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Carcassonne the Series: A Quick Guide Part I on 2008-07-04 12:36:44 
As part of an on-going series of articles to provide a Quick Guide to the various large and popular series of board games in Canada and beyond, we are now tackling ‘Carcassonne’. Carcassonne has released multiple expansions that can be added directly to the base game or a number of smaller expansions that are extremely cheap but do add an interesting twist to the game. All Carcassonne expansions , both major and minor can be played alone with the base game or combined with all other expansions.
Along with these, additional Carcassonne stand-alone games have been added which will be dealt with in Part II.
Carcassonne
Carcassonne the base game is a popular area development and control game built on the premise of random tile-laying and placement of ‘meeples’ (small icons representing your population). Each turn, tiles are drawn randomly from the pile and laid on the expanding game-board according to specific rules. Meeples may be placed on a newly laid tile on a specific feature (road, farm, city, etc.) and when the feature is completed, will provide victory points.
Often considered a gateway board game, Carcassonne is easy to learn and play but provides for a variety of strategies which can be further complicated by the expansions. One issue with the expansions is the difficulty in separating the specific expansions once added (as most expansions are additional tiles).
Carcassonne: Hunter & Gatherers
Carcassonne: Hunter & Gatherers is a stand alone game based on the mechanics of Carcassonne. It is however a game that can be expanded using Carcassonne: King & Scout the only stand alone game of the series that has an expansion thus far. Following many of the same game principles but introducing new features on the terrain that can affect the final victory point totals, Hunter & Gatherers is considered by many the better stand-alone game.
Major Expansions
Carcassonne: Inns & Cathedrals
Carcassonne: Inns & Cathedrals is the first major expansion to the base Carcassonne game. Probably the first expansion most players will purchase, it adds:
- A new colour to allow 6 players
- 1 additional ‘large’ follower that dominates any terrain feature
- New land shapes and point tiles (pubs & cathedrals) are added to the game
- Scoring tiles
This expansion does little to change the base Carcassonne board game, instead only introducing new features and players. The large meeple can be useful, but with only piece available is often ‘locked’ out of play pretty fast.
Carcassonne: Traders & BuildersThe second major expansion, Traders & Builders adds the following items to the game:
- new trade goods in cities
- the ‘builder’ piece that provides the opportunity for a second turn
- the ‘pig’ piece that adds extra points to a farm
- a large cloth bag to keep all tiles (and hide the different colour backs)
Carcassonne: Traders & Builders is considered by many the better expansion to the game with the introduction of interesting new rules and strategies. Both the trade goods in cities as well as the builder alter the strategies that players use while the cloth bag just makes things so much easier to keep and transport. Together, both the Inns & Cathedrals and Traders & Builders expansions can be considered the ‘essential’ expansions.
Carcassonne: the Princess & the DragonCarcassonne: the Princess & the Dragon adds a new twist to the game – destruction! New pieces that are included in this expansion include:
- new terrain tiles
- magic portal tiles
- the fairy meeple
- princess tiles
- the dragon meeple
The Princess & the Dragon expansion is an interesting expansion with a slew of new tiles and items that change the game. The magic portal tiles allow you to move meeples to new locations, even if already placed while the princess tiles allow you to ‘boot’ an opponents meeples from a city. Both alter the main thrust of resource management in Carcassonne which makes it an interesting development. The fairy meeple acts both as a ward against the destructive dragon meeple as well as a point creator.
While not as popular an expansion as the first two, the Princess & the Dragon adds a slew of new elements to the overall game including one major ‘direct’ confrontation expansion to the game.
Carcassonne: the Tower Carcassonne: the Tower adds the following to the base game:
- 18 new terrain tiles with the ‘tile’ icon
- New ‘tile’ figures
- A 3D Tower for placing tiles in
An interesting expansion, the Tower like the Princess & the Dragon allows players to get aggressive and confrontational with other players. In the Tower, players can ‘capture’ an opponent’s meeple within line of sight (horizontal or vertical) and range (dependent on the height of a tower). Captured meeples can be ransomed back at the cost of 3 Victory Points and Towers can also be ‘completed’ by the placement of a meeple on top of it. Tower pieces can be placed in place of meeples during a player’s turn.
The Tower is an interesting expansion, adding both a 3D Tower to pull tiles from (making it neater and easier to keep) as well as adding an ‘aggressive’ element to the game that really shines when combined with the other expansions.
Carcassonne: Abbey & Mayor The fifth major expansion, Abbey & Mayor is considered one of the best expansions by many. Extremely highly rated, the Carcassonne: Abbey & Mayor expansion adds the following to the game:
- 12 new terrain tiles
- Abbey tiles
- Mayor piece
- Barn piece
- Wagon piece
The Abbey tiles act as Cloisters that can be placed in any location to complete a feature. This tile is given to you to hold, so can be played at any time to ‘free’ a stranded meeple. Mayors act as super meeples that can only be played on a ‘pennanted’ city with his strength equal to the number of pennants in the city. Barns allow players to score a farm during the game (but cannot be removed, though they do bring ‘farmers’ back into your hand) while the Wagon can be used to score a feature and then ‘travel’ along roads to the next feature.
Overall, Abbey & Mayor is probably one of the better new expansions to purchase with great value for money. It has multiple new pieces that alter the game which can be played separately or together. Each piece will dictate a shift in strategy while not being overtly confrontational unlike the previous two expansions.
Minor Expansions
The Count of Carcassonne The Count introduces 12 new tiles (the town of Carcassonne itself) and a single figure (the Count himself). The Count moves onto each new ‘town’ tile as it is built, with each tile specifying a new action. At each scoring opportunity, the Count takes this special action as dictated by the tile, creating an interesting situation for the players as some of these actions are entirely adverse.
A great minor expansion, it introduces a level of complexity to the game as players must now watch out for the fickle Count as well as their opponents.
Carcassonne: King & ScoutThe King & Scout expansion actually expands both the base Carcassonne game and Hunters & Gatherers. The tiles that expand either game cannot be played with the other however, providing only 5 new tiles for Hunters & Gatherers and 7 for the base game.
The base Carcassonne game introduces 5 new terrain tiles and 2 ‘special’ tiles that are not included in the major board. These ‘special’ tiles are the King and the Robber Baron who provide points to the players with the largest city & the longest road respectively. Points are equal to the number of cities and roads completed at the end of the game. As can be guessed, this creates a new sense of competition and changes both the strategy and tactics of the game slightly.
The Scout expansion for Hunters & Gatherers provides 1 Shaman tile to be added to the main game and 4 tiles that are drawn randomly by each player at the start of the game. Each tile ‘breaks’ the rules slightly in the game, providing the player who owns and plays it a slight advantage.
A small expansion with only 12 tiles, this is a great mini-expansion for owners of both games or as a stocking stuffer gift. This is a great expansion for someone who is getting bored with the original game but is unwilling to
Carcassonne: the River IIThe River expansion currently comes with the base game of Carcassonne. The River II expansion adds even more ‘river’ tiles to the game, forcing players to score and finish these rivers before they can begin laying the remainder of the maps.
The River II expansion is really a stocking stuffer. The base River I expansion is included with the Carcassonne base game, so players will already be familiar with the mechanic. It adds very little in terms of new strategies or tactics but can be fun for those who want to extend the game or just enjoy the overall ‘River’ expansions in the first place.