Carcassonne
At a glance
Rules overview
English version of our rules overview, translated from the Chinese original (cunlema). The Chinese page is the source of record.
Game Overview
Carcassonne is a tile-laying game for 2 to 5 players, ages 13 and up, by Klaus-Jürgen Wrede. On their turn, players place one tile to build roads, cities, monasteries and fields around the famous French city, then place followers onto those features to claim them. Points are scored throughout the game and again during final scoring; the player with the most points at the end wins.
Core Mechanisms: Tile placement with edge-matching, follower (meeple) placement on features, majority control for scoring, and end-game field scoring.
1. Game Components
| Component | Quantity/Description |
|---|---|
| Land tiles | 72 (including 1 Start tile with a darker back) showing roads, cities, fields and monasteries |
| Followers | 48 in 6 colors (8 per player); each can become a thief, a knight, a monk or a farmer; one per player is used as a score marker |
| Scoreboard | 1, to track the players' scores |
| Rulebook | 1 |
| Player aid | 1 |
2. Game Setup
- Place the Start tile face-up in the center of the table.
- Shuffle the other tiles and place them in various face-down stacks so every player can reach them.
- Place the scoreboard close to the edge of the table, leaving room in the middle for tiles.
- Each player takes the 8 followers of their color and puts one (called the marker) on the space numbered 0 of the scoreboard (the space in the lower right-hand corner).
- Each player keeps their remaining 7 followers in front of them as their personal supply.
- Players choose how the first player is designated, or simply let the youngest player begin.
3. Game Flow
Players take turns one after another, starting with the first player and proceeding clockwise. On a turn, a player must perform these actions in order:
1. Draw and place one new Land tile.
2. Optionally place one (1) follower from their supply onto the tile just placed.
3. Score immediately any roads, cities and/or monasteries completed by placing the tile.
The turn then ends and the next player takes their turn, following the same rules.
Important: If, after placing a tile, one or more roads, cities and/or monasteries are completed, they are scored immediately before the next player's turn.
4. Player Actions
1. Placing Land Tiles
- At the start of the turn, draw one face-down Land tile, look at it, and show it to the other players.
- The new tile must be placed so that at least one of its sides touches a previously placed tile; it cannot be connected only by a corner.
- New tiles must always continue fields, cities and/or roads.
- If a drawn tile cannot be placed (all players must agree), the player returns it to the box (it will no longer be used this game) and draws another tile.
2. Placing a New Follower (optional)
After placing the tile, a player may place one (1) follower from their supply, following these rules:
- Only 1 follower per turn may be placed.
- The follower must come from the player's supply.
- The follower may only be placed on the tile just placed.
- The follower becomes one of the following, depending on where it is placed:
- Knight — in a city section
- Thief — on a road section
- Monk — in a monastery
- Farmer — in a field (lay farmers down on the tile)
- A player may not place a follower on a road, in a city, or in a field if that section is connected to another tile where there already is a follower (regardless of which player owns it).
- If a player has placed all of their followers, they continue placing one tile each turn but cannot place new followers.
- A player is never allowed to retake a follower from a tile, except when the road, city, or monastery it occupies is scored — then the follower returns to its owner's supply.
3. Scoring Completed Features
Completed Road
- A road is complete when both ends are connected to a crossroad, a city section, a monastery, or the road loops onto itself.
- A player with a thief on a completed road scores 1 point per tile used in the road (count tiles, not sections — a single tile can be used for more than one section of the road).
Completed City
- A city is complete when it is surrounded by walls with no gaps in the walls or the city.
- A player with a knight in a completed city scores 2 points per tile in the city (count tiles, not sections).
- Each banner in the scored city also gives 2 points.
Completed Monastery
- A monastery is complete when it is surrounded by tiles.
- A player with a monk in a completed monastery scores 9 points (1 point per tile, including the tile with the monastery).
