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Welcome to WikiCarpedia, the Carcassonne Complete Annotated Rules Wiki!

This site is intended to be comprehensive source for all rules of Carcassonne, the modern classic created by Klaus-Jürgen Wrede, and any other information concerning the Carcassonne board game hobby.

If you are new here, please check the About page for some welcome information. If you want to get in touch with other fans of Carcassonne for the latest news, participating in games and leagues, or learning about fan expansions and more, do not miss the opportunity to join the community at (CarcassonneCentral).

You can easily find rules and notes to any expansion or game release in the lists below.

Carcassonne rules

Carcassonne Editions
	C1, the 1st edition (2000-2016) The original edition with graphics by Doris Matthäus.
	C2, the 2nd edition (2014-2023) An updated edition with redesigned graphics by Anne Pätzke.
	C3, the 3rd edition (2020-) Current edition with refreshed and more detailed graphics by Marcel Gröber.
	If your tiles have none of the previous designs, you have one of the Carcassonne Spin-offs. Choose your game in Spin-offs section.

Base game set

	C1	C2
Base Game	C1 rules	C2 & C3 rules
The Farmers	C1 rules	C2 & C3 rules
The Abbot	–	C2 & C3 rules
River	C1 rules	C2 & C3 rules

Major Expansions

Lineup since 25th Anniversary: with revised rules and contents as reviewed in 2025, referred to as C3.1 in order to differentiate them from the major expansions with the same number in previous editions.^[1]

	C1	C2	C3.1
Exp. 1 - Inns & Cathedrals ^NEW	–	–	C3.1 rules
Exp. 2 - Traders & Builders ^NEW	–	–	C3.1 rules
Exp. 3 - Dragon & Fairy ^NEW	–	–	C3.1 rules
Exp. 4 - Towers & Thieves ^NEW	–	–	C3.1 rules
Exp. 5 - Messengers & Mayors ^NEW	–	–	C3.1 rules
Exp. 6 - Jousts & Crests ^NEW	–	–	C3.1 rules
Exp. 7 - Siege & Defense ^NEW	–	–	C3.1 rules
Exp. 8 - Castles & Bridges ^NEW	–	–	C3.1 rules
Exp. 9 - Sheep & Shepherds ^NEW	–	–	C3.1 rules
Exp. 10 - Circus & Artists ^NEW	–	–	C3.1 rules

Lineup until 25th Anniversary: with original rules and contents, encompassing C1, C2 and C3.

	C1	C2	C3^[2]
Exp. 1 - Inns & Cathedrals	C1 rules	C2 & C3 rules
Exp. 2 - Traders & Builders	C1 rules	C2 & C3 rules
Exp. 3 - The Princess & the Dragon	C1 rules	C2 rules	–
Exp. 4 - The Tower	C1 rules	C2 rules	–
Exp. 5 - Abbey & Mayor	C1 rules	C2 rules	–
Exp. 6 - Count, King & Robber	C1 rules	C2 rules	–
Exp. 7 - The Catapult ^[3]	C1 rules	–	–
Exp. 8 - Bridges, Castles & Bazaars	C1 rules	C2 rules	–
Exp. 9 - Hills & Sheep	C1 rules	C2 rules	–
Exp. 10 - Under the Big Top ^[4]	–	C2 rules	–

Other major expansions from spin-offs.

Edition		C1	C2	C3
	Exp. 11 - Ghosts, Castles & Cemeteries ^[5]	–	–	C3 rules
	The Wheel of Fortune	C1 rules	–	–

