River (1st edition)

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The river tiles are placed first, after that the game continues as normal. No followers may be placed on the river so the scoring is the same as in the base game.

Other languages:
River I C1 Feature Chuch.jpg You are reading the rules for this tile design.
20AE River C2 Tile H.pngRead the following rules if your tiles look like this.
River River		River I C2 Tile H.jpg
If your tiles have a different design, then choose a game from Spin-offs.Rule selection by design Spin-offs.png


Box RiverI C1 RGG.png

Box River I
Box RiverII C1 RGG.png

Box River II

General info and comments

Punchout River I
OEM version
Expansion symbol River II
Expansion symbol for 2014 River version

There are two River Expansions:

The Games Quarterly #11 Games Quarterly #11 expansion from 2006 includes 2 river tiles that can be combined with any river expansion. One of these tiles is a new river source with a road. It can replace the one included in other rivers and help create smaller farms around the river.

In 2014, HiG's Big Box 5 Big Box 5 included a version of River I (sometimes referred to as River III) with some minor additions that tied in with Hills & Sheep Hills & Sheep.

Contents

  • 12 new land tiles (The River I) - providing a linear river configuration.
  • 12 new land tiles (The River II) - providing a forked river layout.
  • 12 new land tiles (The River III) - providing the same layout as River I and some extra features.
  • 2 new river tiles (Games Quarterly #11) - providing an alternative river source.

Common features found on river tiles: [2]

River I C1 Feature River Source.jpg A spring [3]
River I C1 Feature River Lake.jpg A lake [4]
River I C1 Feature Road.jpg A road segment
River I C1 Feature City.jpg A city segment
River I C1 Feature Chuch.jpg A cloister or monastery. Note the bridge crossing the river.

River II shows river segments as well as familiar features such as cities, cloisters, roads, and fields plus a river fork, an inn (tie-in with Inns & Cathedrals Inns & Cathedrals), a pig-herd (tie-in with Traders & Builders Traders & Builders) and a volcano (tie-in with The Princess & the Dragon The Princess & the Dragon.)

Particular features found in River II:

River II C1 Feature River Fork.jpg A river fork
River II C1 Feature Inn.jpg A inn
River II C1 Feature Pig-Herd.jpg A pig-herd
River II C1 Feature Bridge.jpg A bridge that does not split the fields and creates one single city [5]
River II C1 Feature Lake Volcano.jpg A volcano next to one of the lakes
River II C1 Feature Lake City.jpg A city segment on the other lake

River III has the same layout of river and claimable features as River I, thus it is considered the same expansion. However, this version also adds features to mesh with the Hills & Sheep Hills & Sheep expansion – there are 2 tiles with a sheep and 2 tiles with a vineyard. Additionally, the backs of the river tiles in this version are the light gray of standard tiles rather than the dark gray of starting tiles, and there is a new expansion symbol on the front.

Particular features found in River III:

River III C1 Feature Vineyard v2.jpg A vineyard
River III C1 Feature Sheep v2.jpg A sheep

Games Quarterly #11 provides a new river source with a road ending at a small cottage. The road splits the farm surrounding the river source:

GC11 C1 Tile 11.jpg

Rules

Preparation

The original starting tile is not used. [6] [7] [8]

Separate the spring tile and lake tile from the others. Place the spring tile in the middle of the table, and set the lake tile to the side for now. The other ten tiles are shuffled and placed face down into a stack. [9] [10]

If playing with River II, the fork tile should be set aside along with the source and lake tiles. The fork tile is placed first (after the source tile) by the first player.

Placing a tile

The players take turns placing tiles [11] [12] When the river is finished, the lake tile is placed, and the game continues with the remaining tiles.

Example of a river configuration in River I/III

If playing with River II, the first player places the fork. [13] [12] After this, each player on his or her turn places a tile either on left or right branches of the river. [14] The volcano tile is placed last. The player who places the volcano may not deploy a follower to this tile, but should place the dragon on the tile instead. [15] The player may therefore take another tile immediately, [16] thus beginning the normal game. The river tiles can be placed as the player wishes, except for two exceptions: no 180° turns are allowed, and the two river branches must not be connected.

Example of a river configuration in River II

Important: A U-turn with the river tiles is not possible. This means that a 180° turn is not allowed, as it may lead to difficulties in placing all the tiles.[17]

Immediate U-turns are not allowed in a river

Deploying a follower

When a player places a river tile, he or she may deploy a follower using the normal rules for placing a follower. [18] No follower can be deployed to the river itself.

