Carcassonne - Strategy Guide

Carcassonne
Strategy Guide
by David Peterson
Carcassonne. A game or a way of life? I think you can make an argument for both.
Regardless - it is clear that Carcassonne has emerged as one of the most loved, most
played, and most universally appealing games of the last several years. This is a game to
pull off the shelf and play with anyone from parents, to siblings, to the most hardened
game-geek friends.

Basic Strategy Concepts

This guide covers strategies for the following:

The Basic Game

The River
Inns and Cathedrals
Traders and Builders

This guide assumes that the readers have a decent understanding of the rules of play.
Basic Concepts
Carcassonne is a tile laying game where players compete to score the most victory
points. Points are scored through completion of cities, roads and cloisters, and the
occupation of farms. Expansions spice things up a bit by adding additional scoring
opportunities, including cathedrals, inns, commodities and pigs.
The Element of Luck
There are some who would say that Carcassonne has too much lock involved. Although
everyones taste regarding a games luck component varies, I would disagree with the
notion that Carcassonne has too much luck involved. Too much luck implies that there is
either not enough strategy, or so much luck that it impedes the ability of individual
players to influence their own outcome.
However, it is the luck element that can keep the game fresh. Luck plays enough of a role
in the game that, from time to time, even a novice can sit down and beat a seasoned
player. The luck element can assist a new player and help make them more competitive.
At long last, it makes it rare that any one player will win time after time. This makes the
game more fun for everyone.
Points Now or Later
The fundamental strategy issue presented in Carcassonne is how to balance your game
play. In this case the player must determine how to best balance continuing to gain
victory points now by developing cities, roads and cloisters; as opposed to scoring points
later by ensuring the have enough farmers in the field to gain points during the end
game. Rarely will a player who either exclusively tries to collect now points, or to
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monopolise farm space, win the game. My personal preferred strategy puts emphasis on
focusing two-thirds to three-quarters of energy on points now, and one-third to onequarter of energy on end-game points. Scoring points now allows a player to keep their
pool of meeples more plentiful. More meeples means more options.
Managing Your Meeples
One of the most important rules to remember in Carcassonne is that meeples are life.
The more meeples you have in your pool, the more options you have available to you.
However, the more meeples you have available to you, the fewer you have in play. Fewer
meeples in play means a decreased capacity to score points. Hence, managing your
meeples is one of the most fundamental strategies in Carcassonne. If you fail here,
youve had it.
If you have no meeples in your pool, you cannot start any new scoring opportunities until
others have been completed. If you have no meeples in your pool, then other players can
take advantage of making small cities and short roads, while you are left with no options,
because your pool is empty.
By mid-game it is good to have all but between one and three meeples committed. As
the game starts to draw to a close, it is good to have only one or two left over.
Remember a few things when debating whether to place a meeple or not:

Economy of Force is huge in Carcassonne. Only use as many meeples in a given

spot as you have to. Never over commit meeples - they are a finite resource and
must be managed carefully. If you over allocate them in one area (usually a city),
then you will be losing out somewhere else.
Keeping a Reserve. Before placing a meeple anywhere (particularly in a farm),
always consider a few things.
a) How many meeples do you have left? Only play the last meeple in your
pool if you really need to, otherwise hang onto it.
b) Consider where your other meeples are on the board. If you already have
several other meeples tied up on farms or cloisters or in cities that are still
several turns from being completed, you may want to rethink placing a
meeple that would either deplete your reserve, or reduce it to only one.
The Mega Meeple. Be very careful with this meeple as it is extremely valuable.
If it gets tied up for a long period of time, or is put in a field and trapped, then you
have a problem. Try not to play this piece early on in the game for this reason.

Building Cities
Without a doubt, building cities of the right size and in the right location is critical to
winning the game. It is a fair statement that if you dont build several cities throughout
the game, your chances of winning are poor. In addition, when playing with city tiles that
contain commodities, successful completion of cities is essential to victory both in terms
of scoring points now as well as for collecting points in the end game.
As with anything in the game, there are a few things to consider when building a city:

Building a Large City can Hurt You: Knowing when to continue a citys
construction and when to finish it is of great importance. Whereas it is undeniable
that completing a large1 city will bring in a significant number of points, it can also
take a considerable amount of time to complete and require several meeples. It is
important to complete a city as quickly as possible and with the least number of

