Carcassonne Discovery for Rio Grande Games

The Discovery is a new stand-alone Carcassonne game, where the inhabitants of Carcassonne have discovered a new region far away from their homeland, consisting of meadows, mountains, and seas. In this game, each player has four followers (with a fifth for the scoring track) that can be placed as robbers (in the mountains), seafarers (on the seas), or explorers (on the meadows).

On a player's turn, they must place a tile and may then place a follower on it. Tiles can only be placed so that identical landscape types match up, and a follower may only be placed when no other follower has been placed there yet.

However, the removal of the follower is where the strategic depth lies. When a follower is removed, the size of the region in which the follower is located brings points, regardless of whether the region has been closed off or not. Closed-off regions score considerably more points. Additionally, there is a rule that allows mountainous regions to increase in value, even if they've already been completed.

This version of Carcassonne is distinctly simpler than the original, with the goal of having simpler rules while offering greater strategic depth. The fact that regions are not scored automatically when they are closed off, but rather when the follower is removed, ensures many agonizing decisions for the players.

The game is designed for 2 to 5 players and takes 30 to 45 minutes to play, with a medieval theme and a focus on city-building strategy and tactical tile-laying.

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