Scoring

River feature itself cannot be scored. All other features on river tiles are scored as usual. River segments separate farms.

Note on River II special features

If you don't possess the relevant expansions, the inn, volcano, pig-herd, vineyards and sheep tiles have no particular significance. [19]

The pig-herd tile earns the farmer who owns this farm an extra 1 point per city. If a player has the pig-herd and a pig (from the Traders & Builders Traders & Builders expansion), he or she receives an additional 2 points per city. [20] [21] [22] [23] [24]

Other expansions

The Count of Carcassonne The Count of Carcassonne

The question of how to combine the various “starting” expansions of Carcassonne is a longstanding one, and HiG has changed its mind several times.

The original rules for The Count of Carcassonne The Count of Carcassonne included the following clarification: “If the river is being used, then the spring tile should be placed next, and in such a way that the river leads away from the city.” Yet the rules still said that it was probably better not to use the expansions together, and this was the only piece of advice to make it into the introductory paragraph of its rules in Count, King & Robber Count, King & Robber: “It is not recommended to combine The Count of Carcassonne The Count of Carcassonne and any River expansion(s), as situations may arise in which it is impossible to place tiles properly.”

The same rules by ZMG include the following paragraph: "The river spring must begin at one of the corners of the City of Carcassonne. The players should place the river tiles so that the river flows away from the City of Carcassonne so as to avoid placement problems. Again, combining The Count of Carcassonne and The River I or The River II is not recommended."

Example combining the City of Carcassonne with The River I

As indicated above, this is no longer the recommended approach. Instead, one should always remember the rule from the basic game: “In the rare case that a tile cannot be placed anywhere, it is removed from the game, and the player draws another.” If the river winds around the City of Carcassonne in such a way that you cannot place the next tile (river or otherwise), the tile should be placed to one side, and another drawn. An interesting corollary of this is that the river does not have to be finished: if it is impossible to do so, you do not have to place the final lake tile, and a permanent gap in the playing field might arise (which could, of course, subsequently be filled by an abbey from the Abbey & Mayor Abbey & Mayor expansion.)

This clearly has consequences beyond combining the two expansions mentioned. Though the rules still say that U-turns are not allowed, resolving such issues is now much more straightforward—no more need to defenestrate players who insist on making awkward tile placements. And it helps considerably in establishing what a game of Mega-Carcassonne should look like.

Of course, some people will object that this rule destroys the aesthetics of the playing field. They might be right, and they are free to adopt a house rule which is more comfortable to them. But for the rules lawyers among us, this rule is an important development.

The Wheel of Fortune The Wheel of Fortune

River River and The Wheel of Fortune The Wheel of Fortune expansions may be used together. In this case, the Wheel of Fortune board is first placed in the middle of the table. Then, the river source is placed so that the river will flow away from the Wheel of Fortune board. Place the river tiles and lake (mouth) according to the normal River rules. Once the lake (river mouth) has been placed, play proceeds according to normal Carcassonne rules.

Example combining The Wheel of Fortune and The River

Hills & Sheep Hills & Sheep with River III

The sheep depicted on the river tiles are used with the Hills & Sheep Hills & Sheep expansion. When a player performs a Gather the Flock action, the sheep depicted on the fields of these river tiles are to be counted and scored along with the Sheep tokens. These depicted sheep are permanent and may be scored multiple times during a game.

The vineyards depicted on the river tiles are used with the Hills & Sheep Hills & Sheep expansion and add to cloister scoring according to the normal vineyard rules.

When playing without the Hills & Sheep Hills & Sheep expansion, the depicted sheep and vineyards have no function.

