10 x 10 Challenge

[danisthirty]

I don’t know how many people here are also members of BoardGameGeek but I follow the BGG Facebook group quite closely and tend to respond to any Carcassonne questions/ observations. One thing that a lot of people there seem to be doing this year is what they’re referring to as their “10 x 10” challenge where they pick 10 games and try to play them 10 times each over the course of the year. I love stuff like this, and was thinking about doing something similar for Carcassonne. So how do people feel about narrowing the field a bit to run our own 10 x 10 challenge but with Carcassonne expansions?

- A good excuse to play 100 games of Carcassonne!
- More experience with some of my lesser-played expansions (depending on which ones you pick)
- Good opportunity to discuss favourite expansions with others or even to play against fellow Carcassonne Central members

I would anticipate that multiple expansions could be included in games but I’m not convinced that this should count as more than one game so you’d have to decide whether your game with Inns & Cathedrals + Traders & Builders gets you  a tick against I & C or T & B for example. Hope that makes sense. And since I will almost certainly never get to play 100 games in person with physical tiles, I’m thinking that games played via JCloisterZone, iOS app, Android app or any other implementations should be allowed.

Anyway, the idea is a simple one so I won’t go into too much detail. What do people think? I’m already starting to think about which expansions I’d include on my list!

Linkback: https://www.carcassonnecentral.com/community/index.php?topic=3078.0

[kettlefish]

Danisthirty,
does that mean that you don't like to start the leage with the use of the double x-score list?

see here:
http://www.carcassonnecentral.com/community/index.php?topic=2969.msg44408#msg44408

[danisthirty]

No it doesn't. This isn't anything to do with our online competitions.

[Decar]

And now the 10th expansion is drawing closer. It seems like a perfect idea!  Merits for this!

[Paul]

Does playing over 100 games in a single game session count?

[danisthirty]

Does playing over 100 games in a single game session count?

No.

[dirk2112]

I immediately dismissed this challenge as completely impossible for sit down games and incredibly easy if playing the phone game counted.  I am not going to try your challenge as worded, but I will try for a 3 x 12 challenge.  My family will try to play 3 games per month using the various expansions we have.  If we can, we won't use the same major expansions together once we use them once.  So we just played Hills & Sheep plus Bridges, Castles, and Bazaars, so that combination will not happen again.  If we average ~3 expansions a game, we can hit 100 for the year. 

Always included is the base game and GQ11

January ( 8 ):
1.  Princess & Dragon, King and Robber Baron, River 2
2.  Inns & Cathedrals, German Castles, The School
3.  Bridges, Castles, Bazaars plus Hills and Sheep

February (7):
1.  Inns and Cathedrals, Besiegers, Messangers
2.  Plague, watchtowers, halflings 1
3.  Amazonas  (Don't know if this should count)

March (9)
1.  A&M, Catapult, Siege, Cult
2.  Traders and Builders, Hills and Sheep, & Windroses
4.  Inns & Cathedrals & Corn Circles II

[TheDoctor_13]

Would be lovely, but impossible for me. Only have to expansions. Maybe include variants and base game in general for me, and once I pick up Amazonas, and when Hills and Sheep / Abbey and Mayor come out in new edition. 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9 still missing one.. guess still gives a excuse to actually use the abbot.

[danisthirty]

So somehow February is upon us already which means I can start planting out my chilli seeds to grow over the year. It also means it’s time for my first 10 x 10 update post! I was kind of sketchy on the details when I first posted about the idea, so I’ll aim to put that right here by starting off with a description of the ten expansions I chose to include in my challenge…

I included the first five large expansions as I know them well, understand how they interact (I think!) and love playing with them. I chose the other five minis based mostly on which ones add most interest to the game or change it in ways that I enjoy. Fliers for example provide an innovative new way of getting meeples into features even if they’ve already been claimed (as long as the dice is on your side). I’ve always liked King & Robber Baron because of the motivation it adds for players to complete large features, Besiegers can reduce the value of cities but increase the value of farms and The Festival provides a handy mechanism to rescue trapped meeples. I’m not a huge fan of the German Monasteries but I included them as I don’t play with them very often and almost never win games that include them. So I decided that I’d give them a second chance (well, ten more second chances) in 2017 by including them in my 10 x 10.

All games I’ve played that include at least one of the expansions above are eligible for inclusion regardless of number of players or method of play (real tiles/ JCloisterZone/ Android/ iOS). I’ve included a colour code to help distinguish between these methods but I’m already anticipating a lot more red than anything else! However, I’ve also added a secondary goal of playing at least ten games on each of the four main platforms (which will mean purchasing some of the expansions for the iOS version) so there should at least be some variation.

If more than one qualifying expansion is included in a single game, the game will still only count as one play but I will choose which expansion to tick off against it depending (most likely) on which of the included expansions I’ve played least at that point.

I’ll try to include screenshots if I remember, especially if it was a game played in person with the physical game. I’ll also aim to write a very brief one-line description of the games.

Finally, games played against AI players will not be included!

Hopefully everything is clear now, and I would encourage anyone else reading this who likes the sound of it to start their own 10 x 10 challenge and post about it on the forums so we can all support and motivate each other. Based on the disappointing number of games I played in January (see below), I think I’m going to need it:





1: (09/01/2017) - 3-player JCZ game with two randoms I met on the online server. I came last in the end but only because they both attacked me with towers at every opportunity (even when it made literally no sense to do so) and never attacked each other!
2: (13/01/2017) - 3-player physical game with Lenny and Edd. I won through more experience with Tower
3: (13/01/2017) - 3-player physical game with Lenny and Edd. I won again but it was looking pretty grim up until my last 4 or 5 turns
4: (15/01/2017) - 2-player game with TomTurbo on Android app. I won by a few points but it was very close throughout
5: (18/01/2017) - 3-player physical game with Darren and Rohail (both work colleagues - Darren left halfway through). I won
6: (28/01/2017) - 2-player JCZ game with jungleboy. I won with a huge city despite getting removed from the main farm with 1 tile to go!

I have also played (most of) a game including Inns & Cathedrals, Abbey & Mayor, Corn Circles 1 and The Fliers with TheSteveAllen and jungleboy via JCloisterZone. We haven't finished this yet though, so I haven't listed it here but will include it in February (assuming it's finished before March).

I really need to be playing at least 8 qualifying games per month which would take me up to 96 by the end of the year. So 6 isn't too bad, certainly nothing that a good February can't fix anyway!