Minor Expansions

Edition	C1	C2	C3
Mini expansions
Mini #1 - The Flying Machines	C1 rules	C2 & C3 rules
Mini #2 - The Messengers	C1 rules	C2 & C3 rules
Mini #3 - The Ferries	C1 rules	C2 & C3 rules
Mini #4 - The Goldmines	C1 rules	C2 & C3 rules
Mini #5 - Mage & Witch	C1 rules	C2 & C3 rules
Mini #6 - The Robbers	C1 rules	C2 & C3 rules
Mini #7 - The Crop Circles	C1 rules	C2 & C3 rules
Other expansions (alphabetical order)
20th Anniversary Expansion	–	–	C3 rules
20th Anniversary River	–	–	C3 rules
Autumn, The	–	–	C3 rules
Barber-Surgeons, The	–	C2 rules	–
Bets, The	–	–	C3 rules
Besiegers, The	C1 rules	–	–
Castles in Germany	C1 rules	C2 & C3 rules
Cathars, The	C1 rules	–	–
German Cathedrals	C1 rules	C2 & C3 rules
Darmstadt Promo	C1 rules	–	–
Drawbridges, The	–	–	C3 rules
Festival, The	C1 rules	C2 & C3 rules
Fruit-Bearing Trees, The	–	C2 & C3 rules
Games Quarterly #11	C1 rules	–	–
Gifts, The	–	–	C3 rules
Halflings	C1 rules	C2 & C3 rules
Japanese Buildings	–	C2 rules	–
Labyrinth, The	C1 & C2 rules		–
Little Buildings	C1 rules	–	–
Markets of Leipzig, The	–	C2 & C3 rules
Monasteries in Germany	C1 rules	C2 & C3 rules
Monasteries in the Netherlands & Belgium	C1 rules	–	–
Peasant Revolts, The	–	–	C3 rules
Phantom, The	C1 rules	–	–
Plague, The	C1 rules	–	–
Russian Promos	C1 rules	–	–
School, The	C1 rules	–	–
Siege	C1 rules	–	–
Signposts, The	–	–	C3 rules
Snakes and Ladders	–	–	C3 rules
Spell Circles, The	–	–	C3 rules
Spiel Doch! Promo 2/2018	–	C2 rules	–
Spiel Promos	–	C2 & C3 rules
Spring, The	–	–	C3 rules
Summer, The	–	–	C3 rules
Tollkeepers, The	–	C2 & C3 rules
Tunnel, The	C1 rules	–	–
Ukraine Promo	–	–	C3 rules
Watchtowers, The	–	C2 & C3 rules
Wind Roses	C1 rules	–	–
Wonders of Humanity, The	–	–	C3 rules

Cut & Play / Print & Play Expansions

Edition	C1	C2	C3
Cut & Play expansions
CutCassonne	–	C2 rules	–
Print & Play expansions
Christmas Present	C1 rules	–	–
Easter in Carcassonne	C1 rules	–	–
City Gates, The	C1 rules	–	–
Fortune Teller	C1 & C2 rules		–
Land Surveyors, The (Simulator)	–	C2 rules	–

Notorious Fan-Expansions

Edition	C1	C2	C3
Porxada, La	C1 rules	–	–
Wells, The	C1 rules	–	–

• Other fan expansions

Variants

Edition	C1	C2	C3
Carcassonne Maps	–	C2 & C3 rules
Saint Nicholas Scoring Board	–	C2 rules	–
Solo Variant	–	C2 rules	–
3D Starting Landscape	–	–	C3 rules

Tools

Edition	C1	C2	C3
Land Surveyors Simulator	–	C2 rules	–

Reference Guides

Edition	C1	C2	C3
Game Reference	C1 rules	C2 & C3 rules
Order of Play	C1 rules	C2 & C3 rules
Scoring During the Game	C1 rules	C2 & C3 rules
Scoring After the Game	C1 rules	C2 & C3 rules
Game Figures	C1 rules	C2 & C3 rules
Tile Reference	C1	C2	C3
Tile Counts	C1 & C2 & C3
Visual Timeline	C1	C2	C3
Mega-Carcassonne	C1 & C2 & C3 rules
Scoring: A Historical Perspective	C1 rules	–	–
Summary of Rule Sets and Changes	C1 & C2 & C3 rules

Other rules

Spin-offs

Spin-offs
	Winter Edition		South Seas
	Gold Rush		Amazonas
	Hunters and Gatherers		Star Wars
	The Castle		The Ark of the Covenant
	The City		The Discovery
	New World		My First Carcassonne
	Cardcassonne		The Dice Game
	Over Hill and Dale		Safari
	Mists over Carcassonne

Others

Other games
	Meeple Stacking		Lucca Map Mini Game

Additional info

Footnotes

For Icons explanation and licensing please visit Icons page.

