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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 - 1st edition (2000-2016) Original watercolor artwork by Doris Matthäus	C2 - 2nd edition (2014-2023) Redesigned new digital artwork by Anne Pätzke	C3 - 3rd edition (2020-) C3.1 revision (2024-) Current editions with refreshed and more detailed graphics by Marcel Gröber, with cities with clipped buildings at tile edges
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	C2C3C3.1
The Farmers	C1	C2C3C3.1
The Abbot	•	C2C3C3.1
River	C1	C2C3C3.1

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

You may find a summary of their interactions here.

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

	C1	C2	C3^[2]	C3.1
Exp. 1 - Inns & Cathedrals	C1	C2C3		•
Exp. 2 - Traders & Builders	C1	C2C3		•
Exp. 3 - The Princess & the Dragon	C1	C2	•	•
Exp. 4 - The Tower	C1	C2	•	•
Exp. 5 - Abbey & Mayor	C1	C2	•	•
Exp. 6 - Count, King & Robber	C1	C2	•	•
Exp. 7 - The Catapult ^[3]	C1	•	•	•
Exp. 8 - Bridges, Castles & Bazaars	C1	C2	•	•
Exp. 9 - Hills & Sheep	C1	C2	•	•
Exp. 10 - Under the Big Top ^[4]	•	C2	•	•

Other major expansions from spin-offs.

Edition		C1	C2	C3	C3.1
	Ghosts, Castles & Cemeteries ^[5]	•	•	C3	•
	The Wheel of Fortune	C1	•	•	•

Minor Expansions

Edition	C1	C2	C3	C3.1
Mini expansions
Mini #1 - The Flying Machines	C1	C2C3		C3.1
Mini #2 - The Messages	C1	C2C3		C3.1
Mini #3 - The Ferries	C1	C2C3		C3.1
Mini #4 - The Gold Mines	C1	C2C3		C3.1
Mini #5 - The Magicians	C1	C2C3		C3.1
Mini #6 - The Robbers	C1	C2C3		C3.1
Mini #7 - The Crop Circles	C1	C2C3		C3.1
Other expansions (alphabetical order)
20th Anniversary Expansion	•	•	C3	•
20th Anniversary River	•	•	C3	•
Autumn, The	•	•	C3	•
Barber-Surgeons, The	•	C2C3		•
Bets, The	•	•	C3	•
Besiegers, The	C1	•	•	•
Castles in Germany	C1	C2C3		•
Cathars, The	C1	•	•	•
German Cathedrals	C1	•	C3	•
Darmstadt Promo	C1	•	•	•
Drawbridges, The	•	•	C3	•
Dutch Churches ^[6]	•	•	•	C3.1
Festival, The	C1	C2C3C3.1
Fruit-Bearing Trees, The	•	C2C3		•
Games Quarterly #11	C1	•	•	•
Gifts, The	•	•	C3	•
Halflings	C1	C2C3		•
Hansa, The ^New	•	•	C3	•
Japanese Buildings	•	C2	•	•
Journey to Carcassonne, The	•	•	C3	•
Labyrinth, The	C1C2		•	•
Labyrinth Expansion, The ^NEW	•	•	C3	•
Little Buildings	C1	•	•	•
Markets of Leipzig, The	•	C2C3		•
Monasteries in Germany	C1	C2C3		•
Monasteries in the Netherlands & Belgium	C1	•	•	•
Peasant Revolts, The	•	•	C3	•
Phantom, The	C1	•	•	•
Plague, The	C1	•	•	•
Romanian Fortified Churches	•	•	C3	•
Russian Promos	C1	•	•	•
School, The	C1	•	•	•
Siege	C1	•	•	•
Signposts, The	•	•	C3	•
Snakes and Ladders	•	•	C3	•
Spell Circles, The	•	•	C3	•
Spiel Doch! Promo 2/2018	•	C2	•	•
Spiel Promos	•	C2C3		•
Spring, The	•	•	C3	•
Summer, The	•	•	C3	•
Tollkeepers, The	•	C2C3		•
Tunnel, The	C1	•	•	•
Ukraine Promo	•	•	C3	•
Watchtowers, The	•	C2C3		•
Wind Roses	C1	•	•	•
Winter, The	•	•	C3	•
Wonders of Humanity, The	•	•	C3	•

Cut & Play / Print & Play Expansions

Edition	C1	C2	C3	C3.1
Cut & Play expansions
CutCassonne	•	C2	•	•
Print & Play expansions
Christmas Present	C1	•	•	•
Easter in Carcassonne	C1	•	•	•
City Gates, The	C1	•	•	•
Fortune Teller	C1C2		•	•
Land Surveyors, The (Simulator)	•	C2	•	•

Variants

Edition	C1	C2	C3	C3.1
Carcassonne Maps	•	C2C3		•
Saint Nicholas Scoring Board	•	C2	•	•
Solo Variant	•	C2	•	•
3D Starting Landscape	•	•	C3	•

