Turn Length

[Frabeco]

My DH and I play mostly just the two of us.  We have most of the expansions, but prefer to play with the River II and Inns & Cathedrals.  Just using these usually takes us about 2 hours.  Is this normal?  If we play other expansions, it takes longer!  My husband is very analytical and will have to examine every possible location a tile can be placed , I tend to be more impulsive in play.  We each end up winning an equal amount of time....we once even tied! (We have only been playing since August, before that we played Settlers of Catan)

My question...Does anyone place a "length of time" restriction on how long a turn can take?  If so, how long?

[Deatheux]

usually i play a full game in 2:30, 3 players ALL SETS included(except cataplt who not arrived yet)

i am not sure that looking for every possibility can allow that much points... sometimes it worth it, but at 80% of draw, you know exacly where it belongs(witch gice a rythm to the game and speed it up).

[Joff]

With just River II and I&C should not take that long to play!

I sense that some AP is creeping into your games. With those expansions a game will last approximately 45mins - 1 hour.

However, we do not set any time limits for our games.

[Frabeco]

Thanks!

What does AP mean?

[Joff]

Sorry, it's short for Analysis Paralysis.

This is where one player (or players) take an incredibly long time to play their turn. This is due to them going over every available option to find the best move. It can make games become tedious.

[Whaleyland]

I friends who do that while playing Axis & Allies and RISK. All the other players generally play a computer game on the side while this one player contemplates his moves. Sometimes, it has taken him up to 45 minutes on A&A. Luckily, Carcassonne is not quite so complex.

[Scott]

If you think turn length is becoming a problem, you can impose a time limit as a house rule. We haven't had this problem in any of my games. Most players have a rough idea of where they want to place tiles based on where their meeples are deployed.

[Frabeco]

Thanks Every One......

I believe there is a bit of "AP"....I will have to nudge him along, hopefully with more experience we wont have to analyze quite so much.  He is very farm focused, so he tries to play almost everymove to help him out on the farm.

Thanks all....

[koolkat]

Well... my father in law used to play like that too, not only carc but all games. But now he doesn't anymore. I think that just as soon as a player gets hold of the game, he/she will play better and quicker. Why don't you start to play just the base game until all of you seems to get the hang of it and plays quick enough and only then move to expansions? Well... you could join River II to base set. As far as I think, the more people think, the more people make mistakes. Why don't you play Carc on-line to get to know how other players play. You can play faster if you follow someone's style. Or why don't you talk with each others about game strategy and avoid trying every possibility to place a tile?!... You don't have to play perfect. You have to play for fun. If you win, too good. If you don't, it really doesn't matter, now does it? So the point is: Don't be perfect, be yourself!...

[Frabeco]

Thanks!
Its hard when its just the two of us!!!  We have shifted a bit to helping each other out and it seems to be getting better.  I think that early in the game, there is some many choices, he's used to black & white.  But we had a week-end long marathon of many, many games, and I think we are both realizing that its funner to play with a plan, but if it gets screwed up, then just move on.  We did also play this weekend with some friends, which was better, because it was more unpredictable.  Thanks for all your advice, we are setting a house rule, that if turns start to get unreasonable, we put the other person "on notice" and then we will impose times limits.  Hopefully, playing more for fun, will not make that necessary!

[canada steve]

We play a two player with all expansions (except Catapult) and an extra river II and it generally takes about 3 hours to complete.

[koolkat]

Some other day we spent 4 hours to play base set plus rivers plus P&D, The Tower and B&C. I mean 4 people. Some playing for the first time. How was that?