# Carcassonne Big Box 2 ## General Info - **Year Published**: 2008 - **BGG Rating**: 7.7 - **BGG Rank**: — - **Players**: 2-6 (Best with: 2) - **Duration**: 30 min - **Weight**: 2.00 / 5 - **Designers**: Klaus-Jürgen Wrede - **Artists**: Doris Matthäus - **Publishers**: Hans im Glück, Rio Grande Games - **Categories**: City Building, Medieval - **Mechanics**: Area Majority / Influence, Tile Placement ## Verdict Who will love it: fans of city building and territory battles, plus anyone craving a full expansion bundle.Huge expansion varietyEngaging influence mechanicFast gameplayHigh-quality componentsComplex for beginnersPlaytime can varyNeeds ample spaceHIGHLY RECOMMENDED ## Description Carcassonne Big Box 2 is the second edition of a set that brings everything fans of the classic tile‑placement game need into one package. The core stays the same: players draw a terrain tile depicting a slice of southern France and place it adjacent to already‑played tiles, ensuring cities connect to cities, roads to roads, and so on. After placing the tile, each player chooses to put one of their meeples on an area of the tile—knight on a city, robber on a road, monk on a cloister, or farmer on a field—and when the area is completed, the meeple scores points for its owner. The box includes the base game and nine expansions that raise the challenge and strategic variety: Inns & Cathedrals adds castles and markets; Traders & Builders introduces merchants and workers; Princess & Dragon brings dragons that can destroy cities; Abbey & Mayor adds cloisters with extra scoring; River 2 offers rivers that require planning; Count, King and Cult provide influence and territory control mechanics that demand attention to area majority. The mix of components—wooden tiles, scoring markers, expansion cards and colorful meeples—makes each game unique. With 2 to 6 players and a typical playtime of 30 to 30 minutes, the game retains the simplicity typical of Carcassonne, but the presence of multiple expansions lifts the strategic complexity. The Area Majority/Influence mechanic encourages competition for territories, while Tile Placement ensures every move is decisive. If you enjoy building cities, planning roads, and vying for territorial control, this Big Box is a sure win. It’s perfect for those who already know the classic and want to explore new rules without losing the essence that makes Carcassonne so fun. ## How to Play Game Objective In Carcassonne Big Box 2, players build the area around the city of Carcassonne, famous for its Roman and medieval fortifications. Turn by turn, players place land tiles to create and expand roads, cities, fields, and cloisters. The goal is to strategically position their followers (knights, thieves, monks, and farmers) on these features to earn points. Points are scored during the game and in a final scoring. The player with the most points after the final scoring is the winner. Preparation (Setup) Place the starting tile (with the different back) face up in the center of the table. Shuffle the remaining land tiles face down and form several stacks accessible to all players. Position the scoring track near one of the edges of the table, leaving space for the land tiles in the center. Each player takes the 8 followers of their color. One of each player's followers is placed on the large space in the bottom left corner of the scoring track as their scoring marker. The remaining 7 followers of each player are placed in front of them on the table, forming their supply. Players decide among themselves who will be the starting player, using any method of their choice. Game Flow Players take turns clockwise, starting with the starting player. On a player's turn, they perform the following actions in the order shown: The player must draw and place a new land tile. The player may position one of their followers from their supply on the land tile they just placed. If, by placing the land tile, cloisters, roads, and/or cities are completed, they are scored immediately. The player's turn ends, and the next player, clockwise, takes their turn in the same manner. Actions and How to Play Drawing and Placing Land Tiles First, a player must draw a land tile from one of the face-down stacks. They look at it, show it to the other players, and place it on the table, following these rules: The new tile must be placed with at least one edge adjacent to an already placed tile. It cannot be placed corner-to-corner only. The new tile must be placed so that all field, city, and road segments on the new tile continue field, city, and road segments on all adjacent tiles (cloisters are always complete within a single tile). In rare circumstances, if a drawn tile has no legal placement location (and all players agree), the player discards the tile from the game and draws another to place. Positioning Followers After the player places a land tile, they may position one of their followers, following these rules: The player may only play 1 follower per turn. The player must take it from their supply. The player may only position it on the tile they just placed. The player must choose where to position the follower on the tile, either as: A knight on a city segment. A thief on a road segment. A monk in a cloister. A farmer on a field segment (place farmers on their side to emphasize that they remain in the field until the end of the game). The player may not