How to Play Carcassonne Big Box 6

Game Objective

In Carcassonne, players become builders and strategists in the Carcassonne region of southeastern France. The objective is to create an ever-changing landscape by placing land tiles to form roads, cities, monasteries, and fertile fields. Throughout the game and at the end, players will place their followers (such as thieves, knights, monks, or farmers) in these areas to earn victory points. The player with the highest sum of victory points at the end of the game will be the winner.

Preparation (Setup)

Setting up a game of Carcassonne is quick and simple:

1. Separate the starting tile: It has a darker back to be easily distinguished from the others.
2. Place the starting tile in the center of the table.
3. Shuffle the remaining 72 land tiles (with roads, cities, and monasteries) and form several face-down stacks, so that all players can easily reach them.
4. Keep the 8 50 and 100 scoring tokens ready, as they will be used later.
5. Place the scoring track in the corner of the table.
6. Each player chooses a color and receives 7 figures (followers) of that color, which will constitute their supply.
7. Each player's eighth figure is placed on the "0" space of the scoring track.

To play with The River expansion:

1. Do not use the basic game's starting tile; leave it in the box.
2. Find the "Source" and "Lake" tiles.
3. Shuffle the remaining 10 river tiles, face down, and form a stack.
4. Place the "Lake" tile at the bottom of the stack and the "Source" as the first starting tile.

To play with The Abbot expansion:

1. Each player receives the abbot of their color and keeps it in their supply.

To play with Inns & Cathedrals expansion:

1. Shuffle the 18 new land tiles (indicated with a specific symbol), face down, with the other land tiles.
2. Each player must start the game with the large follower figure of their color in their supply.

To play with Traders & Builders expansion:

1. Shuffle the 24 new land tiles (indicated with a specific symbol), face down, with the other land tiles.
2. Keep the 20 goods tokens (9 wine, 6 grain, and 5 cloth) ready next to the box.
3. Each player receives their pig and their builder, which will be in their supply at the start of the game.

To play with The Flying Machines expansion:

1. Shuffle the 8 new land tiles with flying machines (indicated with a specific symbol), face down, with the other land tiles.
2. Keep the die (with values 1, 1, 2, 2, 3, 3) next to the playing area.

To play with The Messengers expansion:

1. Shuffle the 8 message tokens, face down, and form a stack (with the back visible).
2. Each player must place their messenger figure next to their follower on the scoring track, on space "0". In this way, each player will have two scoring figures on the track.

To play with The Ferries expansion:

1. Shuffle the 8 new land tiles with a lake (indicated with a specific symbol), face down, with the other land tiles.
2. Keep the 8 ferries next to the playing area.

To play with The Goldmines expansion:

1. Shuffle the 8 new gold tiles (indicated with a specific symbol), face down, with the other land tiles.
2. Keep the 16 gold bars and the scoring table ready next to the playing area.

To play with Mage & Witch expansion:

1. Shuffle the 8 new tiles with the magic symbol (indicated with a specific symbol), face down, with the other land tiles.
2. Keep the mage and witch figures next to the playing area.

To play with The Robbers expansion:

1. Shuffle the 8 new tiles with the robber symbol (indicated with a specific symbol), face down, with the other land tiles.
2. Distribute the 6 robber figures to each player, according to their color.

To play with The Crop Circles expansion:

1. Shuffle the 6 tiles with crop circles (indicated with a specific symbol) with the other land tiles.

Game Flow

Carcassonne is played clockwise, starting with the youngest player. On their turn, each player will perform the following actions, always in the order indicated:

1. Place a land tile: The player must always draw a new land tile from a stack and place it so that it touches at least one side of another tile. The areas (roads, cities, fields) must continue one another.
2. Place a follower: Then, the player can place one of their followers from their supply onto the tile they just placed. There are restrictions on placing followers, such as not being able to place a follower in a zone already occupied by another follower.
3. Score points: The player must score any points that occurred when placing their tile. This happens when a road, city, or monastery is completed.

After the player's actions are completed, the turn passes to the player on their left, and so on.

To play with The River expansion:

At the start of the game, players draw and place the river tiles in turns. It is not allowed to place two consecutive river tiles that turn in the same direction, to prevent the river from eventually flowing into itself. Followers cannot be placed directly on the river. When all river tiles have been placed, the game continues with the normal tiles.

