Game: Carcassonne: The Discovery

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rober — 2008-10-28T13:15:35+00:00

game material

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rober — 2008-08-12T12:55:41+00:00

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Gibbo — 2008-06-23T05:28:59+00:00

Inside the box art

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Gibbo — 2008-06-23T05:28:15+00:00

The Discovery Meeple pile

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Gibbo — 2008-06-23T05:27:35+00:00

We start here

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olavf — 2008-06-20T14:02:44+00:00

Thread: Re: Now I'm going to COUNT the Cities

chicagometh — 2008-05-11T01:56:19+00:00

I like this version of Carcassonne because if you fail to draw tiles to extend a mountain range or lake with cities, you just play them on the opponents features to end them and keep them from scoring more points. It is pointless, literally, to keep adding to a mountain range that has no cities within it.

Thread: Re: First Impressions and First Conclusions!

JeffyJeff — 2008-04-04T17:37:12+00:00

DiscoCitizen wrote:
There is an English version available now only through www.funagain.com, they are a great online store, and are now publishing a few games.
Update: funagain's exclusive was only on the 1st printing of the RGG English edition... the 2nd printing is available from most of the retailers now.

Also if you have the German version the official English rules can now be found on RGG's website.

Thread: Re: Rules?

JeffyJeff — 2008-04-04T17:32:11+00:00

Official English rules are now also available on the RGG website, see http://riograndegames.com/uploads/Game/Game_244_gameRules.pd...

Thread: Re: Is it just me or is drawing lots of mountains a problem?

foxxdye — 2008-03-07T20:17:56+00:00

I feel this can happen in any Carcassonne - it's the luck of the draw. But what I think is cool is how Carcassonne mitigates this luck by good plays. I've always felt that if you play well, you make almost any tile work for you.

This to me is especially true in The Discovery where scoring is a lot friendlier.

The mountain conundrum probably comes from your play style. You want to sit tight on those mountains for the bigger score but really you should be movin and shakin, making a lot of 3 tile ranges and then hittin it and quittin it. Naw mean dawg?

Thread: Re: No expansions?

NateStraight — 2008-01-21T03:09:05+00:00

Doesn't seem likely. There haven't been any expansions made yet for any of the other stand-alone Carc spin-offs, sans a fan-made river clone and a small expansion included with a regular Carc expansion, both for Hunters & Gatherers. Furthermore, most of the stand-alone spin-offs include many of the features and elements from the regular Carcassonne expansions, making a much richer game right out of the box. There isn't as much of a need for expansions with the stand-alones, which is why many people prefer them to the original.

Thread: No expansions?

senseless — 2008-01-21T02:40:03+00:00

Are there any Discovery expansions on the horizon?

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DavidNorman99 — 2007-12-23T11:49:14+00:00

Back of the Box

Thread: Re: So why is this my least favourite Carcassonne?

russ — 2007-12-13T20:25:08+00:00

Interesting. It's become the favorite Carcassonne for me and a2na. The luck of cities you mentioned doesn't seem as noticable for us as it apparently was for you. But also it seems mitigated by the fact that a city can benefit various players in various ways. One city could be giving points to several different players (due to different mountains touching its field, plus a sea).

The alternate scoring (where you must actively remove a meeple) is great. It also mitigates the problem of luck in original Carcassonne where the winner takes all in a region. In Discovery, if some other player gets a lucky tile merge that lets him get more meeples into the region than you, you are not screwed over. For us, that makes your point-earning more steady and relatively predictable and less prone to wild swings due to lucky/unlucky tile draws.

Analysis paralysis can happen in any game; I didn't notice any increased AP in Discovery compared to other Carcassonnes.

Thread: Re: So why is this my least favourite Carcassonne?

benwang — 2007-12-13T20:01:12+00:00

It is just another abstract game with pasted Carcasonne theme. If you do not like abstract game, you will hardly enjoy this game. (buyer aware) However, I think it is a pretty good abstract game.

Thread: So why is this my least favourite Carcassonne?

Badgerman — 2007-12-13T15:45:22+00:00

To put things into perspective...

I love the original Carcassonne, it's the only game I rate at 10. I even went to the real Carcassonne last year on honeymoon. I get phone calls from my FLGS whenever new expansions become available - just so I can get them quicker. I have meeples on my key ring and a meeple sticker on my car. Several friends dread our regular "every expansion" Carcassonne death-matches! (They can get vicious when the scores get past 300!)