River III tile with a vineyard
  
River III tile with a sheep

House Rules

House Rules for River I/III

  • Ban all river U-turns to prevent problems with subsequent placement.
  • You are not permitted to lay down any meeples until the entire river is down. (Thanks to metoth)
  • Once the river is complete, it may be moved to the center of the playing area. (Thanks to Joff)
  • Instead of starting with the spring and setting aside the lake, put all of the river pieces into the bag. In this way the river can be any size and there is usually more then one option for placing a river tile. (Thanks to DavidP)
  • Mix the original starting tile (without a river) in with the river tiles. If it is drawn then it acts like a 'bonus' tile that can be placed anywhere. (Thanks to RationalLemming)
  • Lay the river in reverse order, from lake to spring. No real advantage, but might be more desirable, when playing the Count expansion, to have the lake near the City of Carcassonne for purely aesthetic reasons. (Thanks to Scott)

House Rules for River II

  • Play the fork of the river first, and lay the spring last. The lakes are mixed in with the other river tiles. (Thanks to Joff)
  • Rather than discarding the second fork (from The River II and Count, King & Robber Count, King & Robber,) mix it in with the other river tiles and place it normally when it is drawn. (Thanks to Scott)
  • Pig-herds do not score a bonus. (Thanks to Joff)
  • Play both rivers backwards starting with the city/lake. This is more realistic because you then get two springs producing rivers that join and flow ‘down’ to a lake. Discard two lakes—the plain one from River I and the volcano. To set up, place the lake tile, put one spring tile aside as a final ending tile, and then split the balance of the river tiles into two stacks. The junction tile is shuffled into stack 1 and the other spring into stack 2. Then the stack 1 is placed on stack 2—so that the junction will be drawn sometime before the spring. If playing with The Count of Carcassonne The Count of Carcassonne, place the city/lake so that it completes one of the small cities around Carcassonne. (Thanks to dwhitworth)
  • Select only one lake tile and use two spring tiles. Lay the river in reverse order. The fork can be placed randomly, or at some predetermined point. The end result is two rivers flowing into one which then flows into a lake. (Thanks to Scott)
  • Start from the fork, playing tiles on all three branches. Play the spring and lake tiles at the end, or mix two of the three with the rest of the river before play to have two of the three branches end randomly. (Thanks to Scott)
  • Play with two forks and a straight river between them. The ends (two lakes, a spring and a volcano) then come out randomly. Makes for a big river, but with 300 or so tiles it works. (Thanks to revolushn)

Tile Distribution

River I (Original 2001 River version)

Total tiles: 12
River I C1 Tile 03.jpg ×1
River I C1 Tile 04.jpg ×1
River I C1 Tile 05.jpg ×1
River I C1 Tile 06.jpg ×1
River I C1 Tile 07.jpg ×1
River I C1 Tile 08.jpg ×1
River I C1 Tile 09.jpg ×1
River I C1 Tile 10.jpg ×1
River I C1 Tile 11.jpg ×1
River I C1 Tile 12.jpg ×1

River II

Total tiles: 12
River II C1 Tile 02.jpg ×1
River II C1 Tile 05.jpg ×1
River II C1 Tile 06.jpg ×1
River II C1 Tile 07.jpg ×1
River II C1 Tile 08.jpg ×1
River II C1 Tile 09.jpg ×1
River II C1 Tile 10.jpg ×1
River II C1 Tile 11.jpg ×1
River II C1 Tile 12.jpg ×1

River III (2014 River I version)

Total tiles: 12
River III C1 Tile 03.jpg ×1
River III C1 Tile 04.jpg ×1
River III C1 Tile 05.jpg ×1
River III C1 Tile 06.jpg ×1
River III C1 Tile 07.jpg ×1
River III C1 Tile 08.jpg ×1
River III C1 Tile 09.jpg ×1
River III C1 Tile 10.jpg ×1
River III C1 Tile 11.jpg ×1
River III C1 Tile 12.jpg ×1

Games Quarterly #11

Total tiles: 2
GC11 C1 Tile 12.jpg ×1

Footnotes

For Icons explanation and licensing please visit Icons page.

