Summary of Rule Sets & Changes/en

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Base game, major expansions and mini expansions

The following table summarizes the ruleset changes for the base game, major expansions and minis #1 - #7. These changes happened through time as rules were updated or clarified after the initial release and/or included in a Big Box.

Note: Follower (in the 1st edition, or C1 for short) and meeple (in the second/third edition, or C2/C3 for short) mean the same.

		C1				C2		C3
		Pre-Big Box (HiG)	Pre-Big Box (RGG / ZMG)	Latest rules (HiG)	Latest rules (RGG / ZMG)	Latest rules (HiG)	Latest rules (ZMG)	Latest rules (HiG)	Latest rules (ZMG)
Base Game	starting player	youngest player decides	youngest player decides	youngest player decides	any method agreed upon by all	youngest player	youngest player	youngest player	youngest player
	"small city" rule	no	yes	no	no	no	no	no	no
	farmer scoring	3rd edition	1st edition	3rd edition	3rd edition	3rd edition	3rd edition	3rd edition	3rd edition
Exp. 2 - Traders & Builders	2nd tile (double turn)	drawn immediately	drawn immediately	drawn after scoring	drawn after scoring	drawn after scoring	drawn after scoring	drawn after scoring	drawn after scoring
	builders & pigs	are followers	are followers	are not followers	are not followers	are not meeples	are not meeples	are not meeples	are not meeples
Exp. 3 - The Princess & the Dragon	volcano & fairy	cannot move fairy	cannot move fairy	can move fairy	can move fairy	can move fairy	can move fairy	N/A	N/A
	volcano & deployment	cannot deploy follower, builder, or pig	cannot deploy follower, builder, or pig	cannot deploy any figure to the tile	cannot deploy follower, builder, or pig	cannot deploy meeple, builder, or pig	cannot deploy meeple, builder, or pig	N/A	N/A
	magic portal to unscored feature	yes (no in FAQ)	no	no	no	no	no	N/A	N/A
	princess tile	must remove knight or builder	must remove knight or builder	may remove follower	must remove follower	may remove meeple	may remove meeple	N/A	N/A
	princess & big follower/large meeple	can only remove if last follower in city (FAQ)	same as normal follower (implicit)	same as normal follower	same as normal follower	same as normal meeple	same as normal meeple	N/A	N/A
	the dragon moves	before scoring (FAQ)	?	before scoring	after scoring (RGG) / before scoring (ZMG)	before scoring	before scoring	N/A	N/A
Exp. 4 - The Tower	towers capture	everything	everything	followers	followers	meeples	meeples	N/A	N/A
	tower captures followers/meeples on towers	yes (FAQ)	no	yes	yes	yes	yes	N/A	N/A
	tower captures own followers/meeples	no	no	yes	yes	yes	yes	N/A	N/A
Exp. 3, Exp. 4. and others	last follower/meeple is removed	builder or pig not removed (FAQ)	builder or pig not removed (implicit)	builder or pig removed	builder or pig removed	builder or pig removed	builder or pig removed	N/A	N/A
Exp. 5 - Abbey & Mayor	the wagon moves to elegible adjacent feature (more detail here)	connected by a road or sharing a surface (i.e. city-inner monastery or city-abbey)	connected by a road or sharing a surface (i.e. city-inner monastery or city-abbey)	connected by a road or sharing a surface (i.e. city-inner monastery or city-abbey)	connected by a road or sharing a surface (i.e. city-inner monastery or city-abbey)	on same tile or on adjacent one	on same tile or on adjacent one	N/A	N/A
	extra round to place remaining abbeys	no	no	yes	yes	no	no	N/A	N/A
Exp. 6 - Count, King & Robber / The Count of Carcassonne	In multiple scorings, you can send a follower/meeple to Carcassonne	when you score 0 points in all of them	when you score 0 points in all of them	when you score 0 points in all of them	when you score 0 points in all of them	when you score 0 points in all of them	when you score 0 points in at least one of them	N/A	N/A
	Followers/meeples in Carcassonne can be redeployed for final scoring	from all quarters (implicit)	from all quarters (implicit)	from all quarters (implicit)	from all quarters (explicit by RGG)	from market quarter only	from market quarter only	N/A	N/A
Exp. 7 - The Catapult	Seduction token	players select the follower closest to the token	players select the opponent's follower closest to the token	players select the follower closest to the token	players select the opponent's follower closest to the token	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Exp. 8 - Bridges, Castles & Bazaars	castle & fairy	cannot place fairy on castle (implicit - the fairy is placed on a tile)	cannot place fairy on castle (implicit - the fairy is placed on a tile)	cannot place fairy on castle	cannot place fairy on castle	can place fairy on castle	can place fairy on castle	N/A	N/A
Exp. 9 - Hills & Sheep	closed farm with shepherd	no action	no action	action "herd flock into stable" is performed automatically	no action	action "herd flock into stable" is performed automatically	action "herd flock into stable" is performed automatically	N/A	N/A
Mini #2 - The Messengers (Dispatches)	rounds of messages	one after scoring	one after scoring	up to six depending on the expansions used	up to six depending on the expansions used	one after scoring	one after scoring	one after scoring	one after scoring
	message dispatched	when a player lands on a dark space	when a player lands on a dark space	when a player lands on a dark space	when a player lands on a dark space	when a player lands on a dark space	when a player lands on a dark space containing no counting figures from other players	when a player lands on a dark space	when a player lands on a dark space
	Message #8 - Score a follower/meeple and remove it from the board	majority is required to score a feature	majority is required to score a feature	majority is required to score a feature	majority is required to score a feature	majority is required to score a feature	majority is not required to score a feature	majority is not required to score a feature	majority is not required to score a feature
	Scoring figure used for final scoring	any scoring figure	scoring follower only	any scoring figure	scoring follower only	any scoring figure	scoring meeple only	any scoring figure	scoring meeple only
Mini #6 - The Robbers	players placing robbers	active player and first player to the left with no robber placed	all players with no robber placed	active player and first player to the left with no robber placed	all players with no robber placed	active player and first player to the left with no robber placed	all players with no robber placed	active player and first player to the left with no robber placed	active player and first player to the left with no robber placed
	robber placement and robber movement	both optional	both optional	both optional	both optional	both optional	placement mandatory but movement optional	both optional	both optional
Mini #7 - Crop Circles	adding a follower/meeple action	optional	optional	optional	optional	optional	mandatory	optional	mandatory
	adding a follower/meeple action	on the same tile as another follower	on the same tile as another follower	on the same tile as another follower	on the same tile as another follower	on the same tile as another meeple	on the same feature as another meeple	on the same tile as another meeple	on the same feature as another meeple