I thoroughly enjoy the other spin-off games: The City with its wooden goodness, The Castle for some relaxing 2-player fun and Hunters and Gatherers with its Neanderthal meeples. So why do I find Carcassonne: The Discovery only little better than average? This review is my attempt to find out...

What's in the box?
There are 84 tiles in The Discovery, including the start tile. These are printed on good quality card (high production quality is what you can expect and will get for any Carcassonne game.) The tiles depict mountains, grassland and sea. On some of the coastlines, there are cities.

There are 25 'pointy-headed' meeples in 5 colours. Considering that one of your meeples will be sat on the scoring track, that limits you to 4 active meeples.

As I've already mentioned it, you won't be surprised to learn that there is a scoring track.

There are also summary cards for each player. These give a breakdown of how the scoring works.

Gameplay:
As with the original Carcassonne, players take turns to draw and play tiles. The new tile's landscape features must match the features surrounding it.

The first major difference happens now. The player chooses to either place a meeple on the new tile, or they can retrieve a previously played meeple to score points. With only a limited supply of meeples available, this means that some tough decisions need to be made. You need to keep a balance between having meeples on potentially high scoring features and having them available for any new opportunities.

Scoring is very different from the original Carcassonne. As mentioned, the player needs to actively score each meeple. There is no auto-scoring when a feature is completed. The scores work on the following basis:

Mountains:
A meeple in the mountains is a brigand. Brigands score 2 points for each city in their mountain range and 2 points for each city in grasslands attached to the mountain range. If the mountain range is incomplete, or only made of 2 tiles, then only 1 point per city is scored.

Grasslands:
Grasslands are home to the explorer meeples. Explorers score 2 points for every tile with part of their grassland. Again, incomplete and 2-tile grasslands only score 1 point per tile.

Seas:
Much as I would have loved to see pirate meeples, these are the navigators. Navigators have a strange method of scoring. They get 1 point per tile with part of their sea, with an extra point for each city on the shoreline. Incomplete and 2-tile seas only get points for cities on the shores.

At game end, any meeples still in play are scored. They score as if the feature they are on was incomplete. This applies regardless of whether the feature is complete or not.

My personal view
When Carcassonne: The Discovery was released, a lot of people I know described it as being Carcassonne-Lite or Carcassonne-Junior. Whilst I can see it's appeal as a gateway game (and several articles on the Geek show how good it is in this role), I feel that these descriptions are unfair. The Discovery is not a lighter version of Carcassonne, it's a different game. Whilst the differences are all good, in combination they take something away from the game - sadly, that something is my enjoyment.

The active scoring with reduced supply of meeples is a wonderful idea. You need to be much more strategic with your placement of tiles and your decisions of where to place meeples. (I have used this as a variant in regular Carcassonne.) The downside is that it can lead to analysis paralysis for several of my friends.

In the original Carcassonne many tiles, which are not of use for major projects, can be placed to score a quick few points. This quick-scoring can not happen in The Discovery. A tile which does not benefit your existing plans is effectively a useless tile.

Having fewer types of features, combined with the scoring mechanism, makes the cities all important in this game. Luck usually conspires to give many more city tiles to one player (who usually wins). This is less of a problem in regular Carcassonne as, if one player is getting most of the cloisters (for example), the others will usually get better cities, farms, roads, etc.

Conclusion:
I know I should like it, but I own and prefer all the other versions. As a result this Carcassonne is the one which sits on the shelf gathering dust whilst the other meeples come out to play.

I can't even bring myself to use this as a gateway game. I believe that you should be genuinely enthusiastic about a game when using it to introduce a non-gamer to our world.

So, for me, Carcassonne: The Discovery remains at 6/10 and is unlikely to rise in my ratings.

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grantham — 2007-11-10T14:51:04+00:00

Carcassonne: The Discovery at Euroquest 2007

Thread: Re: Now available outside Funagain, it appears

michaelar — 2007-08-22T19:14:01+00:00

Confirmed. From the Rio Grande newsletter (#92) from July 2007:

We expect to release Space Beans, Mü and lots more, (a collection of classic card games, including Mü and Nyet), Carcassonne: travel edition, Carcassonne: Discovery, and Manhattan (reprint of the original German version, but in English) in August.

Also note that Funagain is now selling the game with its customary 20% discount, and it's no longer on their "Exclusives" list. Yay!

