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Carcassonne: Traders and Builders Expansion
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Description
The second major expansion for Carcassonne, Traders and Builders adds new tiles, new trade items, a builder for each player and pigs! It also comes with a large cloth bag to keep all the tiles, so you don't have to worry about being able to tell the different sets of expansion tiles apart when they are in a stack!
In Carcassonne: Traders and Builders, some of the new tiles feature wine, cloth and wheat goods. Every time a tile with these goods are scored, the player also collects these goods with each giving bonus points at the end of the game adding even more competitiveness and struggle among the players for those final vital points.
Each player also gets a builder meeple, when it is placed on a feature it acts as a supervisor for the feature and when it is expanded the player who owns the builder gets to draw and place a tile no matter whose turn it is.
Each player also gains a new pig meeple which can be placed in a field by a farmer to gain four more points per completed city connected to the fields rather than the usual three.
Carcassonne: Traders and Builders adds more depth, more choice and more paths to gain those valuable points for victory. Traders and Builders does not need the first Carcassonne expansion to play!
Player Count: 2-6
Time: 60 Minutes
Age: 13+
Expanding The City
The landscape of Carcassonne grows ever larger with the Traders and builders expansion. Adding to the series of easy to learn expansions, this new pack adds new meeples, tiles and mechanics.
Although the idea of three new mechanics may seem daunting to learn, they are incredibly simple to pick up. In no time at all, our group found ourselves scheming various ways to boost our scores with these new features that felt as if they had always been part of the game.
Ever since I first played Carcassonne, I’ve been itching to get as many expansions as possible. If anything, just to see how big of a map we could create by the end of the game using all the expansions. Although this is only my second expansion pack, it’s amazing to see how the game is growing in size and height, whilst keeping the complexity to a minimum.
What’s Inside
Pop open the quaint little box for this expansion and you’ll be greeted by the following components:
- Tiles
- Bag
- Pig meeples
- Builder meeples
- Trade tokens
All of the components that are provided with this expansion are high quality, brightly coloured to match the rest of the game’s pieces, and play a role in the gameplay. Everything that is, aside from the bag, which is a lovely addition to the set and gives you a place to safely store your components after you’ve finished playing.
It’s great to see more height being added to the game through taller meeples. I hope that other expansions will continue to add more height to the game, to give more of a 3D element to the countryside we are building.
Tactics Evolved
So, we have three new elements in this traders and builders expansion; the pig, the builder, and the trade tokens. But the question is, what do they do?
Trading introduces three new types of token to the game; cloth, wine and grain. Certain city tiles will contain the symbols found on these tokens, and once a city is complete the player who completed it gains tokens equal to the symbols inside their city. This gives players the tactical opportunity to complete a city under their opponents control to get the tokens inside.
Builder meeples are given to each layer at the start of the game, and can be placed inside an incomplete city. If a player expands a city that has their builder inside, they are able to take another turn and place an additional tile. However, only one additional turn can be gained each round. This feature is perfect for opportunists who like to complete multiple areas in one fell swoop.
Pigs are simple but effective. They can be placed on one of your farms during the game to boost the score for each city included by one. Although it may not seem like much, those points can quickly accumulate and give you an edge when the scores are close.
As you can see, these three components add a lot of variety to the game using very few pieces. They are quick to learn, quick to score and quick to pack away. Which is a running theme you’ll find through all of the Carcassonne expansions.
If I had to choose my favourite, it would be the builder. It adds the excitement of gaining another turn if you’re clever with your tile placement, and makes room for some shenanigans. However, it also leaves you open for sabotage from your opponent, who could close off your castle and deny you any of the perks from expanding.
Final Thoughts
As is the way with each expansion, the traders and builders set adds new depth to a game of carcassonne without making it too complex. One of the most charming things I love about Carcassonne is the way it seamlessly expands the game whilst maintaining the simplicity that makes it so fun to play.
I do wish that the pig feature had more interaction during the game. As it just serves as a one time play meeple that only serves a purpose at the end of the game. Aside from that, the other expansions add a lot of interaction and intuition that can swing the direction of a game any which way.
