Map-Chips Taiwan
General info and comments
Carcassonne Map-Chips was originally released by Hans im Glück in 2019.
It is a mini-expansion with different rules for each Carcassonne Map. In the case of Carcassonne Maps - Taiwan, players can upgrade their meeples to have the majority during scoring (this Map-Chip mechanic is also implemented in Carcassonne Maps - Germany).
Contents
- 30 Map–Chips (10 each in purple, light blue and orange.)
It is recommended to play with 100–110 tiles, for example with the basic game and the first and second expansions, that is, Exp. 1 - Inns & Cathedrals and Exp. 2 - Traders & Builders. [1]
Rules
Preparation
Use the 2 available starting-squares (Mount Snow and Mount Jade). [2]
Shuffle all 30 Map-Chips face down. Place them evenly distributed on the squares of the map and stick to the following rules:
- Place the chips face down
- Place only 1 chip per square
- Place no chips on the large city squares or town squares
- Place no chips next to each other vertically or horizontally (only diagonally)
- Place no chips vertically or horizontally adjacent to a used start square or to an open edge of a large city
Gameplay
1. Placing a tile
Island squares with coats of arms
You can only place tiles on island squares if they have been connected with a ferry route from the mainland (see general rules here). If you place a tile on a square with a coat of arms, you'll score 2 points for each coat of arms immediately.
Collecting chips
If you place a tile on a square with a chip, you take the chip, flip it over and score 1 or 2 points immediately. Then you place the chip face up in front of you.
2. Placing a meeple
After having placed a tile, you are allowed to place a meeple according to the general rules.
Upgrading a meeple
If you have collected chips with an exact value of 4 (4x 1-value | 2x 2-value | 2x 1-value + 1x 2-value), you can use them in this or in another turn to upgrade one of your meeples.
You take one of your chips (the value doesn't matter) and you place it under one of your meeples. This can be a meeple which has been placed in another turn or the one you've just placed (the other chips you used to pay for the upgrade are taken out of the game).
You may upgrade a meeple on a tile only once.
3. Scoring a feature
During a scoring, an upgraded meeple counts as 2 meeples in the respective area (like the big meeple of Exp. 1 - Inns & Cathedrals). After scoring, the meeple returns to your supply as usual and the chip is taken out of the game. This meeple isn't upgraded anymore and counts again as a normal one (you may upgrade it the same way you did before).
Final Scoring
Upgraded meeples count as two even at the end of the game (also farmers).
Tile distribution
Footnotes
For Icons explanation and licensing please visit Icons page.
- ↑
The Taiwan Map page on CundCo suggests to use 100-110 tiles due to its smaller size.
The Taiwan Map rules suggest to use 125-130 tiles including the same expansions as the other maps, so this seems to be a mistake. Besides, the Taiwan Map only has room for 121 tiles. - ↑ The C2 version of the Taiwan map released by HiG in 2022 didn't include the mounts in the start-squares. However, the C3 version did include them, following the lead of the version released by Swan Panasia.