"Poker Squares" Carc Solitaire

[Embri]

(First post, so ... um... hi.   )

When my usual Carcassonne partner didn't feel like playing one night, I toyed around with various rules and possibilities for a decent, challenging solitaire.  The following was the result, so I figured I'd share in case anyone else is interested.  I've called it "Poker Squares" after the card solitaire of the same name, as it uses a similar fixed size layout.

Average Game Duration: < 5 minutes
Tiles: 20
Meeples: 3, 4 or 5 (I find four is best, but try other quantities.)
Other: Tower pieces or another color of meeple for completed features. (Optional)

How to Play
Grab two tiles out of your tile bag/Tower/box.  If they fit together, arrange them in any legal way you wish. The basic rules of Carcassonne apply; field to field, road to road, castle to castle.  If the first two tiles have no legal play next to each other toss them back and draw a new pair.  You may play Meeples on one, none or both of the starting tiles.

Continue with the standard turn sequence (draw tile, place Meeple, if desired) until you have 20 tiles on the table, in a 4x5 rectangle.  Either direction, horizontal or vertical, may be chosen for the five tile side, but once committed (as soon as either direction exceeds four tiles) it can not be changed. 

You can score each feature as it is completed, or use spare Tower pieces (the natural wood squares) or extra Meeples of a different color to mark scoring features and count them up at the conclusion of the game. When a feature is complete swap a spare wooden piece for your meeple.  I've found that scoring on the track during play actually slows this solitaire down. 

A tile with no legal play (after the first two tiles) should be set aside.  You do not get an additional tile draw, your 4x5 area will have one or more holes in it.  Unplayable tiles are common towards the end, an average game has 2-3 by its conclusion.

Expansions
Inns & Cathedrals - Highly Recommended. Standard Rules apply.
Traders & Builders - Ignore Trade Goods Icons.  Pigs are optional if desired.
Princess & Dragon - Ignore Princess, Volcano & Dragon Icons.  Magic Portals can be used if desired.
The Count - Not Recommended.
King & Scout - Not Recommended.
Cult & Siege - No real difficulties, Siege tiles become penalty cards (since there are no opponents!)
The Tower - Not Recommended. (You can use the tiles while ignoring the Towers though.)
Catapult - Ignore Fair Icons.

Scoring
Two options:
Use standard 3rd Edition scoring.
Use 3rd Edition scoring plus 2pts per complete road tile and 3pts per complete road tile with an Inn. Incomplete roads remain worth only 1pt per tile (0pts for incomplete roads with Inns).  I use this scoring variant due to the relative difficulty of completing roads with only 20 tiles, but you might want to stick with Standard scoring if you're using this solitaire to teach others the basic game rules. 

Games over 40 points should be considered successful, while a score over 50 is cause for celebration!  An average score (using 3rd Edition) is around 30-35 points.

[Novelty]

Welcome to CC, Embri!  Nice idea for a Solitaire variant.  There have been a number of them posted here.  Perhaps someone might collect them together one of these days.  Your idea is short and good though, and as a bonus it takes less than 5 minutes to play.  I wonder if I can speed play it within 1 minute to get more than 40 points.

[Embri]

Thanks for the welcome.  I've seen (and tried!) all the variants of Solitaire Carc I could find, none were quite as satisfying logistically as this one. =)

Hope some of you enjoy it as much as I do. I've played it with company as well as alone, particularly when we don't have 1 hour+ to devote to our favorite game.

[Gantry]

That's a pretty good setup!  Would make a good computer game too.

[Scott]

I second the motion for a collection of Carc solitaires.

[koolkat]

As some of you might know I am a solitare Carc fan. This version is similar to two I've posted somewhere else. Except for the post scoring and the use of all tiles on base Carc divided on three or four stages. That's why my versions take up to 20 minutes...
My opinion is that the post scoring on this solitare version is almost useless because we only play 20 tiles. The idea is great, but what's the difference between 5 minutes and five minutes and a half or six minutes?
The idea could, however, be taken to some new fan-made expansion. You know, the idea of stealing a city to its final owner, pleases me. Very mean, right?

[Embri]

Erm, respectfully this variant isn't the same as those I've seen posted, but feel free to show any precedents I've missed.  20 tiles/4 meeples happens to be the best balance I found through playtesting (20 tiles will fit in my hand in a stack, 3 meeples makes scoring too conservative and 5 a bit too easy.)  The defining feature (and IMO best challenge and improvement) is the fixed layout, not the other differences you mentioned... 

To be honest just about any Carc solitaire is going to share commonalities.

To address the scoring, as I wrote, *I* find it easier.  If anyone finds scoring during game easier, then by all means do so. Oh, and the difference between five minutes and six and a half minutes is 1.5 minutes. 

No idea what you mean by

The idea could, however, be taken to some new fan-made expansion. You know, the idea of stealing a city to its final owner, pleases me. Very mean, right?