Multiple Followers on a Completed Road or City
- If a road has more than one thief or a city has more than one knight (due to clever tile placements connecting sections), the player with the most thieves or knights scores the totality of the points.
- In case of a tie, the tied players each score the points.
Followers Return to Supply
- After scoring a road, city, or monastery — and only then — the followers used in scoring are returned to their player's supply.
- The order must always be:
1. Complete a road, city, or monastery with the new tile.
2. Place a thief, knight, or monk.
3. Score the completed road, city, or monastery.
4. Return the thief, knight, or monk to its supply.
- It is possible to place a follower, score, and see that same follower return to supply on the same turn.
The Fields
- Connected field sections create a larger field.
- Fields are not scored during the game; they are only scored at the end.
- A farmer remains in the field where it is placed until the end of the game and is never returned to its player's supply (lay the farmer down on the tile instead of standing it up).
- Fields are separated from one another by roads, cities, and the edge of the board.
50/100 Point Tiles (6 tiles)
- These allow players to track their score once they pass 50 points.
- When a player first passes space 50, they take a Point tile and put it in front of themselves with side "50" face-up.
- If the same player passes space 50 a second time, they flip the Point tile to side "100" face-up.
- In 2-player games, if a player goes around the scoreboard more than twice, they simply take another Point tile and put it side "50" face-up.
5. Scoring and Game End
Game End
- When a player places the last tile, the game ends after that player's turn.
- Players then proceed with final scoring.
Final Scoring
Incomplete Roads, Cities, and Monasteries
- A player with a follower on an incomplete road, city, or monastery scores 1 point per tile.
- For incomplete cities, each banner is also worth only 1 point.
- In case of a tie, use the same rules as for completed features (most followers scores all; ties each score).
- Once a feature is scored, return the follower to its supply (to prevent mistakes during final scoring).
Scoring Farmers
- Only completed cities count when scoring farmers.
- The farmer must be in a field that touches one or more completed cities; the distance between the farmer and the city does not matter.
- The player with the most farmers in a field scores 3 points for each completed city touched by that field. The size of the city does not matter.
- If players are tied for the most farmers, they each score the points for that field.
- A field is only worth points if it touches at least one completed city.
- More than one field may touch and score the same city; each field is scored by following the above rules.
Once all fields have been scored, the final scoring and the game are over. The player with the most points is the winner. In case of a tie, play another game to determine the winner.
Key Rules and Common Questions
Easy-to-miss Rules:
- Tile placement must match edges: The new tile must be placed so at least one of its sides touches a previously placed tile — it cannot be connected only by a corner — and it must always continue fields, cities, and/or roads.
- Only one follower per turn: A player may place at most 1 follower per turn, and only on the tile they just placed.
- Occupied feature restriction: You may not place a follower on a road, in a city, or in a field if that section is connected to another tile where there already is a follower — regardless of who owns that follower.
- Farmers are never returned: Farmers remain in the field until the end of the game and are never returned to their player's supply. Lay farmers down on the tile instead of standing them up.
- Count tiles, not sections: When scoring roads and cities, count the number of tiles used, not the number of road or city sections. A single tile can be used for more than one section of a road, and a tile with two city sections still counts as only 1 tile.
- Immediate scoring order: Completed roads, cities, and monasteries are scored immediately after placing the tile and (optionally) placing a follower — before the next player's turn.
- Fields are separated by roads, cities, and the board edge: This is critical for final farmer scoring — a road or city divides what might otherwise look like one field into distinct fields.
- Unplaceable tiles are removed from the game: If all players agree a drawn tile cannot be placed, it is returned to the box and will no longer be used this game; the player draws another tile.
- Ties on completed features: When tied players have the majority on a completed road or city, each tied player scores the full points for that feature.
- Followers return only after scoring: A follower is returned to its supply only when the road, city, or monastery it occupies is scored — never voluntarily.
FAQ:
Q: Can I place more than one follower on my turn?
