Unboxed the Board Game Blog

Inspired by the medieval fortress in southern France of the same name, Carcassonne is a tile-laying game in which players fill in the countryside around the fortified city. Players choose from tiles that depict cities, roads, monasteries, and fields; each new tile placed creates an ever-expanding board on which players can then add their followers. Players score points by having followers on features as they're completed. The player who makes the most strategic placements of tiles and followers will score the most points and win the game.

Queen Gimnax has ordered the reclamation of northern lands. As a cartographer in her service, you are sent to map this territory, claiming it for the Kingdom of Nalos. Gimnax’s edicts announce which lands she prizes most, and you will increase your reputation by meeting her demands. But you are not alone in this wilderness. The Dragul contest your claims with their outposts, and so you must draw your lines carefully to reduce their influence. Reclaim the greatest share of the Queen’s desired land and you will be declared the greatest cartographer in Nalos. In Cartographers, players compete to get the highest reputation at the end of four seasons. Each season, players draw on their map sheet and score against unique conditions at the end of the season. The player with the highest reputation at the end of the year is declared the winner.

In the best-selling family classic, you are a king seeking new lands to expand your kingdom. Match tiles, claim crowns and expand your land to build the most impressive Kingdom! But be careful, other kings will try and claim the same terrain!

Take over the world in this game of strategy conquest, now with updated figures and improved Mission cards. In the Risk game, the goal is simple: players aim to conquer their enemies’ territories by building an army, moving their troops in, and engaging in battle. Depending on the roll of the dice, a player will either defeat the enemy or be defeated. This exciting game is filled with betrayal, alliances, and surprise attacks. On the battlefield, anything goes! Defeat all of the enemy troops in a territory to conquer that territory and get one step closer to global conquest! The player who completes his or her secret mission first -- and reveals the Secret Mission card to prove it -- wins. And remember…when it comes to taking over the world, it’s all about who is willing to take the biggest Risk.

Robinson Crusoe: Adventures on the Cursed Island is a cooperative adventure game in which 1 to 4 players take on the roles of castaways trying to survive on a desert island. They explore the land to gather resources, construct shelter to protect themselves from the weather elements, build tools, and fight wild animals. The game comes with many scenarios and several hundred cards giving it an enormous replayability. No gameplay is the same.

The Inns & Cathedrals expansion adds more ways to shape the Medieval countryside in the award-winning tile-laying game Carcassonne. Eighteen Land tiles feature two new buildings that open additional avenues to scoring points. Construct imposing cathedrals that increase your cities' value, or build humble inns along your roads to double the value of your thieves. But be careful! An incomplete feature that uses an inn or cathedral scores no points at the end of the game.

In The Era of Prosperity, you as the prince or princess promote cultural development in your principality and raise your people's spirits. In The Era of Explorers, you board your ships to set out on a journey to faraway islands and encounter foreign peoples and pirates. If you can take the lead when discovering, victory is almost yours! In The Era of Sages, a true era of enlightenment begins. Wise women and men intervene in the fate of Catan and cause many an event to take a turn for the better.

This small expansion to Carcassonne released by Rio Grande Games is actually a compilation of smaller expansions. * The Cult, 6 tiles. (One tile is only available in this compilation.) * The Siege, 4 tiles. (The tiles in this release have different art than the original Spielbox 2004 Release.) * “Creativity”, 2 blank tiles that you can use to create your own expansion. Part of the Carcassonne series.

Carcassonne Phantoms consists of 6 transparent phantoms in 6 colours. The purple phantom is for the gray or pink player. Each player gets a phantom of his player color. When placing a follower on a tile, the player may also place his phantom as an additional follower on the same tile. When both the follower and the phantom occupy the same tile, they must be placed on two different features. When the player gets his phantom back from scoring, he may keep it to use in a later turn. The phantom can also be placed by itself, and always counts as a regular follower.

The River II (Der Fluss II) is a mini-expansion for Carcassonne. It adds twelve tiles with a river and has some differences with the first River expansion because the tiles are designed to combine with the first three expansions for Carcassonne, Inns & Cathedrals, Traders & Builders and The Princess & the Dragon. The River II is contained in Carcassonne: Expansion 6 – Count, King & Robber The river tiles are placed first, after that the game continues as normal. Part of the Carcassonne series.

Traders & Builders expands on the popular Carcassonne base game, adding new features and opening even more ways to outwit your opponents. With the new builder follower, you can speed up construction by placing another tile immediately after you add a Land tile to a road or city that your builder occupies. Further, the pig followers and Goods tokens give you more ways to score points. The pig enhances the value of any farmers you have in the same field, while completing cities with Goods icons on them awards Goods tokens; the player with the most gains bonus points at the end of the game.