
- Bert
- Apr 13, 2020
- 2 min read
Updated: Apr 14, 2020
Carcassonne, France is fortified city in the south of France and a UNESCO world heritage site that dates back to the neolithic period. Carcassonne is characterized by its large city walls and the river Aude. That my friends is the setting of today's game Carcassonne. I have asked my wonderful wife to join me in the game today. The pink champagne did not hurt in convincing her to play.
We setup on the kitchen island since its a large area and in close proximity to the champagne. We plotted to build our french countryside while the our little one took her nap. The box of Carcassonne we purchased included the river and the Abbott expansions. These add a nice little bit of flavor and replay value. Carcassonne comes with a 72 tiles with city walls, abbeys, roads, farms and gardens and with any great game there is a fist full of meeples. You also get 12 river tiles in the river expansion that have some of the other features on them and a special meeple the Abbott.
The game is a game of racking up victory points by building and claiming cities, farm fields, roads and abbeys throughout the French countryside. On your turn you grab a random tile and play it down next to another tile and you can claim a feature with your meeple. when you complete a feature (ex. connecting all the city walls up, finishing a road between 2 points), you score the value of the feature in victory points. The strategy of the game lies in being able to play a full game during your baby's nap time, as you can tell by the pictures we did not implement that strategy well, we had to start over after she woke up. But seriously, the strategy is about managing your finite number of meeples so that you are able to claim points and managing how the board is being build so that you can maximize your points and minimize your opponents. While we played this game 2 player you can play it up to 7 players. At under $40 this game gives you a lot of value for your dollar in fun and replay.
Designed by: Klaus-Jürgen Wrede
Players: 2-5
Published by: Hans im Glück Verlags-GmbH, 999 Games, Albi, Bard Centrum Gier
Year Published: 2000
Recommended Ages: 7+
Time to Play: 30 minutes
Playing Carcassonne during quarantine gave me that strange travel feeling without leaving the table, and I liked how the post tied the game back to the real walled city in southern France. It made me think about slower escapes where place, quiet, and connection matter more than rushing around. A Retreat House like Bliss House fits that mood beautifully, with Blue Ridge mountain views, forest trails, waterfalls, ceremony space, meditation, yoga, and room for a group to reset together. After months indoors, I’d choose that kind of sacred, nature-filled accommodation for real rest, not just another busy getaway.