Michael

Thread: Now available outside Funagain, it appears

Ceej — 2007-08-08T20:04:22+00:00

Several online stores - timewellspent.org ($16.70) and cardhaus.com ($16.17), for two - now have this game listed, and no mention is made of it not being in English. Time Well Spent specifically mentions that it was newly added to the catalog yesterday (August 7). Funagain, for their part, has two separate entries for this game - one copyright 2005 at $18.95, and one copyright 2007 at $19.95.

I'm reading between the lines here, but it looks like Rio Grande has done a second printing, and with it, the exclusive contract with Funagain has expired.

Thread: Best in class

Paul Mackie — 2007-07-11T07:26:36+00:00

I first and last played Leo Colovini’s take on Carcassonne months ago, in the German Neues Land edition, and it struck me then as the best in the series. I saw that Neil M. had brought this one along with him for the past few weeks, so in the absence of any other suggestions I proposed it be played.

Certain aspects take a bit of getting used to, in particular the scoring of mountain regions as remarked on by the other players. But like the other Carcassonnes, its strengths are in its simplicity and elegance of design, while its weakness, mitigated in part by weight of numbers (of tiles), is in the luck of the draw.

After this playing it remains as the best one of the Carcassonne series for me (so far, that is. I still haven’t played all of the variants). It’s hard to explain the appeal, but it has something to do with the scale of the game I think. Maybe I just find continents and islands intrinsically more interesting than cities and rivers. But I certainly do like how the mountain scoring system works: Capture a mountain range and you’re the king of all you can see.
15 minutes rules; 45 minutes game time.
Results: Neil M. (green): 72. Paul (black): 60. Alison (blue): 54. Brian (yellow): 38.

(Originally posted in The Mine Shaft Gap. Pic by Mijjy.)

Thread: Re: Is it just me or is drawing lots of mountains a problem?

Thies — 2007-07-09T21:19:16+00:00

That's been my experience with the game as well, although the problem isn't really drawing more mountains but drawing far fewer cities (regardless of terrain). I haven't really found a solution, mainly because my wife has not wanted to play this again after she drew many fewer cities than me last game and got beatend by a bunch.

Thread: Is it just me or is drawing lots of mountains a problem?

Krisjohn — 2007-07-07T03:42:57+00:00

I just had a game where I drew probably 3-4 times the number of mountains that the other player drew, and she drew probably 3-4 times the number of cities I drew.

It seemed really hard for me to score anything because of this. I was lapped on the score board fairly early. Does anyone have any tactical suggestions on how to cope with this?

Thread: Now I'm going to COUNT the Cities

TVis — 2007-07-03T11:29:30+00:00

I have introduced this game to a small number of households of non-gamers who have been willing participants for exposure to different game titles (and so far all express interest in continued exploration). This was a three-player game with a friend and his wife where he had previously been introduced in a two-player game while it was the first time for her. I have now played this game about six times (all as first or second time for the opponents).

Within the first two or three turns both my friend and I placed bets on Mountain tiles. His had a city. Almost immediately, and in quick succession, he drew a series of three Grassland tiles that each had a city. He managed to place them all in the same continuous extension from his Mountain, also deploying a follower on this Grassland. Both Mountain and Grassland were still open-ended.

I placed some additional tiles for my Mountain and some for my contiguous Grassland, but none had cities.

Another Mountain form appeared at the other end of my friend’s much-Citied Grassland. I would need to match up terrain on two sides in order to place a tile there. I once drew a tile that would have fit but would have created a completed Mountain of merely two tiles. That would not permit full scoring advantage of the now four grassland Cities (and still with growing potential). I plodded through a dozen more turns with quiet frustration, hoping the discovery would remain mine alone.

I completed my Mountain of perhaps six tiles, but completely barren of Cities. This felt quite strange. Contiguous Grasslands still left hope, but were yet barren also. This felt quite unlucky. I don’t remember picking many City tiles even among ones that did not fit, although I may have done so in order to collect some low-point Ocean scores for shore cities (either incomplete or only two tiles).

The wife managed to place into that other Mountain opportunity I had long waited to grab. I completed my biggest contiguous Grassland, still barren. With the number of tiles running lower I gave up on that location completely and withdrew my follower for a magnificent score of zero, despite the pleasing Mountain size.

The husband finally completed his Mountain with a fourth tile. He still held out for more Grassland.

Near the end, the wife closed that valuable Grassland since it was to her benefit also. Best I can remember through my despair, the husband got 22 for his Mountain, another 10 for his completed Grassland.