1 Here, a small city is considered to be between two and six tiles, a medium city between six and
ten tiles, and a large city to be eleven tiles and above.
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meeples. The longer it takes to complete a city, and the more meeples you
commit, the fewer scoring options you will have available to you around the
board. As a result, dont be overly tempted to build enormous cities. Dont put all
of your eggs in one basket. Remember - Carcassonne is all about balance and
preserving your scoring options.
The Problem with Cathedrals: In many ways it can be a disadvantage having
to build a city with a cathedral in it. Granted, the payoff can be huge, but if youre
playing with experienced players the first thing your opponents will try to do is
make it very difficult to complete the city. Youll find as soon as you play a
cathedral tile in one of your cities, you become the prime target for everyone else.
As a result a lot of your resources could go into something that doesnt earn you
any points. Try and build a cathedral early in the game, with lots of tiles available.
Later in the game, it will become harder to complete the city with fewer tiles
available.
Tips for Building: Probably the most important rule when building a city is to
keep your options open at all times, and avoid building yourself where only a very
limited number of tiles will work. To do this, try and build in a direction away from
the majority of the board with as many open tile sides 2 as possible. This both
gives the building more options, and makes it more difficult for other players to
interfere with your city.
Where to Not Build: This is pretty much common sense. Avoid building cities
adjacent to fields controlled by your components; all this does is give your
opponents points at the end of the game. If you do build a city adjacent to one of
their fields, make sure to try and gain a majority in that field later in the game.

Building Roads
On the surface, roads dont seem much of a big deal in Carcassonne. But looks can be
deceiving. Roads are largely a secondary source of points now. Roads serve two main
functions in the game:
a) Good secondary source of points;
b) Divide fields.
Roads can also be used to make other players cities harder to complete. Roads should
not be ignored, nor should they be wasted by placing them in locations that dont
enhance your current position. Pay particular attention to the road segments which
include an inn on the lake. These tiles can be used as a primary source of points (in
addition to cities) if used correctly.
Placing Farmers
Farmers, more than any other type of meeple, require the most careful management. The
balancing act here is to be able to secure points now and allocate a suitable number of
farmers in the fields to be competitive at farming. The number of farmers you place, and
the timing of their placement, will depend on your overall game strategy. There are
several vital things to remember when placing farmers, regardless of overall strategy:

Establish Farms Early: It is essential to establish dominance in at least one field

early on. If this does not occur early in the game then it will be increasingly
difficult to do so as the game progresses.
Create Large Farms: Avoid placing farmers in small, confined areas surrounded
by roads. Farmers are most effective when they occupy large fields that are
adjacent to as many cities as possible. Be aware that other players will be looking
to play pieces that will eventually link, and therefore challenge the dominance of
existing farmers. In addition, look to link your own farmers with existing fields

2 That is to say, sides which are not adjacent to other tiles.

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occupied by your opponents. Remember that you dont have to have dominance
to get points in the end game, only as many as your opponents.
Link Farms to Opponents Farms: Always seek to place farmers in such a way
that will allow them to be linked to the farms of an opponent in later turns. Tiles
such as cloisters or elbow road pieces are perfect for linking fields.
Placing Farmers after Completing a City: Remember after you have

Final Scoring
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quis lacinia tortor condimentum ac. In hac habitasse platea dictumst. Sed ac sollicitudin
diam. Etiam a mi vitae lorem ullamcorper iaculis. In condimentum, turpis id dictum
laoreet, quam arcu commodo elit, at aliquet lorem nunc sit amet est. Donec eu erat vitae
metus vestibulum mattis eget iaculis sapien. Integer non dui orci, ut fringilla dolor. Duis
volutpat nibh at lectus blandit et posuere nulla ultrices.
Final Scoring
Donec laoreet velit orci, at posuere libero. Cras lectus nisi, fringilla id condimentum nec,
tempor nec lorem. Vestibulum ut facilisis magna. Donec elementum interdum massa,
quis lacinia tortor condimentum ac. In hac habitasse platea dictumst. Sed ac sollicitudin
diam. Etiam a mi vitae lorem ullamcorper iaculis. In condimentum, turpis id dictum
laoreet, quam arcu commodo elit, at aliquet lorem nunc sit amet est. Donec eu erat vitae
metus vestibulum mattis eget iaculis sapien. Integer non dui orci, ut fringilla dolor. Duis
volutpat nibh at lectus blandit et posuere nulla ultrices.
Final Scoring
Donec laoreet velit orci, at posuere libero. Cras lectus nisi, fringilla id condimentum nec,
tempor nec lorem. Vestibulum ut facilisis magna. Donec elementum interdum massa,
quis lacinia tortor condimentum ac. In hac habitasse platea dictumst. Sed ac sollicitudin
diam. Etiam a mi vitae lorem ullamcorper iaculis. In condimentum, turpis id dictum
laoreet, quam arcu commodo elit, at aliquet lorem nunc sit amet est. Donec eu erat vitae
metus vestibulum mattis eget iaculis sapien. Integer non dui orci, ut fringilla dolor. Duis
volutpat nibh at lectus blandit et posuere nulla ultrices.

Version History
0.1First Draft

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Carcassonne
Strategy Guide