  1. ↑ Official clarification from the publisher The idea was based on a design by game designer Rudolf Ross.
  2. ↑ Official clarification from the publisher Officially, the field goes around the spring and the lake, creating a connected farm.
    Notorious rule difference among editions or publishers This has been incorporated in the RGG edition of the Big Box 1 Big Box 1, which includes The River (the HiG edition does not) and states that “The field space on the lake and spring tiles wraps around those features.”
  3. ↑ Notorious rule difference among editions or publishers In the ZMG rules, this is referred to as the river source. (12/2014)
  4. ↑ Notorious rule difference among editions or publishers In the ZMG rules, this is referred to as the river mouth, although in New Carcassonne this has gone back to being the lake. (12/2014)
  5. ↑ Official clarification from the publisher The city bridge does not separate field segments. Only the river separates the field segments on this tile. Thus, there are 2 field segments on this tile. [This is logical, as similar city bridges in other expansions such as Abbey & Mayor Abbey & Mayor do not divide the city underneath. – Chris O.] (1/2013)
  6. ↑ Notorious rule difference among editions or publishers This is an addition to the Count, King & Robber Count, King & Robber edition of the rules.
  7. ↑ Notorious rule difference among editions or publishers Earlier versions of the rules stated: “The original starting tile can either be mixed into the stack of river tiles, or placed as soon as the river has been completed, and is treated like a normal tile.” (3/2015)
  8. ↑ Common house rule or variant The original start tile can be played as per the original rule in the previous footnote. Alternatively, if drawing from a bag where the tile backs cannot be seen, the start tile can be mixed in with the standard tiles. (3/2015)
  9. ↑ Notorious rule difference among editions or publishers In the New Edition, the players are instructed to place the lake tile at the bottom of this stack. (12/2014)
  10. ↑ Official clarification from the publisher When the two River sets are combined, discard one spring and one lake and make just one river (instead of making two rivers using the two springs).
  11. ↑ Notorious rule difference among editions or publishers The rules from Big Box 5 Big Box 5 and the New Edition rules New Edition rules explicitly state that players are to draw River tiles until none are left and that newly-placed tiles must continue the illustration of the river itself. (12/2014)
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 Official clarification from the publisher As noted in the “Deploy a follower” subsection, this player can place a follower if desired. (06/2014)
  13. ↑ Official clarification from the publisher Question: If you combine Count, King & Robber Count, King & Robber with The River II, you will now have two forks. Obviously one of those gets placed immediately, but should the other one be mixed in with the rest of the river tiles, or put to one side? Answer: In fact, that means using The River II twice. We didn’t plan that, and I think that it will lead to problems with placement. Whoever wants to do it should go ahead, but there are no rules for it. Sorry!
  14. ↑ Official clarification from the publisher As noted in the “Deploy a follower” subsection, each player can, if desired, place a follower after he or she places a river tile. (06/2014)
  15. ↑ Notorious rule difference among editions or publishers The RGG edition of Big Box 2 Big Box 2 does not mention that a player should place the dragon on the volcano tile, only that the player should place a second tile.
  16. ↑ Interpretation from the Community This is not standard procedure for placing a volcano tile, according to the rules for The Princess & the Dragon The Princess & the Dragon. Under those rules placing a volcano tile does not allow the player to draw a second tile; instead, he or she may only perform actions not connected with follower deployment.
  17. ↑ Official clarification from the publisher Question: With the U-turn rule when making rivers, does that mean no U-turn ever, or just no immediate U-turns because it will complicate the placement of subsequent river tiles? Answer: Only immediate U-turns are explicitly forbidden. Naturally, there can also be problems if a straight river tile lies between.
  18. ↑ Official clarification from the publisher Note that river segments separate farms. (08/2014)
  19. ↑ Common house rule or variant Still, there seems to be no reason why you couldn’t use the pig-herd without having the pig, since they are scored independently. In fact, the ZMG version of the rules leaves out “pig-herd tile” in this sentence, suggesting that they agree.
  20. ↑ Notorious rule difference among editions or publishers This sentence changed in HiG’s Big Box 2 Big Box 2 to remove a previous ambiguity about whether the pig-herd tile could only be scored in addition to a pig. It is now clear that they can be scored independently or together.
  21. ↑ Official clarification from the publisher You do receive the bonus from the pig-herd tile even if you don't have a pig on the farm. The pig herd is a neutral pig, so to speak.
  22. ↑ Official clarification from the publisher Question: Does the pig-herd tile still score an extra point when there is a barn on the farm (barn = 4 points, barn+pig-herd = 5 points per city)? Answer: The pig-herd tile only counts in connection with farmers, not the barn.
  23. ↑ Common house rule or variant The pig-herd tile can still score an extra point per city when there is a barn on the farm.
  24. ↑ Interpretation from the Community There are no official rules for using two pig-herd tiles, as there are no rules for using two copies of The River II, and the similar Games Quarterly #11 Games Quarterly #11 tile is not officially a pig-herd tile. However, if one farm has multiple pig-herd tiles, it seems that they should not stack; in other words, the bonus should only be awarded once, in keeping with other landscape bonuses such as inns and cathedrals.
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