The Ferries (3rd edition)
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The ferries of the realm promise comfortable lake crossings, while altering the paths of your roads.
General info and comments
The Ferries (Mini #3) was released by HiG for the third revised edition, known as C3.1 for short, in 2025, bundled as part of 
Big Box 8. It includes more detailed graphics, cities with clipped buildings.
It is almost identical to the previous versions. It was released for the second edition, known as C2 for short, in 2017, only available as part of 
Big Box 6. A third edition, known as C3 for short, was released in 2021, only available as part of 
Big Box 7 and the same graphics as the C3.1 version.
This expansion was originally released for the first edition, known as C1 for short, in 2012.
Contents
- 8 landscape tiles with a ferry lake
Tile with a ferry lake
- 8 wooden ferries
Rules
Preparation
Shuffle the new land tiles into the other land tiles. Place the ferries next to the play area as a general supply.
Gameplay
1. Placing a tile
If you draw a tile with a ferry lake, place it according to the usual rules.
2. Placing a meeple
Placing and positioning a ferry
If you just placed a tile with a ferry lake, you may place a meeple as usual. Then, no matter if you placed a meeple or not, take a ferry from the supply and place it on that ferry lake. You must position the ferry on the lake so that it connects exactly two of the road segments of your choice. The ferry is now part of that road and merges both road segments into one single connected road segment. Any other road segments on this tile are considered closed. [1]
2. You place the ferry and position it so that your road now connects to the road with the blue traveler on it.
Repositioning a ferry
If, by placing your land tile, you continued a road with a ferry being part of that road, you may reposition the ferry. [2] You may reposition it so that the ferry connects to a different road, or even is no longer part of the road you just continued.
If you continue a road with multiple ferries, you may only reposition the first ferry, following the path of the road from the tile you just placed. [3] If multiple ferries still come into question, you may reposition any or all of those. [4]
Notes: [5]
- Each ferry may only be repositioned once per turn.
- If you place a ferry lake tile on a road with a ferry, you first place your meeple, then you place a new ferry, and finally you can also reposition one or (possibly) several ferries on the roads just extended, if any.
By repositioning ferries, it is possible for a road that was previously completed and scored to now be incomplete. As a result, a previously scored road may be scored again later in the game. [6] [7]
Important! It is possible to place a meeple, position the ferry and reposition another ferry in a single turn.
Just make sure to resolve 2. Placing a meeple in the following order: [8]
I. Place a meeple
II. Place and position ferry
III. Reposition a ferry
Additional clarifications
If roads from the land tile just placed extend in several directions, the first ferry in each of these directions may be repositioned. Thus up to 4 ferries could be repositioned (assuming roads without branches).
The following diagrams explain the movement of multiple ferries after placing a tile. Figures based on the original ones posted on BGG by Christof Tisch. [9]
3. Scoring a feature
Positioning and repositioning a ferry
If you have just completed one or more roads by positioning or repositioning a ferry, all roads and other features are scored as usual.
2. Then you place and position a ferry, completing the road to the left.
3. Blue scores 3 points for the road, you score 8 points for the city, and both players return their meeples to their respective supplies.
Final Scoring
In the final scoring, you score roads with ferries as usual.
Other expansions
If playing with other expansions, please take the following notes into consideration:
A road with branches (due for example to a roundabout) may be connected to multiple ferries. Extending the road would allow you to move all those ferries directly connected to it, no matter the distance from the tile just placed. In order to move a ferry, what really matters is that you can reach it without passing through another ferry. Therefore, a branched road may have several ferries that can be moved.
You may find roundabouts and other branched roads in various expansions:
- C3.1:
Exp. 1 - Inns & Cathedrals: A 4-legged roundabout.
Exp. 5 - Messengers & Mayors: A 3-legged roundabout.
Exp. 6 - Jousts & Crests: A 3-legged roundabout.
Exp. 7 - Siege & Defense: A 4-legged roundabout.
- C1/C2/C3:
Exp. 5 - Abbey & Mayor: A 3-legged roundabout.
Exp. 7 - The Catapult: A 4-legged roundabout.
The Signposts: A 3-legged roundabout.
The Spring: A 3-legged roundabout and a 4-legged road.
The Labyrinth: A labyrinth works like a 4-legged road.
Spiel Promos: The Spiel'18 tile has a 4-legged roundabout.
The Wonders of Humanity: The Terracotta Army wonder tile has a 3-legged road. [10]
Russian Promos: The Bogatyr tile has a 3-legged road.
Notes:
- The roundabout in
The Autumn has some leaves separating one of the branches, so it does not work as a continuous branched road. - The open T-junction on
The Crop Circles I separates the roads, so it does not work as a continuous branched road.
b) In a later turn, you place this tile and extend the branched road. Following the road from the tile just placed, you meet ferries ❶ and ❷ directly connected to the road, so both of them can be moved. In this case, the two ferries are at the same distance from the tile just placed, but this distance is irrelevant and could be any.
The lakes in Exp. 1 - Inns & Cathedrals do not interact with the ferry lakes. Roads that have a ferry but no inn are still only worth 1 point per tile.
Repositioning a ferry to extend a road that your builder occupies does not grant you a double turn. You must actually continue that road in 1. Placing a tile in order to trigger the double turn. Placing an town hall tile may close a road end but not extend it, so it does not allow a player to reposition a ferry. [11] Extending a road with a bridge allows a player to reposition a ferry. Placing an abbey may close a road end but not extend it, so it does not allow a player to reposition a ferry. [12]
Exp. 8 - Bridges, Castles & Bazaars
Extending a road with a bridge allows a player to reposition a ferry.Tile distribution
Individual lakes may differ between tiles with the same basic layout.
Footnotes
For Icons explanation and licensing please visit Icons page.
- ↑
This order of play provides a mechanism to add a meeple to a road occupied by other meeples, as seen in Example 1.
- ↑
The road must include a wooden ferry to allow the repositioning of that ferry in this situation. Thus, if adding onto a road that ends at a ferry lake without the wooden ferry connection, the ferry cannot be repositioned. (2/2013)
Example: This ferry cannot be repositioned when extending the road connected to the ferry lake because the ferry is not connected to it. - ↑
In other words, you may reposition the first ferry that you get to if following a road from the newly placed tile. You may not move any ferries that are beyond the first ferry as seen from the tile. (1/2013)
- ↑
If the tile just placed extends several roads leading to a ferry, you may reposition the first ferry on each of these roads.
- ↑
These notes cover some details in the rules from C3 that seemed interesting to keep for the sake of clarity.
- ↑
The following example illustrates how a completed road can become incomplete by moving a ferry.
Example: Road A ending at a ferry lake was completed in a previous turn. Red extends a road with the ferry on the same ferry lake, and decides to move the ferry from ❶ to ❷. As a result, this action re-opens the previously completed road, which now becomes the uncompleted road A'. - ↑
Additionally, a road may be closed just by moving a ferry, without extending it, since a road segment without a ferry on a lake is closed at this end.
- ↑
Note that the placement of the meeple is optional and that you may reposition more than one ferry, if allowed.
- ↑
The post on BGG by Christof Tisch about extending roads and moving ferries can be found here:
https://boardgamegeek.com/image/1537687/carcassonne-ferries?size=medium (1/2013) - ↑
Some other wonder tiles include 3-legged branched roads, but one or two of those legs are closed and cannot be extended. As a result, those road segments work like regular roads with only one or two open ends.
- ↑
This clarification follows the same logic as the interaction of the town hall and the builder.
- ↑
This clarification follows the same logic as the interaction of the abbey and the builder.
