Carcassonne Board Game Conversion Coming To XBLA

Microsoft has announced that this Wednesday's regular Xbox Live Arcade update will bring Sierra Online's Carcassonne, a conversion of the hit German board game original in the same fashion as the recently released Settlers of Catan. The release of Carcassonne marks the second in a planned trilogy of board game conversions that started with Catan and will later see Alhambra added to the service. Microsoft's description of the game play notes that it begins with an "empty landscape and a single square tile," with one to five players "using strategic tactics and a little luck" to lay down tiles featuring various city features to create towns, roads, and farms, competing to accumulate the most points. The game was recently featured and detailed further on Gamasutra sister site GameSetWatch. Microsoft also notes the board game, designed by Klaus-Jurgen, won a German Spiel des Jahres (Game of the Year award) in 2001. Featuring multiplayer for up to five people over Live, or four local players, Xbox Live Vision camera support, and additional "Rivers II" expansion tiles, the game will be released worldwide on Wednesday for 800 Points ($10).