Games have been used as instructional tools throughout history. Educational experiences are more effective when learners are active participants, and when teachers carefully choose fun games with appropriate game mechanics and clear curricular connections, students can engage in rigorous mental processes. At the same time, students may learn a variety of skills or concepts in a nontraditional manner that may lead to enduring understanding. A side benefit also can be the development of soft social skills while engaging peers. In this article, the authors discuss the tabletop game "Carcassonne," a German-style tile laying game created by Klaus-Jurgen Wrede in 2000. In this game, players draw tiles and then place those tiles in meaningful context with other tiles (something of a more free-form puzzle) to create features like cities, roads, cloisters (monasteries), and fields. Players score points for the different features they build. The player with the most points at the end of the game wins. Throughout the game, students engage in game play strategies that illuminate a number of geographic concepts such as accessibility, the importance of infrastructure and urban services, and religious diffusion.