How to Play

Carcassonne

2-5 players 30-45 min 7.4 Board Game Geek Rating

Players draw and place tiles depicting French countryside features—cities, roads, cloisters, and grasslands—connecting them to existing tiles. After placing a tile, players may position a meeple as a knight, robber, monk, or farmer on different areas. Completed features score points for their owners. Victory goes to whoever accumulates the most points through strategic tile placement and meeple positioning.

Published 2000

Get Ready

Setup the game with these step-by-step instructions before diving into your turn.

Separate special tiles

Remove the 12 river tiles and 1 starting tile from the 84 total tiles, identified by their different colored backs

Place the starting tile

Put the starting tile face-up in the center of the table

Shuffle remaining tiles

Mix all standard tiles well and place them face-down in several stacks nearby

Set up the scoreboard

Place the score track beside the play area

Distribute meeples

Each player takes 8 meeples and 1 abbot (pope) piece of their chosen color

Place scoring markers

Each player places one meeple on the 0 space of the score track

Determine first player

The youngest player begins the game

First game recommendation

For your first game, do not use the river tiles or abbot pieces; learn their rules after mastering the basics

On Your Turn

What you can do during your turn.

Draw a tile

Take the top tile from any stack and flip it face-up

Place the tile

Connect the tile to an existing tile so that all features (roads, cities, fields, monasteries) match up properly

Deploy a meeple (optional)

Place one of your meeples on the tile you just placed

Check placement restrictions

You cannot place a meeple on a feature that is already connected to another meeple

Score completed features

If your tile placement completes a feature, score it immediately

Handle shared features

When multiple players have meeples in a completed feature, the player with the most meeples scores all points; if tied, all tied players score full points

Track scores over 50

If your score exceeds 50, lay your scoring meeple down and continue from 0, adding 50 to future calculations

Handle unplaceable tiles

If a tile cannot be legally placed, return it to the box and draw a new tile

Pass turn

After completing your actions, play passes clockwise to the player on your left