Carcassonne (board game)

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Carcassonne
Image:Carcassonne-game.jpg
Players place tiles and followers in a strategic fashion in order to obtain the most points.
Players 2–5 (6 with expansion)
Age range 8 +
Setup time < 1 minute
Playing time > 30 minutes
Rules complexity Low
Strategy depth Medium
Random chance Medium
Skills required Strategic thought
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Carcassonne is a tile-based German-style board game for two to five players, designed by Klaus-Jürgen Wrede and published in 2000 by Hans im Glück in German and Rio Grande Games in English. It received the Spiel des Jahres award in 2001. It is named after the medieval fortified town of Carcassonne in southern France, famed for its city walls. The game has spawned many expansions and spinoffs, inspired several PC versions, and the wooden follower pieces (colloquially called meeples) have become a symbol of European board gaming.

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Gameplay

The game board is a medieval landscape built by the players as the game progresses. The game starts with a single terrain tile face up and 71 others shuffled face down for the players to draw from. On each turn a player draws a new terrain tile and places it adjacent to tiles that are already face up. The new tile must be placed in a way that matches, i.e. roads must connect to roads, fields to fields, and city walls to city walls.

Image:Carcassonne-meeple.jpg

After placing the new tile, the placing player may opt to station a follower piece on that tile. The follower can only be placed on the player's last played tile. A follower claims ownership of one terrain feature - road, field, city, or cloister - and may not be placed on a feature already claimed by another player's follower. However, it is possible for terrain features to become shared after the further placement of tiles. For example, two field tiles which each have a follower can become connected into a single field by another terrain tile.

When a terrain feature is completed, the followers placed on that feature earn points for their owning players and are returned to the players to be stationed again later. However, followers placed on a field, called farmers, stay until the end of the game. If a player has more followers on a terrain feature than other occupying players, that player receives the points for the feature. If two or more players tie for the most followers, all tied players score the same points. The German version of the game has three editions with slightly different scoring rules. Rio Grande Games only supports First Edition rules and according to Jay Tummelson of Rio Grande Games, they do not plan on supporting the later editions in the future.

The game ends when the last tile has been placed. At that time all uncompleted terrain features score points for the players who have followers stationed on them. As with finished features, numerical superiority nets sole ownership of points; tying means shared points. The player with the most points wins the game.

Feature Completed Uncompleted
City Edition Two-tiles More tiles One point per tile + one point per shield
1st & 2nd Two points + two points per shield Two points per tile + two points per shield
3rd Four points + two points per shield
Road One point per tile
Cloister Nine points One point + one point for each of the eight tiles surrounding it

The scoring of fields is more complicated.[1] Field continuity is determined by the green sections of tiles that connect and are not interrupted by other features. The three editions of the game each have different rules for scoring farms:

  • First Edition - Scoring is by city and majority is determined by farmers adjacent to a city. For each completed city, the player with the most farmers in fields adjacent to a city scores four points for the city. If there is a tie, all tied players receive four points for the city. (These are the rules as stated in the English-language, Rio-Grande versions of the game, and in the original Hans-im-Glück German-language version. Subsequent changes have to date appeared only in the German version.)
  • Second Edition - Scoring is by city and majority is determined by farmers within a distinct field. For each field, the player with the most farmers within a field gains points from completed cities adjacent to that field. If there is a tie, all tied players receive the full amount of points. For each field, the player with the majority of farmers scores three points for each adjacent completed city. Each player may only score points once for a given city.
  • Third Edition - Scoring is similar to that of Second Edition, but cities can be scored multiple times by the same player if he has multiple fields where he holds the majority which border the city. The scoring is still three points per city.
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Game interest

Carcassonne is considered to be an excellent family game since the rules are simple, no one is eliminated, and the play is fast. A typical game takes only 45 minutes to play. There is a substantial luck component to the game. However, good tactics greatly improve one's chances of winning. Examples of tactical considerations include:

  • Conserving followers. Since each player has only seven followers, it can be easy to run out. This is especially important with fewer players, because then each player will play more tiles during the game.
  • Joining in on other players' features. Often it is possible to add a separate road or castle segment near a big road or castle and join them up. This way you get points from your opponents' work.
  • Avoiding sharing. If you can prevent other players from getting points as well, this is to your advantage. This is more important with fewer players, or if the sharing player is doing well.
  • Judicious farmer placement. Farmers in the right location can be worth a lot of points. However, once placed, they are there for the whole game.
  • Trapping opponents' followers. If you know which tiles exist or are more common, you can create situations where it is hard or impossible for an opponent to complete some feature. The result is their follower is stuck in something half completed.

BrettspielWelt, as well as hosting online games of Carcassonne, holds a "Mega-Carcassonne" competition for the game played with the largest number of Carcassonne tiles. The current record, held by the Spielzentrum in Herne, Germany, is 5517 tiles. [2]

