How did you learn to play well?

[Barberserk]

Thanks for both. But after reading about people memorizing tiles here, what's the point really? It just kills the fun for me.

[euklid314]

Thanks for both. But after reading about people memorizing tiles here, what's the point really? It just kills the fun for me.

Do you understand that chess players read books on opening and endgames and memorize certain techniques? Do you understand backgammon players to count the pips (total roll number to take off all stones) in order to determine when to double?

Do you have any game that you try to play better than a beginner that just follows the rules without any understanding? Do you have any other games that you want to play really well and play better than a medium player? If the answer to the last question is yes, then you will probably be willing to invest some thought and energy on this game.
If not you are still enjoying playing your games - but you cannot probably understand the joy of "mastering" a game...

Please note that it was clearly stated in this thread that nobody needs to learn the deck if you are satisfies with an ELO of around 400. You can easily win the majority of the games on BGA without knowing the deck of cards.

[Barberserk]

Easily is debatable, in my experience there is a core base of experienced players, the rest are lambs for the slaugter. I just don't want to grind enough to try to bridge the gap, it's alright. There are other games. I don't like chess and backgammon for various reasons, not just this aspect.

[ZenVee]

This post actually triggers me. Alexey is indeed a great streamer. It's interesting to hear that you don't really understand his advice. I already had some ideas for a beginners' guide with lots of useful examples. Maybe I should go and stream again (Twitch stream + Youtube videos) one day.

I didn't count tiles myself at first. Without counting ANY tiles, I would say you can get up to 400 ELO.
With SOME knowledge about the tiles, you can get up to 500 ELO. For example it's good to know there are 8 crossroads and 8 big city-tiles.
With FULL knowledge of the tiles , you can get up to 600 ELO.
If you combine full knowledge of tiles with the speed to count them quickly and statistical calculations, the sky is the limit.

To get to 400 ELO, it's extremely valuable to know what tiles DON'T EXIST (in the whole deck).
You should really know that there are 0 tiles like these (in the basic version):
- 1 roadside + 1 cityside + 2 fieldsides
- 1 roadside + 2 citysides + 1 fieldside

One basic idea to use this information, is that you can block meeples of your opponent. For example if they need a tile in the middle of the board with at least 1 cityside and 2 fieldsides, you can block that meeple by bending a curvy road into that opening (because a tile with 1 roadside + 1 cityside + 2 fieldsides doesn't exist).

Another idea based on that is that, if your opponent threatens to block one of your meeples, you should DEFEND in such a way that you can still get your meeple back. For example, if you need a tile in the middle of the board with at least 1 cityside and 2 fieldsides, and your opponent tries to block you (by threatening to bend a curve into it on the next move, see previous example), you can DEFEND (without knowing all remaining tiles) by putting a tile next to it so you don't need 1 of the 2 above tiles that don't exist. Of course, because you don't know ALL remaining tiles at this point, there is still a chance that these tiles are no longer in the deck, especially with only a few tiles remaining. But at least your winning chance in the long run will increase.

Hope this helps a bit!

https://www.twitch.tv/craftyraf
https://www.youtube.com/@craftyraf

No intentions of triggering. I learned to play Azul much better from Alexey.
For some reason my momma just never taught me how to play Carcassonne properly and I can't learn it well.

Some posts here cite playing enough games, but I have played over 100 games now and it is by far my worst game. And I will give myself credit that I am decently good at a number of other games (evidence in my profile).

I will try to use the knowledge you cite regarding what types of tiles don't exist.

Any advice on how to spot patterns for attacking fields? I struggle to spot patterns for weaseling my way into a high-scoring field, yet it seems like my opponents effortlessly play meeples into my fields without taking much time to think about it.

[euklid314]

More than 90% of all attacks on cities, roads and fields happen "around the corner". I.e., the newly tile is placed 90 degrees to the feature one wants to attack. Thus, only one single tile is needed to connect and only two sides of the necessary connectnig tiles are determined.

If three or even four sides are determined (i.e. you are searching for a tile that has 2 fields on opposite sides AND a street running into the tile on a 3rd side) then an attack is more likely to fail. Thus a defense tactic against an attacking tile is placing other tiles in the vicinity such that less and less connecting tiles exist because more sides of the connecting tile are limited.

[johnylsdf]

love watching people care about a tile laying game. like who cares? just enjoy getting beat up. at least, that's what I've learned, its either that or you end up hurting yourself caring to much over JUST a game

[ZenVee]

love watching people care about a tile laying game. like who cares? just enjoy getting beat up. at least, that's what I've learned, its either that or you end up hurting yourself caring to much over JUST a game

lol the comment makes sense given their player history. as of 5/26/25 they don't have 1 game rated above 300. I guess there's a subset of cannon fodder out there that just enjoy losing?

You do you brother... I will keep trying to learn

[ACBD34]

With trying to defend or steal features, its a good idea to think how players will react.

Take a 90 degree steal attempt with half city. Your likely to get the tile you need to connect but and its a big but, the player your trying to steal from will have an easy time counter attacking. Since most connecting tiles will give them a very good chance to get their own 90 degree attack. Easily leaving you 4 points out of pocket.

Same goes for fields, unless they are being contained they are very easy to break into. Resulting in fights that destroy both players chances of winning. In a recent game, the other 2 players got so caught up in a fight over a mega field worth 44 points, that they left themselves over extended. The cause each field was left open by every attempt they made to one up the other. Resulting in one player getting reasonable return of 11 points per a meeple but the other losing 4 for naught. Not only that but they left 40-50 worth as low hang fruit for me.

[stevage]

My rating is mostly in the low 300s, occasionally up into the 400s. I don't play arenas, and I always play with Builders+Traders, and with the 3 tile strategic variant.

I just learnt by playing and seeing what people did against me that worked. You don't need to memorise much to do ok at my level. I'd say the bare minimum is knowing the two tiles that don't exist (CFRF and CFFR) and counting the 7 monasteries (4xFFFF, 2x FFFR and 1x FRRR). Particularly the two with a single road because they are the only tiles in the game which connect two fields on opposite sides of a road.

There are also (in that variant) 3 tiles with city on all sides, which are usually worth counting as well.

Most of the game comes down to continually imposing constraints upon your opponent, while trying to avoid the same for yourself. Even without knowing exactly which tiles are left, any time an opponent needs a tile that has to match 2 sides, that's better for you than if they need a tile matching 1 side.

I do notice that players in the 400s and above tend to play very aggressively, trying very hard to trap your meeples even early in the game. I don't tend to enjoy that kind of game so much, so I'm happy just sticking in the low 300s.