Carcassonne 20th Anniversary Edition Review - with Chris Yi

[@ThudMan67]

My wife and I bought this version on impulse without even knowing what Carcassonne was. That was about three months ago and we now have the big box, 6 separate expansions, the Star Wars edition, and custom meeple. Absolutely love this game.

[@richardblkmann3298]

Being relatively new to the hobby, I knew Carcassonne was a game that I would eventually want in my collection. The box and UV printing were what convinced me to go ahead and swoop up this edition. It really is quite gorgeous in person. Thanks for the review Chris.

[@JosephFlemming]

this edition is SO amazingly lovely. the tiles are slightly different color on the back than the other normal expansions but with a tile tower that's not a problem.

[@JonathonV]

Thanks for the review! I like how Chris explains things. Even though I don’t particularly like Carcassonne, I still watched this review because I wanted to see how different this 20th anniversary edition was.

[@Tsotanga2]

2 or 3 of the new Arrow tiles should absolutely be exclusively dealt/drafted at the beginning of the game per player. Then you can time your placement and plan ahead w/ equal chances.

[@TheRASDEL83]

Carcassonne is an ever green for me. It's not the most amazing game, but it's just simple and safe. Anyone can play it and it works for what it is.

[@stephaniecousins3094]

Thanks for reviewing the 20th anniversary edition! This video was super helpful.

[@ItsTheRealJefe]

So the 20th anniversary expansion sounds similar to The Festival, which was the one offered in the 10th anny edition. In it, 10 new tiles had an icon denoting they were part of the special set (and their configuration was completely new, like a right/left turn road from a city). If you placed one, you could do the normal Meeple action, or remove a stuck meep (scoring no points, but freeing up it's usage).

[@ParlorPunch]

Wow that was great Chris! Quick but dense with cool details, thank you👏👏👏

[@Andrew_NJ]

Starting with the Z-Man Carcassonne 2014 Edition it came with both the Abbot and River expansions. Prior to that all the editions except for the original came with just the River expansion.

[@philipthonemann2524]

Very helpful summary of this new box - many thanks! In fact, I have now bought it - and I rather like the stickers on the meeple.

[@Dalmatinac3]

Our favorite is Star Wars Carcassonne, the Original and also Carcassonne The City. The City is so good with the wooden pieces around it. So much strategy.

[@jamesbrazeal3847]

I love Carcassonne

[@TerrierHalo]

Thank you for the review!

[@bornofashes]

I was happy to get this as a sort of reset since my old box of Carc had become bloated with 20 expansions and was a chore to get to the table.

[@JosephFlemming]

good point. I got some promos and one small expansion and my rule is once this 20th box is full no more expansions!

[@edithzarinanajimenez1268]

Hi! I’m trying to decide if I should buy this edition or not for our first Carcassone game. Will it work with other regular expansions? Thanks 🙏

[@rogernagel1041]

I ordered it today as Boardlandia has it on sale for 31 dollars. Fills tile laying hole in my selection.

[@AFAndersen]

I think it's odd how they added the abbot and not the builder. Also having the farmer as a optional rule is basically dumbing it down to 8 year old territory. The farmer isn't just "another" action. It's the only permanent placement. It means your action has effects down the line. Will you run out of meeples because you have too many farmers? Can you wait another 4 rounds before placing your farmers?

[@ryanhymans7728]

The abbot and the river are both part of the most recent printing of the base game. It looks like they just took what they now consider the base game, polished it up a bit, added a new expansion to sucker the existing fans to repurchase, and put it in a fancy box. None of the other previously released expansions were added. I will add that the new expansion is basically a reworking of several previous ones (builder, portals, flying machine to name a few). I agree regarding farmers. When Chris called it a variant I was confused.

[@AdamJohnson0110]

I recently ended up getting the big box, as opposed to the 20th anniversary edition.

[@chieparras4815]

me too.. but haven't opened it yet. Is the big box better than this 20th anniv edition?

[@AtreDias]

@Dice tower: Do you know if a rumored 3.0 version is coming and would you recommend that one or this anniversary edition?

[@mattk6272]

I love the simple yet elegant boxes like that. It would fit in well beside the Carson city big box... But if course it's only for special editions, probably wouldn't lure in most people without some kind of pretty picture

[@stevenxu5747]

Have you played Carcassone: The Discovery? It's a different game (doesn't need Carcassone base game to play), and in my opinion is a better rule set.

[@wroot_lt]

At least this edition is back to normal looking art than the garish looking printing a few years ago with over saturated colors. Also, farmers FTW! :D

[@KabukiKid]

The City and The Castle versions are both still out of print, right? Why is that still the case? I feel like it is time for Vasel's Law to kick in! ;-)

[@jasonpetrillo216]

I thought the shield gives 1 more point per tile...but I can be wrong. It has been awhile since I played it.

[@milennilievv4261]

The shield give +2 additional points when you complete the castle. When the castle is incomplete at the end of the game the shield give you +1 point.

[@MrGoandrush]

"double up meeples" is goo idea. "place on any incomplete features" were already exist (Princess & Dragon exp, teleport tile) "extra turn" that is cool also, with the builder meeple that could be serious amounts of turn if played wisely. Double river tile.. well that just makes easier to find the start tile. However this new expansion is cool, I would rather see this as a separate expansion and not buy the whole game over again.. 20th Anniversary should be "mist over Carcassonne" instead because that is really different and add a great twist to the game. Or a nice anniversary game would be a barand new big box (with NOT the usual expansions as always) For example re release The Pest, Seige and other rare expansion.. They should revise the Catapult & also release old version for under the big top. (already exist in fan made edition) That would be a real 20th Anniversary extras! Also many fan made expansions what could be official, or print & play expansions.

