Author Topic: Abbreviated Mega Carcassonne (Read 3948 times)

Guesclin · « **on:** February 09, 2014, 09:21:58 AM »

Just a question,

I really like to play with a lot of different extensions and like mega carcassonne. It's just that it takes long and the casual players get bored. So i was thinking about reducing a lot of tiles. For example with fliers , ferries bazar etc. i could just put in 1. For trade goods i could go with 2 cloth, three grain and 4 barrels. For gold mines i could do 2 tiles and make 1 bar 1 point, 2 bars 2 point etc.

Some expansions can be more difficult, like the dragon. Maybe insert 2 volcanoes and 4 dragon tiles.

I feel it has a lot of advantages cause it will make the game a lot shorter. It will restore the balance between base game and expansion so that not every tile gets to do something. Furthermore tile counting will be a lot more difficult. And casual players won't get bored.

Has anybody tried this?
What are good house rules and how much of each expansion did you use?

Or does it ruin the game?

KInd regards

Linkback: http://www.carcassonnecentral.com/community/index.php?topic=614.0

Bixby · « **Reply #1 on:** February 09, 2014, 04:23:37 PM »

We have ALL Of our tiles mixed together. I have multiple sets of Carcassonne and multiples of almost all of the expansions. We leave the tiles all together and vary the game length by number of tiles pulled or we play for a set amount of time. The nice thing about leaving all of the tiles in, is you never know if any or many of the expansion tiles for a particular expansion will show up. It creates a tension by making the tile distribution an unknown.

Scott · « **Reply #2 on:** February 10, 2014, 11:14:37 AM »

I would strongly recommend using a time limit instead of manually creating a subset of tiles. Having all the tiles available will increase the randomness and make every game a little bit different.

Carcking · « **Reply #3 on:** February 10, 2014, 05:31:28 PM »

I recommend using Father Time.
It's perfect for large mega-carc games.

BT · « **Reply #4 on:** February 11, 2014, 12:58:23 AM »

Hi Guesclin,

If you are interested in Mega Carcassonne but need to shorten the game, try Whaleyland's Campaigns in the downloads section. They are a great way of continuing the Mega Carcassonne style gaming experience while being shorter and helpful for newer players how get bored or overwhelmed by too many tiles.

Fritz_Spinne · « **Reply #5 on:** February 11, 2014, 04:12:07 AM »

Another idea for a shorter Megcarcassonne:

Take a table for only the amount of tiles you want to play and additional 5 - 10% extra. E.g.: A playing area with 50 x 70 cm gives you enough place for 150 tiles + 15 tiles extra.

You play until someone realizes there are only 15 (or less) holes left. Now anyone can grab any left tile and check, whether there is any use for it (Ligretto style). He can place and score for it without turn order.

After anyone is pleased with the landscape you do the final scoring.

Paul · « **Reply #6 on:** February 11, 2014, 07:45:06 AM »

Yes, I do feel, even as a fan a mega Carcassonne game can get tedious rather fast. Some of the expansions I do agree one should use less of, like the Bazaar.

Also, the most common tiles, if you got 16 of them for example, can reduce that amount to 4.

The biggest flaw in my opinion is when playing a grand game is you have too many options that it, in itself, dissipate the challenge of contemplating your next move. With only the base game, you could plan ahead knowing there's only one 4-city tile etc.