75 for Husband
52 for Wife
53 for me

I thought that in other sessions the Cities were well distributed around the ending layout. This time my memory leaves a picture of them all concentrated in the one corner (whether or not they were part of that good scoring development). That can’t really be true, even if they never seemed to pass through my hands, so now I’m planning to sort through the box and count just how many Cities there genuinely are.

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GeoMan — 2007-06-30T19:50:58+00:00

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The Gamebler — 2007-06-23T20:31:18+00:00

6am. Carcassonne.

Thread: Re: Automatic Scoring on Completion?

Aldaron — 2007-06-20T15:56:06+00:00

After completion of the turn in which the last tile is drawn, the game ends and all features with followers are scored; points are awarded to player for each follower they have in a scored feature. Everything is scored as if it were incomplete.

Thread: Re: Automatic Scoring on Completion?

Thanos — 2007-06-20T15:31:28+00:00

I think that's a mistake in the French translation, then!

Thread: More competitive variant?

Longshanx — 2007-06-10T19:49:40+00:00

Hi, has anybody tried any variant that makes this game more competitive, like scoring only in case of majority (or not being in minority) in given area?

Thread: Introductory floundering among the unfamiliar

TVis — 2007-05-07T01:49:39+00:00

A simple first-time, two player game.

My opponent was a non-gamer who has been mildly receptive to a very small number of previous sessions to introduce him to this world. I brought several new titles for him to choose from this time. Even before I explained the various options he was ready to choose The Discovery based simply the cover art.

My own status is that I have an awareness of the Carassonne series almost exclusively from casual reading at this web site. I did participate in one session of the original version with my teen-aged niece quite some months ago. She was supposed to teach me how to play. I felt bushwhacked when she engaged in tactics I did not understand were coming and she took over a contested area that gave her an immense point advantage at the end. I have not had a chance to revisit that experience.

So on this day, both of us were uncertain how things would progress. My only advantage was that I had examined the rules.

My opponent completed two areas of modest scoring early on and took the lead. My followers were deployed on areas that I was unable to make grow further or complete. Eventually I placed and drew off a follower just to get two points on the board.

We both fumbled. My opponent was not deploying all his followers. I was, but I wasn’t scoring. He reached the thirties; I was still a dozen points behind.

My opponent abandoned an incomplete four-tile grassland just to get the four points. Fortuitously I drew a tile that usefully attached to the same area so that I could deploy a follower and withdraw him for a five. And the same again for six points.

He made some more small point moves because I was catching up. He was otherwise focused on another area that he was unsuccessfully trying to expand and therefor did not catch on to what I had done.

One more grassland tile allowed me to place yet another follower, and this time make the area completed. My resulting 14 points for the seven tiles allowed me to surpass him.

We continued to the end without further distinction, but a final score 76 to 56, in my favor.

Some observations:
My opponent had some awkwardness recognizing where an area type came to an end when the identical type also began anew on the immediately adjacent side of the same tile. He would imagine they were still continuous. Or maybe that was just in the case of the mountains.

The scoring system was not hard to understand, but it was difficult to organize and solidify in our minds. We had to keep looking back at the rules to assure ourselves what to count. Both tiles and cities are sometimes included and sometimes not.

The players’ aid to summarize scoring needed its own players’ aid to describe how to interpret it. I must organize something of my own in order to present this information more easily to others in the future (and even for my own well being).

Neither of us had any feel for how readily we might be able to complete an area, unsure what types of tiles might be drawn. We were poorly equipped to choose an area to abandon earlier. We had no comparison for what might be a relatively good value of accumulated points to draw off.

I had thoughts in the last half that this game title could have been disastrous if it had been the very first introduction that I provided my opponent. I had otherwise accepted that it was safe since this series gets mentioned as a gateway choice. My confidence now wavers on that point.

Thread: Re: I want a copy- But NOT from Funagain!

JeffyJeff — 2007-03-28T16:59:24+00:00

apotheos wrote:
I am like everyone in that I like to save money.

But this subtext that people trying to make an honest buck in this industry are assholes is really contemptible. Funagain is not engaging in an unethical "monopoly", they are just keeping the market smaller by holding its hand. This limits growth, but controls costs.
Eddie, please do NOT put words into other peoples mouths... no one, especially not me, called funagain unethical (I often praise them on their marketing skills), nor are calling them a**holes.

But it doesn't mean I or anyone else has to buy this or any other products from funagain, at least here we are free to shop where we want.

