How to Play Carcassonne: The Count of Carcassonne

Game Objective

Refer to the manual for details on this section.

Preparation (Setup)

Before the game, the 12 Carcassonne city tiles must be placed side by side in the center of the table, as shown. This city becomes the starting point of the game. The normal starting tile must be removed from the game, as it will not be used. The wooden figure, the Count of Carcassonne, is placed in the castle quarter. The game then begins normally.

Game Flow

Refer to the manual for details on this section.

Actions and How to Play

Placing a Follower in Carcassonne

When a player places a tile that causes at least one of their opponents to score at least 1 point, while the player who placed the tile scores nothing, that player may, at the end of their turn, place a follower from their supply in a city quarter of their choice. This placement is in addition to any follower they may place as part of their normal turn, but they may only place one follower in Carcassonne per tile placed, regardless of how many scoring opportunities that placement causes.

Moving Followers from Carcassonne

When a city, road, monastery, or farm is scored, all players with followers in the appropriate Carcassonne quarter may move their followers from Carcassonne to the feature being scored before majority is determined on that feature, unless the Count is in that Carcassonne quarter.

Followers can be moved as follows:

• from the castle to a city that is being scored
• from the blacksmith to a road that is being scored
• from the cathedral to a monastery that is being scored
• from the market to a farm that is being scored

Followers in the market can only be moved at game end.

Starting with the player to the left of the player who placed the tile that caused the scoring and moving once clockwise around the table (the player who placed the tile goes last), each player may move 0 to all of their followers from the appropriate Carcassonne quarter to the feature being scored. Then, the feature is scored.

Followers that are not moved remain in Carcassonne. Followers in Carcassonne can only be moved as described above. They cannot be moved into or removed from Carcassonne in any other way (e.g., returned to players' playing areas).

Movement of the Count

When a player places a follower in Carcassonne, they may move the Count to any of the four quarters in Carcassonne. From the quarter where the Count is, no player may move a follower. Followers in the quarter remain there until the Count is moved to another quarter. The Count will always be in one of the four quarters - he never leaves Carcassonne!

Special Cases with Expansions

• Inns & Cathedrals (1st expansion): large followers can also be placed in Carcassonne. When a large follower is moved from Carcassonne, it counts as two followers.
• Traders and Builders: if a player is allowed a second tile placement due to their builder and they cause opponent scoring (and not their own) with both placements, they may place a follower in Carcassonne for each placement.
• The River: after placing the 12 Carcassonne city tiles, place the spring so that the river flows from the edge of Carcassonne. Players should try to place the river tiles so that the river flows away from Carcassonne. When players place the river tiles so that the river flows around Carcassonne, players may encounter problems placing the river tiles.

Game End and Scoring

Refer to the manual for details on this section.

Tips for Winning

Refer to the manual for details on this section.