Wagon movement (Exp. 5 - Abbey & Mayor)

The rules governing the movement of the wagon have changed between editions. These changes affect how the wagon moves after scoring and its range of action. A page illustrating these rule changes with various examples can be found here.

Halflings and double-sized tiles

The following table summarizes to evolution of the rules for Halflings and double-sized tiles. See the full detail here.

Rules Updates
Feature	Tiles occupying a space	Carcassonne I rules from 2014	Clarifications from 10/2015	Carcassonne II rules from 2020	Clarifications from 1/2021
			Final Carcassonne I rules		Final Carcassonne II rules
Road / City		Scored per tile	Scored per tile	Scored per tile	Scored per occupied space
	1 square tile	1 tile	1 tile	1 tile	1 tile → 1 occupied space
	1 triangular tile	1 tile (1)	1 tile	1 tile	1 tile → 1 occupied space
	2 triangular tiles	2 tiles → counted as 1 tile (1)	2 tiles	2 tiles	2 tiles → 1 occupied space
	1 part of double-sized tile	N/A (2)	1 tile	1 tile (3)	1 tile part → 1 occupied space (6)
Monastery		Scored per occupied space	Scored per tile	Scored per occupied space	Scored per occupied space
	1 square tile	1 tile → 1 occupied space	1 tile	1 tile → 1 occupied space	1 tile → 1 occupied space
	1 triangular tile	1 tile → 1 occupied space	1 tile (4)	1 tile → 1 occupied space	1 tile → 1 occupied space
	2 triangular tiles	2 tiles → 1 occupied space	2 tiles (4)	2 tiles → 1 occupied space	2 tiles → 1 occupied space
	1 part of double-sized tile	N/A (2)	1 tile (4)	1 tile → 1 or 2 occupied spaces (5)	1 tile part → 1 occupied space

• Note:
  • (1) There was no explicit mention in rules. It was assumed that triangular tiles on the same space were considered counted as 1 tile as an adaptation of the scoring rules for monasteries. This may be the result of a misinterpretation.
  • (2) Double-sized tiles were released a year later so no provision for double-sized tiles is made in the rules from 2014.
  • (3) Not covered in the rules, but aligned with the interpretation of the rules from 2020 and the clarifications from 10/2015.
  • (4) Triangular tiles and double-sized tiles were counted as individual tiles for monasteries.
  • (5) Not covered in the rules, but change consistent with monastery scoring by occupied space from 2020. It would override the clarifications provided in 10/2015.
  • (6) Exception for C2 only: Roads in Leipzig tiles are counted as 1 tile even is spread across two spaces.

Footnotes

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