Thread: Re: I want a copy- But NOT from Funagain!

apotheos — 2007-03-28T16:37:28+00:00

I am like everyone in that I like to save money.

But this subtext that people trying to make an honest buck in this industry are assholes is really contemptible. Funagain is not engaging in an unethical "monopoly", they are just keeping the market smaller by holding its hand. This limits growth, but controls costs.

Its a tired story and I'm much to tired to retread it in detail. But I think anyone who likes to complain about people charging fair prices for products is a hypocrite who wouldn't care if the industry imploded as long as they got a copy of the hot new game for as low as possible. Deeply discounted prices which should be the exception, not the norm.

Thread: Re: I want a copy- But NOT from Funagain!

JeffyJeff — 2007-03-28T15:22:30+00:00

good news folks... Jay has confirmed (http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/1414237#1414237) that the 2nd printing is not a funagain exclusive... so it will be sold via the normal distro channels... and hence the 35% discounters will be able to offer it for 35% off MSRP.

One of those discounters already has it listed for pre-order (expected avail October) for just $16.22 (that's for the English language RGG version!)... see http://www.thoughthammer.com/product_info.php?products_id=34...

Thread: Re: Looks like a general release next year

JeffyJeff — 2007-03-28T15:21:23+00:00

Thread: Re: Any news about this game going to a general release?

riogames — 2007-03-27T19:34:31+00:00

I can say officially, the 2nd printing is not a funagain exclusive.

Jay

Thread: Re: Any news about this game going to a general release?

JeffyJeff — 2007-03-27T17:23:15+00:00

JeffyJeff wrote:
RGG just updated http://riograndegames.com/allgames.html to indicate a reprint is scheduled for October... whether or not this apparent 2nd printing is also being bought by funagain as another exclusive deal I do not know... I know the 1st printing of the English version was, it could be this 2nd printing will go normal channels.
Not official info, but I'm going to say that the 2nd printing is not another funagain exclusive.

I'm saying this because I now see it as a pre-order at http://www.thoughthammer.com/product_info.php?products_id=34... for 35% off the MSRP (which is $24.95)... ie. $16.22, and expected to be in stock in October.

Jeff

Thread: TVB - 2P - In which we discover this Carcassonne version

RPardoe — 2007-03-21T06:25:53+00:00

The final game of the evening was another trade acquisition. This is a tile laying game in the Carcassonne lineage, but designed by Leo Colvini. The twist in this game is that after playing a tile, the player can either place a meeple (or) remove a meeple to score it. That is - scoring is no longer automatic when an area closes. Instead, the player must decide when to remove the meeple. Of course, one can also remove the meeple before the area is closed, but for what is essentially half points. (Full details and a much better overview can be found at BoardGamesWithScott: http://www.boardgameswithscott.com/?p=51)

Our initial builds were small and modest as we managed to set up and close areas. But it was Dave that started the first impressive build. He had started a navigator (on water) and then kept drawing water tiles with port cities on them. Rich couldn't draw any water to close off or otherwise interfere with this build. When it was closed and scored, it netted Dave 15 points (7 water tiles and 8 ports). But even with this build, Rich had managed to score in other areas, so the early score was fairly close 44-42 for Dave.

But Dave started to capitalize on more builds in the mid-game and soon had jumped to a 64-52 lead over Rich. Towards the end-game Rich had settled onto some grasslands hoping to make up the deficit. But Dave was able to hook into the grassland by playing a tile all but adjacent and then connecting the two. As the game drew to a close, Dave pulled his meeple on the last play of the game to score the (now closed) grassland. This left Rich to score the grassland after the end of the game (where it would only score half points as if it were unclosed.)

So when the final points were tallied, Dave had 109 while Rich had 82.

The change in meeple scoring adds a nice twist to the Carcassonne game. I do tend to like Hunters and Gatherers also and the terrain tiles here bear a lot in common with the angular terrain diving for the corners. But there is enough differences here that one sees the heritage in base Carcassonne while getting a unique game experience. The timing of scoring adds that nice twist.

Thread: Re: "Discovery" text doesn't make sense...

Thies — 2007-03-18T03:41:15+00:00

SanguinousRex wrote:
***

... but I think someone wrote something wrong because once a feature is finished, you remove the Meeple and score like in every Carcassonne.

Right?