To play with The Crop Circles expansion:

If you draw a tile with a circle, you must perform your turn normally (1. Place a tile, 2. Place a follower, and; 3. Score points). Important: crop circles separate two roads and the fields from each other. It is not allowed to place a follower directly on a crop circle.

4. Perform circle action: After finishing your turn, you decide if all players (starting with the player to your left)...

• A) ... can place a follower from their supply next to another of their followers already placed on the land OR
• B) ... must remove one of their followers that is on the land and return it to their supply.

The type of follower affected will be determined by the type of circle in question:

• Forced circle: Affects farmers (in a field).
• Hammer circle: Affects thieves (on a road).
• Coat of arms circle: Affects knights (in a city).

If you choose option A, you can only place your follower in a corresponding type of zone that already has at least one of your followers (farmer with farmer, thief with thief, and knight with knight). If a player cannot perform the chosen action, because they do not have any follower in the appropriate zone, the action will not be performed. The player who chooses the option will be the last to perform it. Then, turns continue normally.

Actions and How to Play

On their turn, a player performs the following actions:

1. Place a land tile

• The player must draw a new land tile from one of the stacks.
• The tile must be placed so that it touches at least one side of another tile already in play.
• The areas (roads, cities, fields, monasteries) on the edges of the new tile must connect and continue the areas of the adjacent tiles.
• In the rare case that the tile cannot be placed, it is left in the box and the player draws a new tile.

To play with The Abbot expansion:

• When placing a tile with a monastery or a garden, it must fit in a way that continues the terrain.

To play with The Ferries expansion:

• If you place a tile with a lake on a road that already has a ferry, the sequence of actions is: 1. Place a tile (with a lake), 2. Place a follower, 3. Place a ferry, 4. Reorient a ferry, 5. Score points.

To play with The Goldmines expansion:

• If you draw a tile with a gold symbol, you must place it following the normal rules. Then, you must place a gold bar on the tile and one on an adjacent tile (also diagonally). It is allowed to place a gold bar on a tile that already has other gold bars from previous turns. The gold bars do not belong to a specific zone of the tile, but are available for all zones of the tile.

To play with Mage & Witch expansion:

• If you draw a tile with magic, you must place it following the usual rules. Then, you must place the mage or witch figure into play, or move it (before placing a follower). To place one of the figures into play, you must place it on any road or city that has not been completed (it is not necessary to place the figure on the same tile that has just been placed). The mage and witch figures cannot be in the same city or road. If the mage or witch is already on the land, you can place the figure on another tile instead of placing it into play. If you cannot place the mage or witch into play (because there is no city or road not yet completed), you must remove the mage or witch from the land. Special case: if, when placing a tile, the mage and witch end up in the same city or road, you must immediately remove one of the two figures. If, when placing the tile, you also scored points, you must remove the figure before scoring points.

To play with The Robbers expansion:

• If you draw a robber tile, place it following the usual rules. Then, you can place your robber on the scoring track. If you do this, you must place it on a space on the track that has at least one scoring figure from another player (follower or messenger). The next player, clockwise, who has a robber in front of them can also place their robber at that moment. If you had already placed your robber, you can move it to another space.

2. Place a follower

• The player can place a follower from their supply on the tile they just placed.
• A follower can only be placed in a zone (road, city, monastery, or field) that is not occupied by another follower.
• Thief: Placed on a road.
• Knight: Placed in a city.
• Monk: Placed in a monastery.

To play with The Abbot expansion:

• If you placed a tile with a monastery or a garden, instead of placing a normal follower, you can place your abbot. The abbot must be placed in a monastery or a garden. Normal followers will be placed in the usual way (they cannot be placed on a garden).

To play with Inns & Cathedrals (Large Follower) expansion:

• Instead of placing a normal follower, you can place a large follower, following the same placement rules as other followers.

To play with Traders & Builders expansion:

• Builder: Instead of placing a follower, you can place your builder on the tile that has just been placed, but only on a road or city. In addition, you must have at least one follower in the zone where you want to place the builder. The builder must always return to your supply if none of your followers remain in the zone where the builder was. As long as the builder is on the land, if you place a tile on a road or city where your builder is already located, you complete your turn in the usual way and, after it is finished, you can take another turn (double turn), drawing and placing a new tile, placing a follower if you wish, and scoring points (if possible).
• Pig: Instead of placing a follower, you can place your pig in a field of the tile that has just been placed. In addition, you can only place a pig in a field that already has one of your farmers. You can also place a pig in a field that already has another player's pig. If, at any time, the