Skip to content
2–5 players35 minAge 7+

Base game, 2021 edition (includes The River and The Abbot) · Checked against the rulebook, Oct 2026

In short

Draw and place land tiles to build roads, cities and monasteries, and place your meeples on them to claim points. Completed features score during the game, unfinished ones and fields score at the end. Most points wins.

1

Setup

  1. 1Put the start tile (dark back) in the middle of the table. For your first game, leave the river tiles in the box.
  2. 2Shuffle the other land tiles and stack them face down where everyone can reach.
  3. 3Put the scoreboard near the play area.
  4. 4Each player takes 7 meeples in one color and puts their 8th meeple on 0 on the scoreboard.
  5. 5Return unused colors to the box. For a first game, also leave out the abbots.
  6. 6The youngest player goes first, and play continues clockwise.

Rulebook p. 2 (Contents & Setup) and p. 3 (Gameplay)

2

How a turn works

Place a tile

Draw 1 tile and place it so it continues the landscape on every edge it touches.

Place a meeple

Optionally put 1 meeple on a road, city, monastery or field on that tile, if that feature has no meeple on it yet (yours included).

Score

Score every road, city or monastery your tile completed. Meeples on scored features go back to their owners.

Rulebook pp. 3–5 (Gameplay and Summary)

3

How to win

Most points

Completed roads, cities and monasteries score during the game. After the last tile, unfinished ones and fields score too (unfinished cities at half value). Completed features are worth:

Road 1 per tileCity 2 per tile and coat of armsMonastery 9Field 3 per completed city that are touching it

Rulebook p. 6 (Game End and Final Scoring)

4

Rules people get wrong

10

Carcassonne rulings

Official sources

Play better with

We may earn a commission when you buy through these links.

Inns & CathedralsThe classic first expansionCheck price at Amazon
Traders & BuildersExpansionCheck price at Amazon
Carcassonne Big BoxBase game bundled with several expansionsCheck price at Amazon
Tile organizerCheck it fits your edition's boxCheck price at Amazon
If you like Carcassonne, try
Ticket to RideKingdominoCascadia

Last checked Oct 2026 · Report an error