Wrong. On each turn after you place a tile you may (but need not) do one (and only one) of the following: 1) place a meeple on the tile you just placed or 2) remove a meeple and score the feature from which it was removed. Features are not automatically scored when complete as in other Carc games. This has a number of implications. First, as you noted, you can pull a meeple off of an incomplete feature. Second, a meeple can get stuck on a complete feature at the end of the game if you don't have enough turns to remove it. In that case, it scores as if incomplete. And third, as you read, you can leave a meeple on a completed feature -- either because you have something better to do (place a meeple) or because you want to wait for the feature to gain in value. The latter can only happen with mountains, which score for cities in the mountains and in any adjacent plains. Therefore, adding tiles containing cities to adjacent plains increases the value of "completed" mountains.

Thread: Re: I want a copy- But NOT from Funagain!

JeffyJeff — 2007-03-17T21:52:41+00:00

asgelb wrote:
wait, so if I buy carcasonne from Thoughthammer.com it won't be an english version...? meaning the rules will be in german?
ThoughtHammer, nor Cardhaus, are resellers of funagain exclusives.

If you do end up with the German edition (such as from http://www.mustbuygames.com/product_info.php?products_id=133... for $17 and in stock, or $16 from http://www.gamesurplus.com/site/product.cfm?id=724B61CA-A326... but currently out of stock) English rules can be found at http://www.boardgamegeek.com/fileinfo.php?fileid=16491

Thread: Re: I want a copy- But NOT from Funagain!

JeffyJeff — 2007-03-17T21:45:14+00:00

treece keenes wrote:
However in this case i find these "exclusive" games (24/7, Incan Gold, and the one you mention here) at my local game store
Via funagains FRED distributor network. It's an extremely rare local game store that sells at 35% off MSRP

treece keenes wrote:
many veterans of the industry would gladly argue funagain's part in making this industry spread
No one is dismissing that, but it's also irrelevant. Why should I pay their higher prices because of funagain's part in history? My collection is larger because I was able to use the money saved by shopping elsewhere on buying even more games.

treece keenes wrote:
if you ever get a chance to roll thru Ashland Oregon they will welcome you with open arms into their stockroom to walk around and buy games right off the shelf for internet prices
You mean funagain prices, ie. 8% (ex. Ticket to Ride) to 20% off MSRP. The industry norm "internet prices" is 30-35%. Funagain is also only a recent member of the "free shipping" (for a min. purchase) club of e-tailers (though good news, with funagain's higher prices it's easier to reach their $150 min. for free ship).

treece keenes wrote:
they are in no way your typical internet store and deserve more than quick judgements by those that may come off a little naive (notice i didn't say ignorant)
Again irrelevant, even if anyone was making quick judgements (I'm certainly not), and it's a poor assumption on your part that I (or anyone else) is naive. funagain was my 1st online store, I had even been an affiliate (even though their old tracking system was flawed and for the year I was they failed to credit my affiliate account, except for one purchase but only after I gave them the invoice number and date of the transaction by someone I knew).

I've said it before, and I'll says it again, funagain has the best marketing in the business. A lot of that is due to their affiliate program, which has everyone and their grandmother providing links to funagain's site. And before BGG, funagain was the best source of reviews and ratings. The fact that regardless of having some of the highest prices of the online discounters, and are probably the single largest online board game retailer, is evidence that they know what they are doing and are doing a good job at it. I've even bought from them within the last year (blowout sale), but there is no reason why I should be a regular customer of theirs any more just because of their part in history.

Thread: Re: "Discovery" text doesn't make sense...

olavf — 2007-03-17T21:42:08+00:00

Closed mountain regions can become more valuable when more cities are build in bordering grassland.

Thread: Re: I want a copy- But NOT from Funagain!

asgelb — 2007-03-17T21:39:43+00:00

wait, so if I buy carcasonne from Thoughthammer.com it won't be an english version...? meaning the rules will be in german?

Thread: Re: I want a copy- But NOT from Funagain!

treece keenes — 2007-03-17T20:40:38+00:00

i don't get the "monopolistic"? How are they so different from any other publisher that doesn't use retailers? However in this case i find these "exclusive" games (24/7, Incan Gold, and the one you mention here) at my local game store

by the way - many veterans of the industry would gladly argue funagain's part in making this industry spread - if you ever get a chance to roll thru Ashland Oregon they will welcome you with open arms into their stockroom to walk around and buy games right off the shelf for internet prices - they also have a very small storefront just for evangelizing to the locals who have no idea how huge they are in the industry - they are in no way your typical internet store and deserve more than quick judgements by those that may come off a little naive (notice i didn't say ignorant)

Thread: Re: I want a copy- But NOT from Funagain!

