Introduction

---

My wife and I love playing board games and card games. We play cards almost every night and at least one board game several times per week. She is an incredible card player and I have a really hard time beating her, so I often prefer to play board games.

One particular game that we have been playing quite a lot for the past few months is Carcassonne. This article discusses the game and offers a bit of a review on how its played.

About the Game

---

Carcassonne by Z-Man Games was produced in 2000. It can be played with 2 to 5 players and takes roughly 30-45 minutes to complete. Players take turns drawing tiles and placing them on a table. Players then place "Meeple," (i.e. men) on the tile, if they choose to, in order to try and collect points in the game. Each tile contains a picture of a road, city, monastery (or garden), or field. When all of the tiles have been laid the game is over and the person with the most points wins.

The River

---

"The River" was the first expansion for the game. However, it is a pretty weak expansion in that it doesn't really add much to the game or change it in any significant way. The producers must have realized this because it has been integrated as a standard part of the game and now comes with all new purchases.

As you can see from the picture above The river is made up of 12 additional tile pieces which are laid at the beginning of the game. The expansion also included one additional "Meeple" (a cleric) for each player color. Clerics look like miniature "Popes" and can be placed on monastery's and gardens.

Placing Meeple

---

Meeple are the players men (or women). They can be played one at a time after each tile is laid. A Meeple's role is determined by the place in which it is laid. For instance, if a Meeple is placed on a road then it becomes a road builder. If it is placed in a city, it becomes a knight. If it is place in a field it becomes a farmer and if it is placed on a monastery or garden then it becomes a cleric.

In the picture above you can see that two clerics have be placed (one in a monastery, one in a garden), one road builder has been placed and two knights have been placed. The road and one of the cities that holds a knights are complete and these Meeple can be removed for points.

As mentioned above, each player has one dedicated cleric at their disposal which are identified by their pointy hats. Though these Meeple are somewhat limited by the fact that they can only be placed on Monastery's or gardens, they have an advantage over other Meeple in that their points can be taken before a monastery is complete.

This is especially advantageous if a player notices that they will not be able to finish their monastery. In such cases, the player can remove their Cleric, take points for it, and then play it again in another spot at a later turn. All other Meeple can only be removed for points when their respective road, city, or monastery is complete. In the picture above, both the road and monastery are incomplete so their respective Meeple are stuck there until the player is able to complete them.

Scoring Points

---

Players score points after each structure is completed. For instance, when a road that contains a players Meeple is completed, the players receives 1 point per tile of completed road.

For the most part, players receive 2 points per tile for each completed city. However, some city tiles contain shield symbols which are worth an additional 2 points once the city is completed.

Gardens and Monastery's are completed when they are surrounded by tiles on all sides in a large, 9 tile square. Players receive 9 points for each completed monastery or garden.

Farmers receive 3 points for every completed city that their field is connected to.

Farmers

---

Farmers are the most challenging Meeple to lay because once they are placed they are stuck in that spot for the remainder of the game. If they are laid too early, the player runs the risk of not having very many Meeple to lay throughout the game, limiting the amount of points they can receive. However, if farmers are played too late, then the player runs the risk of allowing the other player to hold all of the farming power.

Farmers are signified by laying them on their side in a field.

As mentioned previously, farmers collect 3 points for every completed city that they are connected to which can be a lot of points at the end of the game. However, only the player with the most farmers in one area gets to collect points from the farms. If one player has two farmers in an area and the other person has one farmer, then the player with two farmers collects points in that area.

When a player lays a farmer in one area, it is often a good idea to try and cancel that farmer out by laying your own farmer.

However, this can be challenging because Meeple cannot be played in areas in which other Meeple are already laid. So if a player wants to cancel out another persons farmer, they have to place them in an area that is currently not attached to the other players farm land, but can be connected at a later time.

In the picture above, the blue farmers currently control that area of land, but the yellow farmer could try and connect the land and cancel out the blue farmers. However, in order to do this they would need to not only connect the land, but also somehow place another farmer and connect that land as well. A move like this takes planning and foresight and even some luck with drawing pieces.

The Board

---

One of the cool things about the game is that the board is different each time the game is played and it changes as each tile is laid. Players have to update their strategy as they go and manage their Meeple so that they don't run out too early.

It is also possible to steal opponents cities and farms by placing more of your own men in them. "Screwing" others over is also common practice in the game, which is done by placing tiles in a way that makes it difficult for the other player to finish their structure. For instance, you can lay tiles in a way that makes it difficult for others to complete their city or you can box their farmers into a small land mass that makes it impossible for them to collect points.

Thanks For Reading. Feel free to share your thoughts or strategy on the game or to recommend other games that you like.

---