Tools

Edition	C1	C2	C3	C3.1
Land Surveyors Simulator	•	C2	•	•

Reference Guides

Edition	C1	C2	C3	C3.1
Game Reference	C1	C2C3		•
Order of Play	C1	C2C3		•
Scoring During the Game	C1	C2C3		•
Scoring After the Game	C1	C2C3		•
Game Figures	C1	C2C3		•
Tile Reference	C1	C2	C3	•
Tile Counts	•	C2C3		•
Visual Timeline	C1	C2	C3C3.1
Mega-Carcassonne	C1C2C3			•
Scoring: A Historical Perspective	C1	•	•	•
Summary of Rule Sets and Changes	C1C2C3			•

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		Carcassonne Labyrinth

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 affecting tiles or the boxes, which now form a panorama when placed side by side. Depending on the expansion, it may represent a total redefinition including the repurposing of some original components:

Major Expansion C3.1	New & Modified Tiles	New Wooden Pieces	New Mechanics	Revised Rules & Box Design	Comments
Exp. 1 - Inns & Cathedrals					It closely follows its original counterpart with minimal changes to final scoring.
Exp. 2 - Traders & Builders					It follows its original counterpart but changes the mechanics involving the pig and the builder.
Exp. 3 - Dragon & Fairy					It follows its original counterpart but changes the dragon movement, the fairy bonus and removes the princess.
Exp. 4 - Towers & Thieves					It includes tower pieces (in a different color) but the mechanics of this expansion are new.
Exp. 5 - Messengers & Mayors					This expansion changes completely. It adds new mayors, messengers (redefining wagons) and scarecrows. Abbeys turn into town halls. Barns are removed.
Exp. 6 - Jousts & Crests					This expansion is completely redefined.
Exp. 7 - Siege & Defense					This expansion is completely redefined, although involving catapults (theme of the original version, later discontinued in C2). It also adds normal meeples.
Exp. 8 - Castles & Bridges					It follows its original counterpart but changes some mechanics: updated castles, no bazaars, and farmer-related tokens. Bridges are in a different color.
Exp. 9 - Sheep & Shepherds					It follows its original counterpart but removing hills and adding geese.
Exp. 10 - Circus & Artists					It follows its original counterpart with minimum changes. It also adds normal meeples.

↑ 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.
Here you are the sources mentioned above:
- The author's personal website: https://www.kjwrede.de/spiele/carcassonne-familie/
- The following presentation video on Youtube (0:15 – 0:25): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HaH-fuuUbBc
However, Hans-im-Glück confirmed it is not the official 11th expansion.

Question: Mr. Brunnhofer said in a presentation video on Youtube that Mists Over Carcassonne could be played as the 11th major expansion of Carcassonne. Should we consider this official even if there is no printed material confirming this statement?

Answer: No, it is not officially the 11th expansion. (12/2025)
↑ We are considering Dutch Churches as C3.1 although it is officially a C3 expansion. We are doing so since its rules are aligned with the revised rules for inns.

[1] The updated expansions include changes in mechanics, tile distribution and even components. They are not just a graphical update affecting tiles or the boxes, which now form a panorama when placed side by side. Depending on the expansion, it may represent a total redefinition including the repurposing of some original components:

Major Expansion C3.1 New & Modified Tiles New Wooden Pieces New Mechanics Revised Rules & Box Design Comments

Exp. 1 - Inns & Cathedrals It closely follows its original counterpart with minimal changes to final scoring.

Exp. 2 - Traders & Builders It follows its original counterpart but changes the mechanics involving the pig and the builder.

Exp. 3 - Dragon & Fairy It follows its original counterpart but changes the dragon movement, the fairy bonus and removes the princess.

Exp. 4 - Towers & Thieves It includes tower pieces (in a different color) but the mechanics of this expansion are new.

Exp. 5 - Messengers & Mayors This expansion changes completely. It adds new mayors, messengers (redefining wagons) and scarecrows. Abbeys turn into town halls. Barns are removed.

Exp. 6 - Jousts & Crests This expansion is completely redefined.

Exp. 7 - Siege & Defense This expansion is completely redefined, although involving catapults (theme of the original version, later discontinued in C2). It also adds normal meeples.

Exp. 8 - Castles & Bridges It follows its original counterpart but changes some mechanics: updated castles, no bazaars, and farmer-related tokens. Bridges are in a different color.

Exp. 9 - Sheep & Shepherds It follows its original counterpart but removing hills and adding geese.

Exp. 10 - Circus & Artists It follows its original counterpart with minimum changes. It also adds normal meeples.

[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.
Here you are the sources mentioned above:
The author's personal website: https://www.kjwrede.de/spiele/carcassonne-familie/

The following presentation video on Youtube (0:15 – 0:25): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HaH-fuuUbBc
However, Hans-im-Glück confirmed it is not the official 11th expansion.

Question: Mr. Brunnhofer said in a presentation video on Youtube that Mists Over Carcassonne could be played as the 11th major expansion of Carcassonne. Should we consider this official even if there is no printed material confirming this statement?

Answer: No, it is not officially the 11th expansion. (12/2025)

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

[7] The following presentation video on Youtube (0:15 – 0:25): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HaH-fuuUbBc

[6] We are considering Dutch Churches as C3.1 although it is officially a C3 expansion. We are doing so since its rules are aligned with the revised rules for inns.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

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