Carcassonne Central

Fill the Hole:

I like the abby mechanic of filling holes. But why only 1 per person?

I noticed in the big faq a varient called "mountians" where you can place a tile upside down on the edge of a farm and make miners.

So how about this varrient:
Anytime there is a hole (an empty square surrounded by 8 tiles) a player may place a tile upside down in the hole. This is a mountain(or a hill) and closes/ends all adjacent tiles.

thoughts?

May be TOO powerful on scoring the "impossible tile to draw" thing, how many times we try to stop a HUGE castle to be closed with a misbegottenpig "1 shot tile", if we let the cance to all players to close "desesparates" features, we lose the part of the game called "B!#$H G@? @$$ MTR*oops*ker"!!

The abbey gives you 1 chance(ONE CHANCE ONLY!!) to close the "impossible tile to draw" thing, as far as i'm cocern i do not think that this variant will be effective.

If that's what someone wants in their game, it will work out perfectly, but like Deatheux said, it removes some of the strategy. It won't be for everyone.

Heh I guess this is more about 'finishing' the map as opposed to the strategic feel.

When playing with my wife (who can be very obsessive-compulsive ;)) she gets really annoyed at not being able to complete features of the map.

I guess this would be more of a ‘fun’ variant.

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The Hills of Carcassonne: A ‘Fun’ Variant

• When a space is left on the board that is bordered on all 4 sides by other tiles, a player may place a tile upside down in that space. This is a Hill and no followers or special pieces may be placed on that tile.
• The Hill tile closes/ends all tiles that touch its sides. Score tiles on each of its sides as normal for being completed if the Hill would complete those tiles. The Hill tile never counts as a tile type and is not counted for scoring.
• Farms may not continue through the Hill (but may still go around it as normal).

Strategy Notes: This allows players to complete features of the map and complete tiles to free up followers that would otherwise be trapped waiting for the perfect piece. There is no advantage for other players to complete a ‘hole’. A player who uses this is giving up the opportunity to place a tile & follower elsewhere.

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If anybody would like to try playing it with both competitive and non-competitive groups I'd be intrested in any feedback!