‘Karuba’ Board Game by HABA
Does your family enjoy playing Carcassonne together but wants to try something a little different and maybe less…er, confrontational? Then you should check out Karuba by German game company HABA.
Like Carcassonne, Karuba is an accessible tile-laying game that has players competing to build paths and reach an end goal — in this case, a group of adventurers on an island, each racing through a series of jungle temples to claim their treasures before the others can, picking up crystals and gold nuggets along the way for additional points.
The main difference between this game and Carcassonne is, you can’t really interfere with your opponents’ plans or influence their board states along the way, leading to a much lighter and friendlier gameplay experience in my opinion. Games run about as quickly though, typically clocking in at 40 minutes or less (depending on your group’s experience level).
Excellent game. It feels like Carcassonne tile laying meets Bingo. The decision between putting your tiles or using it to move makes for a risky push your luck type of play. And the short game time is a plus point. Our group keeps asking for a replay once we’re done with one game. Love it.
Get Karuba for $40 on Amazon.