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Expansions

  • The River Expansion (2001) - This was originally a free expansion distributed by Rio Grande Games through hobby shops in the U.S.A. Instead of starting with a fixed tile, a river is formed before the regular tiles can be used. The latest 'basic' version of Carcassonne now includes the River Expansion (you can just see it written on picture of the box above right).
  • Carcassonne: Inns and Cathedrals (2002) - Originally known simply as Carcassonne: the Expansion, this adds pieces for a sixth player, some new tiles, and a leader pawn (colloquially big meeple) that counts as two followers. The Inns and Cathedrals for which it is named can be placed as part of roads and cities to double their value - provided they are completed by the end of the game. But if such a road or city is left uncompleted, no points are scored.
  • Carcassonne: Traders and Builders (2003) - An expansion to the base game with additional tile types and strategic possibilities. The most significant additions are trade goods, which appear in cities and are collected by the player who completes the city, even if they are not the one who scores it (thus encouraging the completion of other people's cities). This expansion also adds a pig token (which increases the value of a farm it's placed in) and a builder follower (which, if placed on a structure already controlled by the placing player, grants an extra turn to that player whenever the structure is extended).
  • Carcassonne: King and Scout (2003) - A few additional tiles and special rules for both the original Carcassonne and "Hunters and Gatherers" (see Spinoffs). The player who builds the biggest city becomes King of Carcassonne, and at the end of the game receives extra points for every completed city; likewise, the player who builds the biggest road becomes Robber Baron and receives points for every completed road.
  • Carcassonne: The Cathars (2004) - Four new "siege" tiles which show Cathars breaking the city walls. Adding a siege tile to a city halves its value for knights, but doubles its value for farmers. This expansion was published in the German board game magazine Spielbox and is only available, in German, in back issues of that publication. Tile images and full english rules are available from Board Game Geek
  • Carcassonne: The Count (2004) - Twelve new tiles depicting the city of Carcassonne itself together with a large follower representing the Count. Like the River Expansion, the new tiles are placed before play begins. The city of Carcassonne is divided into quarters, each one representing one of the types of structure available - cities, roads, churches and farms. Whenever a player completes a structure that earns points for a player other than themselves, they may place a follower in one of the quarters, and also move the Count to one of the four quarters. When any structure is scored, followers placed on the quarters of Carcassonne can "jump" onto that structure at the last moment (unofficially known as "paratrooping"), possibly claiming the points for a player other than the one who had previously owned it. However, the presence of the Count in any quarter prevents the followers there from being moved in this way.
  • Carcassonne: The Princess and the Dragon (2005) - Thirty new tiles with Magical Portals, volcanos, and dragon icons, together with a dragon token and a Fairy token. When a volcano is drawn, the dragon is placed on the board - If a volcano already exists, the dragon immediately moves to that tile. When a tile with a Dragon icon is drawn, the game is briefly halted, while each player (starting with the placing player) moves the dragon one space each, until the dragon is moved 6 tiles, eating followers, until it hits a dead end (the dragon may not return to a tile that it has already visited during one movement). The dragon cannot move onto a tile containing the Fairy. Instead of placing a follower, any player may move the fairy onto a tile where one of their existing followers resides; they earn 1 point at the end of the turn if the fairy remains there, and 3 points if a structure is completed while the fairy is with one of their followers on the structure. When a tile with a magical portal is played, the player may then place a follower on any tile already played, so long as it follows all other placement rules (i.e. no other followers on the target feature).
  • Carcassonne: The River II (November 2005) - Twelve more river tiles, including a fork in the river, to be placed at the beginning of the game. These tiles include elements from Inns & Cathedrals, Traders & Builders, and Princess & Dragon.
  • Carcassonne: The Tower (March 2006) - Eighteen more tiles with tower foundations, together with wooden tower sections and a cardboard "tower" to hold the tiles. If a player places a follower on a tower, farmers in adjacent tiles are removed; the higher the tower, the greater the range at which farmers are removed. The farmers are held prisoner (hostage) by the player building the tower. Farmers can be ransomed for 3 victory points, or exchanged against another farmer.
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Spinoffs

  • Carcassonne: Hunters and Gatherers (2002) - A stand-alone game that involves the building of forests, rivers and wildlife rather than cities and roads. This game attempted to rectify some perceived faults in the original by eliminating churches, introducing a "special tile" system to encourage players to complete cities (now forests) owned by other players, and making the value of fields vary both up and down (based on wildlife appearing on the tiles). Could be thought as being "Carcassonne 2". There's also a PC version of it.
  • The Ark of the Covenant (2003) - A biblical-themed version of Carcassonne set in the time period of the Old Testament, with three major rules changes:
    1. A "prophet" (slightly larger follower) may be placed in a city (and only a city), doubling the value of that city for that player.
    2. The Ark of the Covenant is placed in the first city completed; and if a player doesn't place a follower, that player may move the ark up to five tile-spaces and score one point for the owner of each follower whose tile-space it is moved into or through.
    3. Each wolf in a field with sheep will eat one sheep. Any sheep remaining will score two points each for a player whose follower is in the same field. (This is similar to Hunters and Gatherers.)
    4. Each completed temple (tiles on four immediate adjacencies) scores seven points for player with the most followers on temple and tiles on four immediate adjacencies. (Three points is scored at end-of-game for uncompleted temples.)
  • Carcassonne: The Castle (2003) - A stand-alone 2-player Carcassonne game designed by Reiner Knizia where building is constrained within the walls of a castle. Rules are quite similar to the those of the original game, though the tile edge-matching rules are less strict. The border of the game is also the score board with the nice feature that players can gain extras by scoring an exact number of points.
  • Carcassonne: The City (2004) - A deluxe stand-alone game for 2-4 players similar to Carcassonne: The Castle. The tile matching rules are relaxed, allowing any tiles to be placed next to each other provided roads are contiguous. A further significant change is that a follower may no longer be placed on the final tile that completes a structure, requiring that players plan ahead. Once slightly over one third of the pieces have been placed, the players begin adding walls around the edge of the city, each player adding a wall every time a structure is scored.
  • Carcassonne: The Discovery (2005) - A nautical-themed stand-alone game that involves mountains, seas and meadows. In this game, players may choose to score for terrain features before they are completed, albeit for fewer points.
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External links

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Rules and reviews

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Online implementations

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