Welcome loyal fans to another review! This week we get to see a fresh set of faces; Mark and Olivia. They LOVE this game. They liked it so much, and thought that the original was too short, that they invested in the “Big Box” package. The Big Box of Carcassonne has the original as well as most of the expansions available, which allows for enough tiles to cover your bathroom floor (or a more convenient dining room table).
While putting on the director pants for this video, I started realizing how hard it is to explain a game. I’ve been doing it for a long time and teaching a lot of people how to play games, so I have a lot of practice. I was working with Mark and Olivia, who did an AMAZING job. This is one of the simplest games to learn,but a hard one to teach: there’s a lot to talk about.
Every three seconds while rehearsing, we’d find something else. All of these things were aspects of the game that we had taken for granted because we’ve played so often, but when explaining the game to a non-existent audience that can’t ask questions, even the smallest detail needed to be clarified. It makes you really evaluate every word you say; a terrifying thought for a lot of people.
I also found out that I’ve been playing the game wrong. This is one of my other favorite things about the reviews. I get to reevaluate how much I really know about the game. I read the rules numerous times for every game before I do a video of it. I want to make sure I use the right terminology, get the specifics right, and talk with authority. I’ve found little things I never knew that made the game better, and I’ve found some rules we “conveniently” forgot ,that, when reinserted, made the game worse in our opinions.
I continue to love doing these reviews. If there’s a game you’d like us to take a look at let me know, and if we didn’t state something clearly or got a rule wrong, let us know also. We’re here for information and entertainment both.
Thanks again and enjoy
Brian
