'Carcassonne' Comes to XBLA

Microsoft reportedly today released Sierra Online's popular board game, 'Carcassonne' on the Xbox Live Arcade (XBLA).

The game is inspired by a real city of the same name, 'Carcassonne' located in the South of France, which is famed for its huge walls and fortifications that were originally built to ward-off potential conquerors and adventurers during the city's hey-days. Way back in the Middle Ages, the city witnessed a string of rulers come and go as it gained in strategic and historic importance.

In 'Carcassonne' the game, players start-off with an empty palate and one square tile, and then proceed to build a medieval walled city, earning points along the way.

While up to 4 people can play on the same Xbox 360, nearly 5 people can play over Xbox Live. Alternately, players can choose to go solo
if they so wish.

Game play kicks-off with a single tile placed face-up on the playing field. There on, players take turns to draw tiles at random, placing them adjacent to other similar looking tiles on the board. A city is created when players manage to connect wall pieces that enclose an entire area.

A sort of cross between puzzle solving and strategic planning, the game ends when all 72 tiles are placed on the playing field.

Apart from the 72-tile game, there's a 12-tile River expansion as well as other expansions to the basic game.

Players stand to win up to 200 gamerscore points and 12 achievements in this game.

Besides, Sierra Online has included support for the Xbox Live Vision camera, a tutorial mode, and online multiplayer.

The game 'Carcassonne' is available today onwards on the Xbox Live Arcade. It's been given an 'E' for everyone rating, and will be available for 800 Microsoft points which is about $10 or Rs 450 approximately.