Carcassonne

Genre: Turn-Based Strategy / Board Game

Players: 1-6 Competitive (Local)

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Review:

Carcassonne is the digital version of a board game that is one of the new standard-bearers of a new Renaissance for the medium. The basic concept of the game is that players are creating the game board as they play, taking turns placing tiles that determine the location of roads, castles, and monasteries, and using a limited number of “meeples” to lay claim to these territories, in hopes of ending the game with the most valuable total territory claimed for themselves.

The Nintendo Switch version of the game includes The River and The Abbot expansions, with the Inns and Cathederals expansion also available for purchase for $7.

As for how this version of the game plays, I have some serious issues. Firstly, the default view for this game is at an odd, skewed angle, and it’s not readily apparent how to change this. What’s more, the game’s controls are awkward and make it very easy to accidentally confirm a placement and end your turn when you intended to place a “meeple”. What’s more, the game tugs on your cursor, making it so that you’re always at least a little worried that it’ll force you into making the wrong choice. At least once, I was kept from being able to place a meeple in a spot despite that there was no reason it couldn’t go there.

Beyond the game’s multitude of control issues, there are also issues with how the content in the game is presented. There’s no readily available way to check to see who has control over a territory if multiple meeples are on that territory. Furthermore, the game’s tutorial completely skips mention of claiming fields (one of the most important parts of the game). And the graphics and sound, while functional, are nothing particularly noteworthy.

Contrast this with the version of Carcasonne available on Xbox 360 and Xbox One, which has memorable music, a bright, clean presentation, solid controls, and just overall is a better version of the game… despite being released over a decade ago.

Honestly, this version of Carcassonne feels rushed and sloppy, and there’s no excuse for that when a perfectly functional, better version of the game was on consoles over a decade ago. If you’re looking for a great digital version of this game, get the Xbox version. If you want a great board game on the Switch, get another game.

tl;dr – Carcassonne is a superb board game, but the Nintendo Switch version is buggy, sloppily-made, and riddled with problems. If you want to play this game on the console, get the excellent Xbox version. But skip the Switch version even if you don’t have an Xbox – it’s terrible.

Grade: D

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