position a follower on a field, city, or road segment if that segment connects to a segment on another tile (no matter the distance) that already has a follower (of any player, including themselves). When a player positions all their followers, they continue to play land tiles each turn. Although a follower cannot be voluntarily recalled, followers are returned to players when cloisters, roads, and cities are scored. Scoring Completed Roads, Cities, and Cloisters If, by the placement of the tile, cities, roads, and/or cloisters are completed, they are scored before moving to the next player. Completed Road: A road is complete when its segments at both ends connect to a crossroads, a city segment, or a cloister, or when the road forms a complete loop. The player with a thief on a completed road scores one point for each tile in the completed road. Completed City: A city is complete when it is completely surrounded by a wall and there are no gaps in the wall. The player with a knight in a completed city scores two points for each tile in the city. Each pennant in city segments earns the player 2 additional points. Completed Cloister: A cloister is complete when the tile it is on is completely surrounded by land tiles. The player with a monk in the cloister gains 9 points (1 for the cloister tile and 1 for each of the other tiles). Multiple Followers on a Feature: If a completed city or road has more than one follower, the player with the majority of thieves (on a road) or knights (in a city) gains all points. In case of a tie, all tied players gain the total points for the road or city. Returning Scored Followers: After a road, city, or cloister is scored (and only then), the involved followers are returned to the appropriate players' supplies. Returned followers can be used as any type of follower in subsequent turns. Farms: Connected field segments are called farms. Farms are not scored during the game. They exist only as places to position farmers. Farmers are scored only in the final scoring and remain on the field segment where they were positioned throughout the game, never being returned to players' supplies. Scoring Track All points are recorded on the scoring track. The track is round with 50 spaces. Players can cross the track multiple times. When a player's scoring marker first passes space 50, they take one of the point cards and place it in their playing area with the "50" side visible. If their scoring marker passes space 50 again, they flip the point marker to the "100" side. If it passes again, they take a second point marker with the "50" side visible, and so on. End of Game and Scoring End of Game The game ends at the end of the player's turn (after scoring any completed cities, roads, and cloisters) during which the last land tile is placed. Then, the final scoring occurs. Final Scoring Scoring Incomplete Roads, Cities, and Cloisters: For each incomplete road and city, the player who has a thief on the road or knight in the city gains one point for each road or city segment. Pennants are worth 1 point each. For incomplete roads and cities with more than one follower, the majority rules for completed roads and cities are used to determine who scores. For an incomplete cloister, the player with the monk in the cloister gains 1 point for the cloister and 1 point for each surrounding land tile. Scoring Farmers (for supplying completed cities): Only completed cities are used to score farmers. The farmer must be in a farm that borders a city to supply it. The distance from the farmer to the city is irrelevant. For each completed city that a farm supplies, the player who positioned the majority of farmers in the farm gains 3 points, regardless of the city's size. If there is a tie in the majority of farmers, each tied player scores 3 points. A farm can score multiple cities if they border the farm. Multiple farms can supply a single city. In this case, each farm is scored separately. Remove followers as you score unfinished roads, cities, and cloisters. This will make scoring farms easier. When all completed cities are scored in this way, scoring and the game end. The player with the most points is the winner. In case of a tie, the players celebrate their shared victory. Tips for Winning Position your followers strategically to ensure a majority in cities and roads, especially when other players are competing for the same feature. Pay attention to farmer placement, as they are a significant source of points in the final scoring, especially when supplying multiple completed cities. Consider completing cloisters, as they offer a fixed number of points (9 points) when surrounded by 8 land tiles. ## FAQ ### How many players can play? From 2 to 6 players. ### What is the average playtime? Between 30 and 30 minutes, depending on the expansions used. ### What is the complexity level? Medium to high; expansions add extra rules and strategies. ### What components are included? Wooden tiles, scoring markers, expansion cards, colorful meeples, and an expansion board. ### Who is this recommended for? For those who already know Carcassonne and want to deepen the experience with new rules. ### Is there any language dependency? No, all pieces have text in Portuguese and English. ### What is the difference between this box and the first edition? This edition includes new expansions and component tweaks, offering more variety and challenges.