Carcassonne: Traders and Builders Expansion – 2nd Opinion

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!