How to Play Carcassonne
1. Carcassonne in one paragraph
Carcassonne is a tile laying board game for 2 to 5 players. Each turn you add a tile to a shared map and may claim a city, road, monastery or field with a follower. Finished features score right away and give the follower back. When the tiles run out, the player with the most points wins.
2. The tiles
Tiles show cities, roads, monasteries and fields. Every edge you place must match the edge it touches.
3. How a turn works
1. Place a tile
Draw a tile and put it next to the map so every touching edge matches.
2. Place a follower
Optionally claim a feature on that tile, if nobody holds it yet.
3. Score
Anything you finished scores now, and its followers come back.
4. What counts as completed
Finishing pays twice. A complete city, road or monastery scores more than an open one, and its followers come back to you. You only have 7 followers, so the faster you finish features, the more new ones you can claim.
A road can also loop back on itself. Fields never complete, so farmers stay until the end.
5. Scoring
| Complete | Incomplete at the end | |
|---|---|---|
| City | 2 per tile, +2 per shield | 1 per tile, +1 per shield |
| Road | 1 per tile | 1 per tile |
| Monastery | 9 | 1, +1 per tile around it |
| Field | Never | 3 per finished city it touches |
6. Sharing features and stealing cities
You can't join a feature that already has a follower, but a tile can connect two features later. Whoever has the most followers on the result takes all the points, and ties share. That's how cities get stolen.
7. Farmers, explained simply
A farmer lies on a field and never comes back. At the end it scores 3 points for each finished city its field touches, and the most farmers on a field wins it. Place one late, next to cities that are already done.
8. End of the game
When the last tile is placed, unfinished features and farmers score at the end rate. The player with the most points wins.
9. All 72 base tiles
24 kinds of tile. The counts tell you how likely the tile you need still is: 9 corner roads, but only 1 four road crossing.
Half city with shield×2- Half city×3
One edge city×5
Two separate cities, corner×2
Two separate cities, opposite×3
Three road crossing with city×3
Three road crossing×4
Three edge city with road and shield×2
Three edge city with road×1
Three edge city with shield×1
Three edge city×3
Four road crossing×1
Full city with shield×1
City funnel with shield×2
City funnel×1
Half city with shield and corner road×2
Half city with corner road×3
One edge city with corner road×3
One edge city with corner road, mirrored×3- Corner road×9
Monastery with road×2- Monastery×4
- One edge city with straight road×4
Straight road×8
10. How Seizer differs
- You hold up to 3 tiles instead of drawing one. The host can set it to 1.
- Legal tile and follower spots are highlighted.
- Up to 10 players at one table.
- Four free expansions: The River Path, Taverns & Temples, Merchants & Makers and Abbot.
11. Tips for your first game
- Keep two or three followers free.
- Finish small cities instead of starting big ones.
- Put a monk on monasteries early. Nobody can share or steal one, and it has the whole game to get its 8 neighbours.
More in the strategy guide.
12. Common questions
The base game has 72 land tiles, including the start tile with a city on one side and a road across the middle. Expansions add more, such as 12 river tiles that start the map. See all 72 tiles
Each player has 7 followers in their colour. You get followers back whenever a feature they are on is completed.
Not directly. A follower can only go on the tile you just placed, and the city, road or field it joins must have no followers on it. You can still end up sharing a feature by placing a follower on a separate piece and connecting the two later with another tile. That is the main way to steal a city.
When each end meets a city, a monastery or a crossing, or when the road loops back on itself. A road scores 1 point per tile, finished or not.
If a tile cannot be placed legally, it goes out of the game and you draw another. This is rare, and it does not change whose turn it is.
Farmers stay on the field until the end of the game and score 3 points for every completed city that touches their field. Only completed cities count. If two or more players share a field, the one with the most farmers takes the points, and ties score for everyone tied.
A two player game takes 30 to 45 minutes. More players take longer, since everyone shares the same stack of tiles.
Mostly. Seizer is a separate game with its own art, and it is not affiliated with Carcassonne or its publisher. The core rules work the same way. Seizer adds a hand of up to 3 tiles, highlights legal spots, seats up to 10 players and includes four free expansions.
The official digital version is paid. Seizer is a free online tile game that plays by the same core rules, in the browser or in the iOS and Android apps, with no download, no account and no ads. You can play against bots, with friends through a link, or in ranked matchmaking. Play free on Seizer
For further questions, join our Discord
13. Play these rules online, free
Seizer is a free online tile game like Carcassonne. Legal spots are highlighted and scoring is automatic. Play bots, friends, daily games or ranked, in the browser or the app.
Seizer is an independent game, not affiliated with Carcassonne or its publisher.
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