Carcassonne designer’s next game travels back to the Stone Age
Don’t have a rocky start.
The creator of classic tile-placement board game Carcassonne, Klaus-Jürgen Wrede, has designed a new game called Fire & Stone.
Taking place during the Stone Age, Fire & Stone sees two to four players taking charge of a tribe of enterprising humans venturing out of what is now the continent of Africa and into the rest of Panagaea. In the upcoming game, players will be controlling a team of scouts to guide their people across new regions, being sure to gather enough food to feed them throughout their impressive journey.
At the beginning of the game, every player receives their own secret task card which will enable them to acquire additional bonus points at the end of the game, as long as they adhere to the card’s requirements.
Every space on the board for Fire & Stone is initially covered by a discovery tile, which will be turned over whenever a player places one of their scouts there. When a tile is turned over, its effects are revealed and activated, with each type of tile resulting in a different outcome. Whilst some tiles contain various vegetables, fruits, mushrooms and nuts to be gathered, forest tiles enable the tribe who discovered it to hunt animals for food. Alternatively, other tiles allow tribes to prepare any meat they have over a fire or to craft huts to provide them with shelter.
Throughout the family board game, players will be able to acquire special invention cards that will aid in their tribe’s development by providing them with brand new tools for them to use, as well as new techniques with which to make things such as clay pots and even ships. During each game of Fire & Stone, a cave tile will appear in a random location which will grant a reward to the player who manages to overcome its unique challenge. The player who successfully collects the most points by the end of the game is the winner of Fire & Stone.
Apart from creating Carcassonne and Fire & Stone, Wrede is also responsible for designing several expansions for Carcassonne - including Inns & Cathedrals, Traders & Builders and The Princess & The Dragon - as well as the spin-off title Carcassonne: Hunters and Gatherers which, like Fire & Stone, also takes place during prehistoric times.
Fire & Stone is set to be published by Pegasus Spiele, a German studio that has previously released board games such as Istanbul, a title that has players taking control of a group of merchants at a bazaar, Port Royal and the detective game Micro Macro: Crime City.
The release date for Fire & Stone is set for January 15th, with the game retailing for $40 (£30).