Carcassonne, anyone?

So, our little family really enjoys playing Board Games together. We're big fans of the games in the Cranium series- like Cranium Cadoo, Cranium WhooNu, etc.- since kids ranging in ages from about 5 to 105 can play these together. Something for everyone.

Last week, our oldest child turned 10. A whole decade old. Unbelievable. She moved into her own room and is absolutely revelling in her "independence"! Our younger daughter is now almost 8- and I think what is getting her through being left in their room by her older sister is the fact that we promised we'd get her a set of bunk beds, so she can "share" with her little brother when we get him. In reality, since we are lucky enough to have 4 bedrooms, "little brother" can have his own room, once things settle down, but I think they'll both appreciate the company for at least a little while!

But I digress...

Given the growing maturity of the kids, I thought that maybe we'd branch out in our board game collection and the game "Carcassonne" was recommended to me by a colleague. Her adult daughter and husband are big fans, but she said that younger children could certainly play and understand the basic rules and strategies.

If you've never heard of it, Carcassonne is a German tile-laying game, named for the medieval city in southern France. The idea is to build cities, fields, and roads by strategically laying tiles and collecting points once a feature is completed. You also collect points by placing "followers" or "meeples" (as they're known in Europe) on various features. The meeples can be farmers, thieves, knights, or monks, depending on where they are placed (for example, a monk is a meeple who is placed on a cloister!).

So, I'm now just reading the rules booklet and trying to figure out the scoring. I'm getting lost on the Farmer scoring at the end of the game- which, as I understand it, might determine who wins! Any Carcassone experts out there?