Mists over Carcassonne

Today's review is of the 2022 release, Mists over Carcassonne. For 1–5 players, it takes 35 minutes.

Overview

Like its parent, this is a tile-laying game. On your turn, you will draw a random tile, add to the existing map by placing it appropriately (it must not 'disrupt' any existing feature on the map), place a worker if possible/desired, and (in some cases) score points. That's all like normal Carcassonne. What makes it unique?

Mists over Carcassonne is the first variant (I think) to be cooperative. Here, you are playing against the game. When you place a tile, it may have 1–3 ghost symbols on it. Place that many from the ghost pool on that tile. Then play your turn as normal. If, on any turn, you complete a segment with a worker, you have a choice:

- gain the points earned (as normal), or

- remove all ghosts from one tile from the map, returning them to the pool.

You can also remove all ghosts from a completed mist region automatically (like completing a city).

game in progress; image from here

Your collective goal is to score 50 points before you run out of tiles or run out of ghosts. (If, at any point, you have to place a ghost and cannot because the pool is empty, you lose.)

There are variants you can play that add graveyard tiles and other ways of scoring. The options are described in the rulebook.

Review

I love the concept. I'm uncertain about the execution. This game is hard. The tradeoff between scoring points or removing ghosts is certainly a meaningful decision with a 'push-your-luck' element. It just seems, in the games I've played, that the ghosts are placed too quickly, forcing you to always choose their removal, so you never get close to scoring enough points to win. We may have been unfortunate in our tile drawing, but it seems harder than it should be. Perhaps the variants are easier. My initial rating is based on the difficulty; I may raise it later if subsequent plays show more promise.

Rating: B