Asmodee Digital have announced their plans to bring several digital board game titles that were previously available on Mac, PC, Android and iOS to Nintendo Switch. Carcassonne is the the first one in line, expected during winter 2018.
Carcassonne is the first out of many digital board games that will be available on Nintendo Switch, according to Pierre Ortolan, the CEO of Asmodee Digital. He has stated that this newfound partnership with Nintendo is a result of the latter's "need for new user experiences" and Asmodee Digital was the prime candidate for partnership due to their extensive history with digital board games.
Moritz Brunnhofer, the managing director at Hans im Glück, was thrilled with the opportunity to enter Nintendo Switch market, hoping to "enlarge the success of this iconic game". That said, the game is not due for another few months and the only indication of its ETA is "winter 2018".
According to the official description, Carcassonne is "simple to pick up but challenging to master", which is a result of its focus on deep tactical play. The players are constantly trying to scale which tactical choice will benefit them more, whether to expand their own field, or put a piece next to the opponent's area in order to impede their progress. Followers in this game are called "Meeples" and they add a tactical layer that can score a decisive victory in the right hands.
Each game of Carcassonne develops in a different way but it always keeps a high tempo to keep things interesting. The game has received mostly positive reviews, with 77 per cent players leaving favourable reviews on Steam. Players who left negative reviews mainly take gripe with the fact that the game needs more expansions.
Asmodee Digital
There are currently only two expansions - Inns & Cathedrals and The River, but according to Asmodee Digital, more are on the way to release during 2018. It's definitely a good thing that the PC version of the game will not lose the developers' attention while they're working on porting it to Nintendo Switch.
