The Nintendo Switch is literally getting everything, and soon it will have board games as well. Asmodee Digital just announced that it will be publishing digital versions of popular board games on the Switch, starting with Carcassonne. The tile-lying strategy game will release on the platform in the winter of this year.
Carcassonne is a fairly fast-paced game of laying tiles on a map. It’s often recommended to players who enjoy Settlers Of Catan, one of the staples of casual board-game nights. But unlike Catan, Carcassonne is less about resource management and more about accumulating Meeples, little tokens that represent people. It definitely makes sense for the sometimes portable, sometimes home Nintendo Switch.
“Expanding our roadmap of digital board games on Nintendo Switch is a great opportunity to reach a broader audience of players,” said Pierre Ortolan, CEO of Asmodee Digital, to Rock Paper Shotgun. “Our focus is to make the best adaptation of Carcassonne for the Switch and bring a complementary experience to the Switch players who know Carcassonne through the analog game, the mobile or the PC version.”
The game already exists in PC and Mac versions via Steam, but Carcassonne is the first of what Ortolan ensures will be many board games on Switch. “Carcassonne is the first Asmodee Digital title of many to follow on Nintendo’s platform. This partnership is based on Nintendo’s need for new user experiences and Asmodee Digital’s continued goal of bringing great board game IPs to new platforms.”
Nintendo's gathering of "new user experiences" certainly seems to be a goal of the Switch. Due to the console's amazing success, third-party publishers have been flocking to make games in a way they didn't for the Wii U. Square Enix even created a specific division solely dedicated to Nintendo's new console. Meanwhile, indie games have seen a renewed focus on Switch as well. Over half of the total sales for Bloodstained: Curse Of The Moon were on the Nintendo Switch. The Switch library is already impressive, and it just keeps growing. Be it the next Super Smash Bros, the classic Nintendo titles that are on the way, amazing new IPs like Octopath Traveler, or board game staples like Carcassonne, the Switch is looking to have it all.