6 Player Game

[mathguy89]

Friday afternoon I sat down to play a 6 player game.  One of my friends and I knew the game very well so we were probably the ones who would win, but no one really knew.  We had 2 new players, and two people who had learned the game about a year ago, but hadn't learned much after T&B.  Our first mistake was playing with I&C, T&B, P&D and A&M with the River and River 2. 

I spent about 30 minutes explaining and refreshing the other players, and then we were finally ready to start.  The river went by without any problems, though the first cap with the city came up about the 3rd piece so options were down to one.  I got a farmer placed where I would get at least 2 cities. 

The game progressed as all do, people working on cities and roads, dragon moving and eating followers (American here so Meeples isn't natural yet).  I had joined in on a double cathedral city with another player, we were working well until princess tiles started to come along.  We'll between princess tiles and dragon feedings, we both found ourselves out of the city.  The other guy eventually got a piece to get in, and scored a nice 66 points.  I figured my game was done at that point.  Fortunately I managed to get my way into another city worth 48, as well as getting some farmers.  Well at the end of the game I ended up with around 80 points in farmers and came back from last to win the game by 3 points.  (We didn't play with the barns due to the new players and people just wanting to start and not wanting to listen to the rules to begin with)

This game however took over two and a half hours, mostly due to new players, but also to a whole bunch of tiles.  I can only imagine the complaints that would have been made if we had the tower and the Count in our game.  It was satisfying for me to win, but not for long considering that only 2 of the other 5 will probably ever play again. 

I think for now I will stick to 3 or 4 player games with anyone new, and only go to 5 with people who know the game. 

Questions and comments are appreciated, I can respond with more if needed or wanted.

Enjoy your games 

[Gantry]

megacarc! I can only dream about getting enough people together to play 6.  We bought Carc as a gift for a couple (friends of ours) but they have yet to crack open the box a year and a half later 

[mathguy89]

The better game was with my friend who knew how to play and his family.  Same tile selection, just only 5 players, frees up the board a tiny bit, plus reduces time between turns.

[Jambo]

I'd love to hear more sessions where there's been more than 2 players playing. I've only been able to play 3-player games using the online service, so I really don't know too much about them.

[14cross]

I found the game (as well as the Inns & Cathedrals and Builders and Traders Expansions) about two weeks ago and bought them for a family reunion last week. We played 6 player games most every day and pretty much everyone who played ended up loving the game. Most everyone (five brothers and their families) said they are going home and buying it for themselves. I won probably half of the games and placed second or third in the rest.

The interesting comment everyone made though was that they all had so much fun playing the game that they really didn't care if they won.  I plan on buying the Abbey's and Mayors and River 2 expansions in the next few weeks. I have read the rules for the rest of the expansions but they don't interest me that much.

[mathguy89]

Last summer when I was playing with some of the people who had actually played before it was a good thing.  We had an enjoyable time, but that was before adding in Princess and the Dragon.  I won't debate the merits of the expansion here, just seems like it loses some value with 6 people imho. 

Abbey Mayor is a wonderful expansion even without the barn rules, though I do need to throw them in soon, but it gives you so much versitility. 

I just think my issue was too many new players, and perhaps a few too many expansions.

Hopefully I can get a complete mega carc game with 5 sometime soon.  I&C, T&B, P&D, A&M, Tower, Count, River, River II, King&Scout, GQ expansion, everything except Cathers, only because I don't have it.  That will be a fun session report to write.

[Bixby]

My wife (Kathy) and I really like Carcassonne, and we like all of the expansions. We have played enough to understand how the expansions interact. We also play with all of the tiles. Most of our games are two player and involve a glass or two of wine.

Many of our gamer friends have been tainted by the "Eurogame" expectation that a game should only last 45 minutes to an hour. When playing Carcassonne with many players and most or all of the expansions, the time commitment goes way up. I do not mind that at all. I do not mind a 2-3 hour game of something I enjoy, but many of our gamer friends have a difficulty getting past the 1 hour barrier and enjoying a game. That is likely the biggest challenge we have when we try to bring Mega-Carcassonne to the table. That said, another couple really likes Carcassonne and all of the expansions, so we do get to play four player slug fests from time to time when it is just the four of us.

[Jambo]

Sounds cool Bixby! You should post some session reports

I plan to introduce Carc to friends and family soon in the hope of inspiring a 4 player mega-Carc session...

[Scott]

I introduce expansions in order of release, and the first four (River, I&C, T&B, King) were received well (King not as much because it doesn't add much to the game). Count was received poorly, though we rarely remembered it and I think we screwed up on the rules for when you're allowed to move the Count himself. Haven't had the opportunity to introduce any more since then.