[@tehpickle1250]

Ah I was expecting something a little jazzier for a 20th anniversary, though that is a rather nice box! I know it’s a bit more complex, but I’ll just stick with Isle of Skye.

[@xshadowscreamx]

That truly is the best version of Carcassonne

[@Drewkas0]

In my old edition, each city scores 4 points to the player with the most farmers supplying it. Now it’s 3 points and works slightly differently. Why did they change that rule?

[@woodywilson5518]

When the game came out a lot of people were incorrectly scoring the farmers this way. The only difference was they were scoring 4 points instead of 3. I remember there was a bit of a discussion about it at the time and many people just decided to continue score farms "the wrong way" anyway, Myself included. I think they officially changed the rule with the 2nd edition, But I don't know the details of that decision.

[@Ivanesbjerg]

Alot of sound buzzing in this video :/

[@lastburning]

It's ridiculous that farmers are part of a variant nowadays. They are an integral part of the game and I would never play without them. Especially with the newest farmer rules they are not even hard to understand. They used to be more confusing back in the day. Taking the farmers out should be the variant, not the other way around. I really like Carcassonne.

[@christianyetter6166]

Don't disagree with any of your points. I think it's more a marketing-psych decision, though. If you're learning a new game and then you learn that you're learning the basic/baby "variant," that might leave a bad taste in your mouth. If, on the other hand, someone's teaching you a new game and they tell you you can handle the more complex/deeper variant, that feels good.

[@BoardGamesBricksHobbies]

I agree, Carcassonne doesn't feel nearly as interactive or complete without farmers. I wonder if it's a marketing thing so they can say "three different ways to play" or whatever.

[@DTChrisYi]

@@BoardGamesBricksHobbies It does make the game a much easier first play, but I agree that I will ALWAYS play with farmers unless I think the game needs to be simplified for the new people at the table. But usually then I'd choose a different game.

[@littleceasar9351]

I never play with the farmer. Then again I don’t play TTR cutthroat either.

[@seanh5671]

I've heard of people complaining that the tiles don't punch out well in this edition. Did you find that to be a problem?

[@DTChrisYi]

I did not notice that, all the edges looked fine to me.

[@seanh5671]

@@DTChrisYi Awesome, thanks!

[@gregwestman]

I have always enjoyed Carcassonne, the problem has always been drawing random tiles that can be overpowered. Seems like this new variant just re-assures my worry. House rule tile drafting and ability to hold 2-3 tiles max at one time, adds some more agency, and strategy.

[@joseroman3791]

Between this and the Plus version, which do you think is better?

[@DTChrisYi]

I'm not familiar with the naming of "Carcassonne Plus." It looks like it's the most recent printing of the big box version that has several expansions. Value for money, I assume the big box is better if you likethe expansions it comes with. The only issue being the box is HUGE. Way bigger than it needs to be. So, depends on what you're looking for.

[@EfrainRiveraJunior]

I love how your evil mind works. 🤣

[@benanddaniellereviews]

Still waiting on a Winter reprint Asmodee….

[@ThymeKeeper]

I kind of like that river, but I bet not everyone does :)

[@rav3style]

I mean, it’s the most illegal river ever

[@DTChrisYi]

@@rav3style But it sure fits in frame!

[@johndenveraurelio4995]

No dragons on the Anniv edition

[@ginewes]

I heard that the streets would not fit well together anymore. Did you notice this in any way?

[@gelui13]

Sorry Chris but I´ve got to disagree! The whole review is based on the supposition that you have already an older version of the game or you can get a second-hand one cheaper. This in Europe at least could be found at 35 € which is okay IMO. If you have no other version of the game I think this one comes with really interesting modules. Taking into account that this is a welcoming game the aesthetic is quite important, and this one looks muuuch better than older editions!

[@DTChrisYi]

I agree with what you're saying. I believe I tried to say at the end I think you should get whichever edition is available to you. If this is the one you can find, I still do highly recommend it. Just not necessarily over a discount used copy if one is available to you.

[@natecress4226]

I love Carcossonne so much and really wanted to want this...but there's just nothing new other than a pretty box. So a hard pass. :(

[@xshadowscreamx]

Literally has a new exclusive expansion.

[@natecress4226]

@@xshadowscreamx ok you got me. The main point was I really wanted to have a good excuse to abandon my current copy and get the anniversary edition. There isn't enough here for me to do that....which makes me disappointed.

[@DJDan07]

If Carcassonne came out today, would it still be a 8.5/10?

[@philipmoser3784]

For me it would. It scales well and has a simple but elegant ruleset which offers tactical strategic gameplay due to the constantly changing board state. Many tile laying games have tried, but nothing has quite replicated it.

[@lastburning]

The thing that makes Carcassonne so good is the high interactivity. It matters a lot what your opponent does. This seems to be missing in other tile laying games people say are better. I like Carcassonne.

[@then8mac]

I would give it an 8.5 today. I play it on BGA a lot. Holds up well IMO. BGA needs to add more expansions though.