↑
The updated expansions include changes in mechanics, tile distribution and even components. They are not just a graphical update. Depending on the expansion, it may represent a total redefinition including the repurposing of some original components:
- General comments: The tile distribution of all the expansions has changed. In some cases, even if the tile count does not vary. Now, all of them include river tiles with a tie-in to one of the expansion mechanics.
- Exp. 1: It closely follows its original counterpart with minimal changes to final scoring.
- Exp. 2: It follows its original counterpart but changes the mechanics involving the pig and the builder.
- Exp. 3: It follows its original counterpart but changes the dragon movement, the fairy bonus and removes the princess.
- Exp. 4: It includes tower pieces but the mechanics of this expansion are new.
- Exp. 5: This expansion changes all its figures and their mechanics, vaguely inspired on themes from its original counterpart.
- Exp. 6: This expansion is completely redefined.
- Exp. 7: This expansion is completely redefined, although involving catapults (theme of the oiginal version, later discontinued in C2).
- Exp. 8: It follows its original counterpart but changes some mechanics: updated castles, no bazaars, and farmer-related tokens.
- Exp. 9: It follows its original counterpart but removing hills.
- Exp. 10: It follows its original counterpart with minimum changes.
↑ These C3 rules following the original ones are only available in Big Box 7.
↑ Exp. 7 - The Catapult was only released in C1, but never in C2.
↑ Exp. 10 - Under the Big Top was originally released in C2, the current edition at the time after C1 had been discontinued.
↑
Ghosts, Castles & Cemeteries results from the use of Mists over Carcassonne as a large expansion. It has been referred to as the 11th major expansion of Carcassonne in various sources, but it is not reflected accordingly on the box or in the spin-off or expansion rules. We did not receive any confirmation about the status of this expansion when we asked Hans-im-Glück, the original publisher.
Here you are the sources mentioned above:
- The author's personal website: https://www.kjwrede.de/spiele/carcassonne-familie/
- The following presentation video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HaH-fuuUbBc

[1] The updated expansions include changes in mechanics, tile distribution and even components. They are not just a graphical update. Depending on the expansion, it may represent a total redefinition including the repurposing of some original components:
General comments: The tile distribution of all the expansions has changed. In some cases, even if the tile count does not vary. Now, all of them include river tiles with a tie-in to one of the expansion mechanics.

Exp. 1: It closely follows its original counterpart with minimal changes to final scoring.

Exp. 2: It follows its original counterpart but changes the mechanics involving the pig and the builder.

Exp. 3: It follows its original counterpart but changes the dragon movement, the fairy bonus and removes the princess.

Exp. 4: It includes tower pieces but the mechanics of this expansion are new.

Exp. 5: This expansion changes all its figures and their mechanics, vaguely inspired on themes from its original counterpart.

Exp. 6: This expansion is completely redefined.

Exp. 7: This expansion is completely redefined, although involving catapults (theme of the oiginal version, later discontinued in C2).

Exp. 8: It follows its original counterpart but changes some mechanics: updated castles, no bazaars, and farmer-related tokens.

Exp. 9: It follows its original counterpart but removing hills.

Exp. 10: It follows its original counterpart with minimum changes.

[2] General comments: The tile distribution of all the expansions has changed. In some cases, even if the tile count does not vary. Now, all of them include river tiles with a tie-in to one of the expansion mechanics.

[3] Exp. 1: It closely follows its original counterpart with minimal changes to final scoring.

[4] Exp. 2: It follows its original counterpart but changes the mechanics involving the pig and the builder.

[5] Exp. 3: It follows its original counterpart but changes the dragon movement, the fairy bonus and removes the princess.

[6] Exp. 4: It includes tower pieces but the mechanics of this expansion are new.

[7] Exp. 5: This expansion changes all its figures and their mechanics, vaguely inspired on themes from its original counterpart.

[8] Exp. 6: This expansion is completely redefined.

[9] Exp. 7: This expansion is completely redefined, although involving catapults (theme of the oiginal version, later discontinued in C2).

[10] Exp. 8: It follows its original counterpart but changes some mechanics: updated castles, no bazaars, and farmer-related tokens.

[11] Exp. 9: It follows its original counterpart but removing hills.

[12] Exp. 10: It follows its original counterpart with minimum changes.

[2] These C3 rules following the original ones are only available in Big Box 7.

[3] Exp. 7 - The Catapult was only released in C1, but never in C2.

[4] Exp. 10 - Under the Big Top was originally released in C2, the current edition at the time after C1 had been discontinued.

[5] Ghosts, Castles & Cemeteries results from the use of Mists over Carcassonne as a large expansion. It has been referred to as the 11th major expansion of Carcassonne in various sources, but it is not reflected accordingly on the box or in the spin-off or expansion rules. We did not receive any confirmation about the status of this expansion when we asked Hans-im-Glück, the original publisher.
Here you are the sources mentioned above:
The author's personal website: https://www.kjwrede.de/spiele/carcassonne-familie/

The following presentation video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HaH-fuuUbBc

[17] The author's personal website: https://www.kjwrede.de/spiele/carcassonne-familie/

[18] The following presentation video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HaH-fuuUbBc

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