If you’re looking to expand your carcassonne collection, and pull off some two turn shenanigans with the builder meeple, this expansion is for you!
Carcassonne, one of the pioneers in the modern board gaming era as well as being the game that introduced us all to the Meeple. Something that all us board gamers are very thankful for.
For me, I love Carcassonne, but as a standalone game, it is not the best. It is the expansions that really add to Carcassonne and add so much more depth and strategy to the game. I would recommend you learn Carcassonne before throwing in the expansions, however after a few plays you will be there with your knowledge and in a great place to throw in expansions. Traders and Builders is one such expansion.
Additional components.
The basic game just includes your classic meeple. The expansion here also includes one pig meeple and one builder meeple to add into your pool of meeples.
Additional new tiles. These add to the core set of tiles and come in new shapes and styles to what is already existing. This allows for more dynamic map creations and greater opportunity.
The Rules.
Carcassonne, the classic tile placement game to build an ever expanding game map, as you use your limited pool of meeples to score points, with the winning player at the end of the game and after final count up having the most points. Methods of scoring in the game include cities, roads, and monasteries. Additional points at the end of the game for uncompleted items as well as the farmers in the fields. These are highlights of the rules but that is the basic premise, the expansions keep all these rules in play and add more to the game.
The Builder. One of your 2 new meeples in the set. The builder is a non scoring meeple, very unlike the others from the base game. You add in the builder to a city or on a road you currently have a meeple on, and that is still open to expand. In subsequent turns, if you play a tile on to the city or road with your builder on it, whether you close and complete this item or not, you will get another tile to play and a second go within that turn. This only happens once in a turn, you cannot keep getting more plays with the builder, just one more play.
The Pig. The second new meeple that is also non scoring. The pig is played on a field you currently have a meeple farming in. Assuming you control this field at the end of the game, the pig allows for one more point per completed city within the field. So instead of 3 points a city, you get 4 per city.
Trade goods in the form of wine, cloth and grain. City tiles within the expansion set have one of the three resources (possibly) printed on it. If you are a player that completes (not necessarily scoring from it) then you gain all the resources within this city, note it down. At the end of the game, the player who has the most of each resource gains 10 points for each. A possible 30 points available in the final count up. Players that share an equal amount of each type, for example grain, will both score 10.
Greater strategy and depth.
This game adds such fun and new dynamics. The new tiles create a greater flexibility on the map creation which is handy. Tiles that fit into locations that are not possible with the base set alone. Different road ways, different city pieces, even monasteries located in different situations. All adding new and more compelling maps and game boards.
The builder is an enormous meeple in this set. The more you can engage this meeple into the game, the greater your chance of victory. You win in Carcassonne by scoring points. So if you can play more tiles then your scoring potential is that much higher. It is a must play meeple from your point of view. From a tactical side, do whatever you can to stop and prevent the opposition using their builder, take it out of the game.
The Pig is a quiet meeple, surprisingly. Definitely worth utilizing but it should not be your focus. It is something to drop in towards the end of the game, if your field is strong and before final scoring, or drop in if you don’t have a lot going on with a tile drawn.
The resources are true game changers and should not be ignored. The amount of games I have seen swung in the final count ups because of the points on offer from these resources is ridiculous. You ignore them at your peril. These are equally something you compete over in a different way, as you might to a road or city. When you secure these resources, there is no taking them away from you, they are yours for the final count and that is cool. Equally, a city or road you may compete over for a few turns, these are fought over across the game and should always be in mind when playing city tiles.
The set overall integrates so seamlessly with the base game and this is testament to the designers that they have developed the game in such a way, adding the new dynamics into the already quality base product.
Final Thought.
This is up there as one of the best expansions to Carcassonne for me, I love it. If you are a fan of Carcassonne this is a must try with the base set. Carcassonne gets better with expansions and I would argue needs them to create greater jeopardy in the game. Give it a go!
Zatu Score
You might like
- Easy to pick up and learn
- Adds new mechanical and depth to the game
Might not like
- Makes the games longer
- More mechanics to manage during a turn