A: No. A player may only place 1 follower per turn, and it must be placed on the tile they just placed that turn.
Q: What happens if I have no followers left in my supply?
A: You keep placing one tile each turn, but you cannot place any new followers until one of your followers is returned to your supply by scoring the road, city, or monastery it occupies.
Q: How do I score a completed city?
A: 2 points per tile in the city (count tiles, not sections), plus 2 points for each banner in the city. The player with the most knights scores all the points; tied players each score the points.
Q: When are fields scored?
A: Fields are never scored during the game. They are only scored at the end, during final scoring, based on completed cities touching the field: 3 points per completed city for the player with the most farmers in that field.
Q: Can I take a follower back from the board whenever I want?
A: No. A player is never allowed to retake a follower from a tile. Followers are only returned to their supply when the road, city, or monastery they occupy is scored.
Q: What is the value of a completed monastery?
A: 9 points — 1 point per surrounding tile, including the tile with the monastery itself. The monastery is complete when it is surrounded by tiles.
Rules Q&A
Questions below are real questions players asked cunlema about this game; answers are ours, translated into English.
Carcassonne Village scoring works as follows: ### Scoring Phase In each **Scoring Phase**, players gain **points** as follows: 1. **Completed Buildings**: Each completed castle, road, or monastery provides **points** to the player controlling it. 2. **Incomplete Buildings**: At the end of the game (**end of the game**), incomplete buildings also provide **points** based on their size. ### Specific Scoring Rules - **Castle**: Each castle square provides 1 **point**. If the castle is completely enclosed, each square provides 2 **points**. - **Road**: Each road segment provides 1 **point**. - **Monastery**: The monastery itself provides 2 **points**, and each surrounding square (including the monastery itself) provides an additional 1 **point**, up to a maximum of 9 **points**. ### End of Game Scoring At the end of the game, all incomplete structures are **resolved**, and players receive the corresponding **points** according to the rules above. The player with the highest **points** wins. In the event of a **tie**, all tied players share the win.
Conclusion
In the base rules of Carcassonne, villages do not have an independent scoring method. In the Rulebook Text, "village" only appears in road-related descriptions, where it serves as a closed endpoint of a road; it is not a feature where followers can be placed, nor is it an area that is scored separately.
Specific Details (as mentioned in the Rulebook Text)
The role of a village: closing a road endpoint
- When both ends of a road are closed, that road is complete and is scored.
- Situations where an endpoint is closed: the road connects to a village, city, or monastery, or the road loops back to itself from start to end.
- In other words, encountering a village means "this end of the road is closed off here."
Road scoring method
- Each tile containing a segment of that road = 1 point (unfinished roads at the end of the game are scored the same way).
- After scoring, all followers (bandits) on that road are returned to their respective players' supplies.
- If multiple players have followers in the same area: the player(s) with the most followers score full points, all others score 0; in the case of a tie, all tied players score full points.
Exceptions / Edge Cases to Note
- The Rulebook Text does not list villages as an area where followers can be placed, nor does it assign any points to villages themselves.
- The Rulebook Text does not mention villages granting bonus points or requiring resolution based on any quantity — villages are used solely to determine whether a road endpoint is closed.
- If you are referring to a village element with an independent function in an expansion, that falls outside the scope of the base rules; no corresponding content was found in the base Rulebook Text.
This content is for reference only. In case of any conflict, the rulebook and experienced players nearby take precedence.
**Rules Overview** **Frequently Asked Questions** **If I have two of my own meeples on a road and my opponent has one, will they score?** No. In Carcassonne, a road (or any scored feature) is scored to the player who has committed the most meeples to it. If both players have committed the same number of meeples to the same road (for example, you have 2 and your opponent also has 2), the points for that feature are split evenly between both players. However, in the situation you described, you have 2 meeples and your opponent only has 1, so you have committed more meeples than your opponent. You will claim the points for that road exclusively, and your opponent will not score.