SanguinousRex — 2007-03-17T18:52:53+00:00

I found my copy on eBay.

Thread: "Discovery" text doesn't make sense...

SanguinousRex — 2007-03-17T18:22:05+00:00

***
What is interesting about the game is that regions aren't scored automatically any more (when they are closed off), this is a decision left to the player (the removing of the follower). Since the regions can only get more valuable, this ensures many agonizing decisions.
***

Say what? Seems to me The Discovery plays the same way as all the other Carcassonne's with the exception that you can "pull" a Meeple out before a feature is finished.

I read the rules and NO WHERE in the rules did it mention anything about "a decision to leave a follower when a region is closed off" because a region can get more and more valuable.

Huh? Original I had imagined that that meant if you kept your Meeple there, you'd score larger and larger points as areas are opened up further and further away from the Meeple...

... but I think someone wrote something wrong because once a feature is finished, you remove the Meeple and score like in every Carcassonne.

Right?

Thread: Re: Automatic Scoring on Completion?

TnT! — 2007-03-10T13:32:53+00:00

JeremiahClayton wrote:
NOTE: Meeples on features at the end of the game are scored as existing on an incomplete feature.. regardless if the feature is complete.

Hmm, this is different than the translation of the French edition rules (available here on BGG), which specifically state:

" Final Scoring: Each player scores points for followers still in play... All landscapes are considered completed. Landscapes comprised of only 2 tiles are scored as incomplete ..."

Thread: Re: Automatic Scoring on Completion?

YellowLab — 2007-03-10T05:56:40+00:00

Nothing is automatically scored in The Discovery. You choose to place a meeple or score a meeple. Meeples must be removed to score on a complete or incomplete feature.

Thread: Re: Will pay GG for scan of English rules

YellowLab — 2007-03-10T05:53:37+00:00

Sorry dude, but this is against copyright law.
Type it up and submit it to Babelfish or in Google's Language tools or half dozen other on-line translators. They do a decent job in getting the point across.

Thread: Automatic Scoring on Completion?

TnT! — 2007-03-10T05:35:21+00:00

When a feature is completed (ie a field is surrounded) is the meeple on that piece automatically removed and scored?

Or does the player have to choose to remove that meeple and score? Which would mean he could not play another meeple on that same tile that turn.

As well, if you make a small feature, say a two tile field, can you score it on the turn you place your follower on the field? (which would give you two points immediatly)

Thread: Will pay GG for scan of English rules

TnT! — 2007-03-10T05:03:32+00:00

(game: Carcassonne: The Discovery)

Is there a kind soul out there willing to upload a scan of the English rules (I guess Funagain has an exclusive on the English version).

Thanks

Thread: solo play?

gusberman — 2007-03-01T21:07:13+00:00

Hello there!

Has anyone tried a solo version of this game?
Any ideas?

Thread: Re: Video exploration and light review

samidha — 2007-01-29T07:35:55+00:00

I decided to buy the game based on this one... Just figured I'd let you know.

Thanks for your work. It's awesome, and has taught me a ton!

Thread: Re: Carcassonne: The Discovery - A Light Review

Neil Thomson — 2007-01-03T06:15:39+00:00

Thanks for the pick-up. We did indeed play our first few plays incorrectly and this is one of those few reviews that was written without the benefit of many months of play. The review has been edited.

Thread: Re: Carcassonne: The Discovery - A Light Review

Salt-Man Z — 2007-01-03T05:53:45+00:00

Good review, and I agree with you! It's a great variant on classic Carcassonne (which I was never so hot on to begin with.) Right up there with Carc: The City.

But this caught my eye, and I have to think that you either mistyped, or you've been playing wrong:

Neil Thomson wrote:
The last big difference is that the player’s now choose when they score a feature... This involves a player forfeiting a tile draw to do so, which hurts
You always draw and play a tile, regardless of whether you place or remove a meeple. The turn order consists of (1) Draw and place a tile, then (2) Place or remove (and score) a meeple.

Thread: Carcassonne: The Discovery - A Light Review

Neil Thomson — 2007-01-03T03:24:01+00:00

All of my reviews aim to offer a brief overview that allows people to get a good feel for what the game may offer them. I feel that other reviews can be sought if detailed game mechanics is what you are after.

The Discovery is the latest stand alone addition to the Carcassonne family and as such people will always want to know what is different and is it worth purchasing if they already own the original. The answer to all of these questions is yes.

