Author Topic: What is "unfair play" in Carcassonne?  (Read 1230 times)

Offline joe_abbot

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What is "unfair play" in Carcassonne?
« on: December 20, 2022, 09:29:14 AM »
I was reading the wiki and one of the basic rule is: "Continue to play fairly and not intentionally unfair to other players".

I am curious, what is intended as "unfair play" in Carcassonne? Think of the following scenarios:
  • let a player build a huge city until it's missing only a couple tiles then add a big meeple and steal it at the last second
  • let a player build a huge city then add a Cathedral when there's not enough tile remaining for him to complete the city anymore
  • two (or more) players build an ally against the player who is winning, getting him to last place
  • make a player "waste" his last precious meeple by forcing him to play it (e.g. by using a corn circle tile)
  • and so on...
All of these are scenarios when one of the players endure "harassment" by the other player(s) but everything is legal and in the manual, so what's supposed to be "unfair play"?

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Offline Challa007

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Re: What is "unfair play" in Carcassonne?
« Reply #1 on: December 20, 2022, 09:35:25 AM »
The answer is easy: if your wife will get angry at you, then it is unfair play  ;)

Offline kothmann

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Re: What is "unfair play" in Carcassonne?
« Reply #2 on: December 20, 2022, 09:55:56 AM »
I was reading the wiki and one of the basic rule is: "Continue to play fairly and not intentionally unfair to other players".
This statement is the last bullet in the section of the wiki titled use of a table.  In this context, I think the implication is that you should not, for example, try to extend an opponents city (e.g. with CFCF tiles) with the intention of forcing it to remain incomplete at the edge of the table.  If there was a reason to make a tile placement that does not depend on the edge of the table, then it would still be fair.  At least, that would be my interpretation.

All of the other examples you give are part of a normal game.  Of course, if some players find these sorts of tactics unpleasant, you have to decide whether you want to try to win what could be your final game with that group, or live to play another day.  Or if you really want to get chased away, suggest solving the table edge problem permanently by imagining the tabletop is a torus.




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Re: What is "unfair play" in Carcassonne?
« Reply #3 on: December 20, 2022, 10:00:21 AM »
Well. In Carcassonne there is not such a think like unfair game, because regular strategy is join to already occupied feature.


What can be taken as unfair at home games, is block other player meeple on feature - with placement tile, which disallow to finish that feature until end of game.


But it's regular strategy, used to block meeple(s) on roads, cities, monasteries etc.


Other option of blocking is to close meeple in small field etc.


But back to your issue, to join meeple into city. This technique is described directly in rules. So it can not be unfair :D
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Offline DIN0

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Re: What is "unfair play" in Carcassonne?
« Reply #4 on: December 20, 2022, 10:09:30 AM »
I thought it just meant "don't cheat".

Offline Snearone

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Re: What is "unfair play" in Carcassonne?
« Reply #5 on: December 20, 2022, 10:45:33 AM »


  • make a player "waste" his last precious meeple by forcing him to play it (e.g. by using a corn circle tile)
  • and so on...

There is no need to "waste" your last meeple, you may add it, you don't need to.

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Offline joe_abbot

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Re: What is "unfair play" in Carcassonne?
« Reply #6 on: December 20, 2022, 11:43:13 AM »
I think the implication is that you should not, for example, try to extend an opponents city with the intention of forcing it to remain incomplete at the edge of the table.
Oops. We do that all the time and we don't feel like it's cheating  C:-)

Offline kothmann

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Re: What is "unfair play" in Carcassonne?
« Reply #7 on: December 20, 2022, 11:59:29 AM »
Oops. We do that all the time and we don't feel like it's cheating  C:-)
Yeah, we hated this part of a small table, and we definitely didn't want to play on a torus, so we always use a mat and the edge of the mat closes the feature.  Seems more "fair" to us.  But does create weird high-value farms with single-tile completed cities, so you can also use a "one-tile cities don't count for farms" house rule.

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Re: What is "unfair play" in Carcassonne?
« Reply #8 on: December 20, 2022, 12:16:09 PM »
I think the implication is that you should not, for example, try to extend an opponents city with the intention of forcing it to remain incomplete at the edge of the table.
Oops. We do that all the time and we don't feel like it's cheating  C:-)

If it's accepted by the group and everyone is happy to play that way then I'm sure it's fine.

At tournaments where it's just the basic game (and therefore not so many tiles) it isn't uncommon for players to manually shift the tiles back towards the middle of the table if the landscape appears to be heading towards over the edge. Most players will be perfectly agreeable in this regard as everyone wants to play the game as intended without unnecessary restrictions imposed by limited table space.

Offline NGC 54

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Re: What is "unfair play" in Carcassonne?
« Reply #9 on: December 20, 2022, 12:16:38 PM »
I think the implication is that you should not, for example, try to extend an opponents city with the intention of forcing it to remain incomplete at the edge of the table.
Oops. We do that all the time and we don't feel like it's cheating  C:-)

If it's accepted by the group and everyone is happy to play that way then I'm sure it's fine.

At tournaments where it's just the basic game (and therefore not so many tiles) it isn't uncommon for players to manually shift the tiles back towards the middle of the table if the landscape appears to be heading towards over the edge. Most players will be perfectly agreeable in this regard as everyone wants to play the game as intended without unnecessary restrictions imposed by limited table space.

Yes, Carcassonne happens into a world where there is no table. Carcassonne happens in a place where the available space is infinite. Nobody wants restrictions due to limited table space!
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Offline ny1050220

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Re: What is "unfair play" in Carcassonne?
« Reply #10 on: December 20, 2022, 05:44:24 PM »
I thought it just meant "don't cheat".

Agree!

Answering the OP:
Since when strategy and skill are unfair?

My philosophy towards games, between 2 adults or 2 teams, is always: if you are not OK with the rules, change the rules; if you can't change the rules, go play building blocks.

One of the points makes sense to me and my group. We seriously had a discussion about a 1-against-2 game. The idea is that the side of 2 players should get much more points to be considered a "draw" between the two sides, but it's difficult to decide how much more.


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