With the iPhone version having cemented a permanent spot in our games folders, and the inevitable iPad port nearing closer to release, we recently touched base with Martin Pittenauer, the self-proclaimed “Chief Apesomeness Officer” at developer Coding Monkeys to talk about the past, present, and future of their popular board game adaptation Carcassonne.
With the iPhone version having cemented a permanent spot in our games folders, and the inevitable iPad port nearing closer to release, we recently touched base with Martin Pittenauer, the self-proclaimed “Chief Apesomeness Officer” at developer Coding Monkeys to talk about the past, present, and future of their popular board game adaptation Carcassonne.
Like the original board game before it, Carcassonne on the iPhone has met with critical acclaim. What do you attribute the game’s success to?
Carcassonne is a board game that has a lot of fans all around the world, but we hope that at least a bit of the iPhone version’s success is thanks to the love and sweat we poured into the game. We are very happy to see that there is a place on the app store for a game that is handmade by a small company, consisting of three people that care about software quality.
We’ve started to see some companies release an iPad game at a set price point, only to slash that price a few months down the road when the iPhone version is released as a universal update. You’re turning that formula on its head. Can you tell us a little about Carcassonne’s unique pricing strategy?
Basically we didn’t look too much what others are doing and just went with something that felt right to us. And that included awarding early adopters and not asking them for money twice.
What can we expect to see in the iPad version that we didn’t see in the iPhone release?
We will try to use the space to make the game even easier to navigate and basically transform the iPad into a table with Carcassonne on it. There are some other neat things in store, but we are always cautious not to promise too much. 😉
The original Carcassonne saw the release of several expansions over the years. Are there any plans to introduce those down the road in future updates?
Yes, once we are done with the iPad, we will start to add extensions as in-app-purchases. We’ll try to listen to our players and bring those extensions first that are in high demand.
Have the team at Coding Monkeys decided on their next iDevice project?
We are working on Carcassonne for iPad and the expansions first and foremost. There are some other projects in our heads, but it’s too early to talk about those – and to be frank we don’t quite know which of those will be addressed first, once we are less busy with Carcassonne.
What’s your favourite board game other than Carcassonne?
Right now we’re also quite fond of San Juan and Dominion.