Like all of the games in the series, The Discovery is a tile laying game in which the player’s create features and place their meeple figures on those features to control them and later, score points for them. In this instalment the features include seas, grasslands and mountains. The theme of the game is the exploration and discovery of new lands. The score track adds to the theme by depicting a winding canal.

Many of the tiles also display a city icon in the grasslands, mountains or on the coast. These are important for scoring, which I will get too shortly. The major differences in The Discovery is that each player only gets 4 meeple. In addition a player can choose to score any feature whenever they like (completed or incomplete – although more points are always awarded for complete features).

However the biggest difference is that features are now no longer scored based on the majority of followers. Each follower can score a feature regardless of other followers present. All 3 of these differences result in The Discovery playing very different from the original and the player’s need to think in a very different way.

It is actually beneficial to try and sneak into your own features if they will yield big points, as they can be scored for each follower present. Indeed, with experience, players begin to realise the importance of completing an opponent’s features that they can’t get into before it gets too big.

The last big difference is that the player’s now choose when they score a feature. After a tile is pulled and placed a player can forfeit the option of placing a follower in order to score one of their followers. This can hurt but with only 4 followers it will happen many times in each game.

The scoring may appear a little complex at first and a score card is provided to assist. But it is still easier to grasp than the scoring of farms in the original. The grasslands offer 1 point per tile if incomplete or 2 points per tile if complete. Cities have no value on grasslands. Mountains score nothing for the mountains themselves, instead they score 1 or 2 points for all the cities that are connected to the mountain range if it is incomplete or completed. The seas will only score 1 point per tile if completed, but they also earn 1 point per city on its coastline regardless of its completeincomplete status.

The Final Word

In short, The Discovery will appeal to people that liked the original but disliked its cut-throat nature of stealing features. The game offers slightly fewer options making for a faster game but new options will become apparent with experience. In short this game warrants a place alongside its predecessors. Well worth a play!

Thread: Re: I want a copy- But NOT from Funagain!

Bobby4th — 2007-01-01T17:14:59+00:00

Alkorahil wrote:
I guess we are the only store that carries it.
Funagain has made it available to stores as part of their FRED program.

http://www.funagain.com/control/fred

Thread: Re: I want a copy- But NOT from Funagain!

JeffyJeff — 2006-12-30T20:36:53+00:00

Alkorahil wrote:
I guess we are the only store that carries it.
Who is "we"? You don't appear to be Boards & Bits which is in the State of Washington and your profile says Texas? I say that because it is still in stock at Boards and Bits for $16.99, see http://mustbuygames.com/product_info.php?products_id=13337

This one can now also be ordered from Amazon.de, see http://tinyurl.com/y33p9r for only 8,99 Euro (~ $12), possible cheaper as they should subtract the VAT when shipping outside the EU... and flat rate shipping to the USA appears to be 14 Euro so you should also pick up more than one copy, and might as well pick up Elasund (1st City of Catan) and Blue Moon City for 14,99 Euro each.

It also looks like Rio Grande Games will be doing another printing in 2007 acording to http://riograndegames.com/allgames.html ... the pending question on this is will the 2nd printing of the English edition also be exclusive to funagain, or does Jay's agreement with them lapse and the 2nd printing can go through the normal distro channels?

Thread: Re: I want a copy- But NOT from Funagain!

Alkorahil — 2006-12-30T20:22:54+00:00

I guess we are the only store that carries it.

Thread: Re: Video exploration and light review

Sarge77 — 2006-12-02T16:30:30+00:00

Fun and informative as always Scott. Thank you.

Thread: Video exploration and light review

snicholson — 2006-12-02T03:56:07+00:00

As an episode of Board Games with Scott, I did a 14-minute video exploration and review of Carcassonne: The Discovery.

You can enjoy this video at

http://www.boardgameswithscott.com/?p=51

Thread: Re: First Play and First Impressions

Drew1365 — 2006-10-24T16:15:10+00:00

Thies wrote:
The game description here says this game is “distinctly simpler” but offers “greater strategic depth.” I’m not sure about the former (not that this is incredibly complicated) as there are less ways to score but the scoring is more complicated, but I do agree that there is more strategic depth. While this is certainly no brain burner, it is a bit more “thinky” than plain vanilla Carc or Hunters & Gatherers.

That's my feeling, too. And it may be because I'm so used to the other Carcs, but this one didn't feel at all simpler -- particularly the scoring.