Oh yes.

2 words.  Sheer perfection.

Carcassonne for the iPhone is not only the best looking iPhone game I’ve ever laid my hands on, it’s on of the best looking iPhone apps PERIOD. The look, the feel, how it plays, and even how it sounds are top notch.

You can play classic Carc against bots, other players via local WiFi or bluetooth, multiplayer over 3g, and even “Play by Notification”, where the game will notify you when it’s your turn against an opponent.  The game even features a solo mode where you’re trying to create runs of 2, 3, 4+ segments of roads and cities before running out of resources.

Right now the iPhone app just contains the base game, but expansions are coming. I can’t wait to get my hands on the River, Inns & Cathedrals, and Traders and Builders.

This game scratches all the right itches, and is damn near perfect.  There’s only ONE issue I have with the game. For those of you who aren’t interested in TMI, stop reading now, because it’s story time.

So I’m a work, and I’ve just sent a coworker an invite for a Play by Notification game.  Then it hits me…I need to use the facilites. I head to the bathroom, thankful I’m the only one in there.  I’m standing in front of a urinal when all of a sudden I hear, an extremely loud, “IT’S YOUR TURN.”  Totally freaked out for a minute, I realize that this horrifying sound is my iPhone letting me know it’s my turn in Carcassonne.  Not cool.  Thankfully there were no major…disasters…because of this.

In conclusion, if you have an iPhone then you need to buy Carcassonne.  Yesterday. Just be warned of the annoying notifications, and make sure you immediately turn them off.

Carcassonne for the iPhone is currently available for $4.99 from the iTunes App Store, but will go up to $9.99 once the universal iPhone/iPad version comes out. If you buy it now at $4.99, the universal version will be a free upgrade when it’s released.