I have Carcassone but don't quite get it!
It is a simplistic tile placement game. What you are basically trying to do is to create a "landscape" using the tiles you draw. For example, you add parts to cities and then put a man into a city and score 2 points for every piece of that city once it is entirely closed off. With roads, you get 1 point for every road tile connected to the one your man is on once the road is "closed" by hitting another item or a crossroads. I was sure there was a tutorial... but maybe not?
There is some more nuance to the game because you can "steal" points by having more men than your opponent within a given item. Normally you can't place a man in a part of an item (road, city, field) that is connected to another man (yours or your opponents). But with careful placement, you can weasel into connecting an open piece with a a city/road/etc. already in progress.
It isn't too hard to learn, but you really need to know the key parts of the game.
Total side note, the iPad/iPhone version of
Ticket to Ride is fantastic - great to play with spouses, friends, or kids!
