Carcassonne

Hey there! Welcome to Carcassonne. The goal of this game is pretty simple – have the lowest value hand. Sounds easy, right?

Before we get started, let me tell you a bit about what you’ll need. Carcassonne is designed for 2-5 players and here’s what you’ll need to play: 72 land tiles, 40 followers, and 1 score tracker.

Now, let me walk you through the basics. Carcassonne is what we call a tile-laying game. It means we’ll be placing tiles on the board as we go. Exciting, isn’t it?

Carcassonne was created by a talented designer named Klaus-Jürgen Wrede. It was first published in 2000 by a German game company called Hans im Glück, and later taken over by Rio Grande Games in 2012. So, you can rest assured – you’re about to play a game with quite the reputation!

If you’re curious about the name, Carcassonne is actually the name of a real medieval town in southern France. The town is famous for its strong city walls. So, as you play, just imagine yourself transported to this historic place.

Just a heads up, there are many expansions and spin-offs of the game, but for now, we’ll stick to the basic version. Are you ready to jump in and have some fun? Let’s get started on this exciting journey to Carcassonne!

Welcome to Carcassonne! In this game, we take turns placing tiles to create a beautiful landscape. We’ll build roads, cities, fields, and cloisters using these tiles. And the best part? We can earn points by using our pieces strategically. The player with the highest score at the end wins! Sounds fun, right?

WHAT’S IN THE BOX?

Inside the box, you’ll find 72 land tiles. There’s a starting tile, which is black, and other tiles that show different things like roads, fields, and city cloisters. Also, we have 40 colorful pieces, each representing a thief, monk, farmer, or knight. These pieces can be used as scoring markers too. And don’t forget about the scoring track!

GETTING READY

First things first, let’s set up the game. We start by placing the starting tile face-up in the center of the table. The rest of the tiles should be shuffled and put face-down in multiple stacks for easy access. Don’t forget to place the score track near one edge of the table.

Now that we’re all set up, let’s talk about how the game is played. Each player takes 8 pieces of their color and places one of them on the score tracker. The remaining 7 pieces are kept in front of each player until the game begins.

Alright, it’s time to decide who will go first. The youngest player gets to choose.

Now, let’s get into the action!

The game is played in turns, and we start with the player who was chosen to go first. After that, we take turns going clockwise. During each turn, there are three things we need to do:

1. Draw and place a new tile on the table.
2. Put one of our followers on that tile.
3. Score points for any completed roads, cities, or cloisters.

Laying Tiles

Let me explain how to play this game. First, pick a tile from the facedown stacks and take a look at it. You can show it to the other players if you want some advice on where to place it. Once you’ve examined it, lay it on the table according to these rules:

The new tile has to be placed in a way that at least one edge aligns with or matches the edge of an existing tile. You can’t just put tiles anywhere you like; they have to make sense and fit together logically. Roads have to connect with roads and fields have to connect with fields.

On the rare occasion that you can’t find a spot for a tile because it doesn’t align with any existing ones, then you have to discard it and draw a new tile.

Now, let’s talk about deploying your followers.

When you place a tile, you have the option to put one of your followers on it. Here are the rules for deploying your followers:

1. You can only deploy one follower per turn.

Rules for Placing Pieces:

1. You can only use your own pieces, not anyone else’s.
2. You must place the piece on a new tile.
3. Decide which follower to use and where to place it, using the images below as a guide.

Remember, you cannot place pieces on parts of tiles that are connected to a tile that already has a piece on it, regardless of who owns that piece. For example, if a player’s piece is in the city section of a tile, you cannot place your piece on the city section of the connecting tile. However, you can place your piece in the field section of the connecting tile.

Once you have placed all your pieces, you can continue to place tiles on your turns. The pieces are returned after cities, roads, and cloisters are scored.

Scoring Details:

Roads

A road is considered complete once it connects to a city, cloister, or itself in a loop. When I have a thief on a completed road, I score one point for each tile that contributes to the road.

Cities

A city is considered finished when it is completely surrounded by walls with no gaps. If I have knights placed on completed cities, I earn two points for each tile that contributes to the city. Additionally, tiles with shields on them earn a bonus of two points. However, if a city is made up of only two tiles, it only earns two points, not four.

Sometimes, it’s possible for a completed road or city to have multiple pieces on it from different players. Through strategic placement, players can create this unexpected situation. In that case, the player with the most thieves on roads or knights in cities takes all the points. If there’s a tie, both players score the full points.

The Mystery of the Cloister

Have you ever wondered about cloisters? They’re like secret hideaways, surrounded by tiles. You’ll find them on a single tile in the game. Here’s the fascinating thing – if you have a monk on a completed cloister, you score a whopping 9 points!

What Happens Next?

Once a road, city, or cloister has been scored, something interesting occurs. The pieces on those tiles go back to their owners. But here’s the truly exciting part – you can use these pieces later as a thief, knight, monk, or even a farmer! It’s like giving them a second life in the game.

The Mysterious Farms

Now, let’s talk about farms. They’re not scored during the game – it’s like they’re keeping their secrets hidden. But, hold on! After the game is over, these connected and enclosed fields come to life. That’s when they are scored. And guess what? Only farmers can be placed on farms. It’s their special sanctuary.

The farmers stay on the table until the very end. They patiently wait for the game to wrap up. And when it does, their time has finally come – they get scored. Take a look at the example below to see what a completed farm looks like:

The Thrilling Finale

Once all the tiles have been placed on the board, it’s time to finish the game and start the final scoring.

We need to score the incomplete cities, roads, and cloisters. If you have a piece on an incomplete feature, you will earn 1 point for each tile in the unfinished road or city. Don’t forget that shields also earn you one point each. If you have a monk on an unfinished cloister, you will earn 1 point for each tile around the cloister tile, as well as 1 point for the cloister tile itself.

Farmers

Farmers can earn you points if they supply produce to a city. When a farm is bordered by completed cities, it is considered supplied. Farmers play a role in the scoring process. The player who owns the farmer will earn 4 points for each city the farmer supplies, regardless of the size of the city or farm.

Remember, the player with the highest final score is the winner!

Remember, the player with the highest final score is the winner!