Conclusion: The opponent scores nothing; only you score in full.
How it works:
- When multiple players' meeples are on the same terrain feature (here, the same road), the player with the most meeples scores all points for that feature; all other players score nothing.
- Your situation: you have 2, the opponent has 1 → you have the most, you score the entire road alone (1 point per tile containing a road segment on that road), the opponent scores 0 points.
- Only when both sides have the same number (a tie) do all tied players each score in full.
- Once the road is completed and scored, all meeples on it (including the opponent's) are returned to their respective players' supplies.
One thing to note: the rulebook states in the general placement instructions that you may not place a meeple on a terrain feature already occupied by one or more meeples; the situation of multiple meeples on the same terrain feature is explained on later pages. Therefore, "having two of your own meeples on the same road" is usually not the result of placing them one by one, but rather of separate roads being connected by subsequent tiles and merged into a single road.
This content is for reference only; in case of any conflict, the rulebook and experienced players nearby take precedence.
In Carcassonne, a complete city on land occupied by farmers scores **4 points per tile** in the city, plus **2 points per completed coat of arms (shield)** in that city.
In the base rules of Carcassonne, for every completed city on the land occupied by a farmer (i.e., the field that farmer is in), score 3 points.
Specific conditions and details:
-
Scoring Unit:
* Scoring is not based on the size of the city or the number of tiles, but by "city".
* Regardless of how many tiles make up a city, as long as it is one completed city, it scores 3 points. -
Position Requirement:
* The city must be located on or on the edge of the field occupied by the farmer.
* If a city is adjacent to multiple fields, it scores separately for each adjacent field occupied by that player (i.e., one city may contribute points to multiple farmers of the same player). -
Incomplete Cities Do Not Score:
* Only completed cities count toward the farmer's score. Incomplete cities do not score at the end of the game. -
Ownership Determination:
* A player only occupies a field and scores from it if they have more farmers on that field than any other player. If the number of farmers is tied, the field is co-occupied and the points are split evenly.
This content is for reference only; in case of conflict, the rulebook and experienced players nearby take precedence.
Does a farmer score 3 points or 4 points per city?
Conclusion: it is 3 points, not 4.
The specific rules are as follows:
- Farmers (followers placed on fields) never score during the game; they are never resolved during play and cannot be recalled, remaining on the field until the end of the game.
- Farmers are only scored at the end of the game: for each completed city that the field your farmer occupies connects to, you score 3 points.
- Majority control applies to fields as well: when multiple players have farmers in the same field, the player with the most farmers scores all points for that field and the other players score 0; in the case of a tie for the most, each tied player scores the full points.
A clarification on the limits: in the full rules text read this time, the immediate and end-of-game scoring for roads, cities, and monasteries is described in detail, while the specific value for farmers/fields is only stated in the Rules Overview as "each completed city = 3 points"; no wording of 4 points was found, nor was any more detailed description of field determination found.
This content is for reference only; in case of any conflict, the rulebook and the experts around you take precedence.
**Rulebook Text** If the score is odd when tied, how is scoring handled?
In the base rules of Carcassonne, if two players have the same number of followers (a tie), there is no issue of an odd score being unable to be split evenly.
Conclusion and specific procedure:
1. Each player receives the full score: When multiple players are tied for the most followers, the rules state that these players all receive "all points" for that road or castle.
2. Example: If a completed castle has a total score of 9 points (e.g., made up of 3 tiles, 3 points each), and two players tie for control, each player scores 9 points, rather than each scoring 4.5 points.
Therefore, regardless of whether the total score is odd or even, whenever a tie occurs, all players tied for first place add the full integer score — no decimals or handling of odd numbers is required.
This content is for reference only; in case of any conflict, the rulebook and experienced players nearby take precedence.
**Frequently Asked Questions** **When two players share a city or road, are the points split evenly or does each player score the full amount?** In *Carcassonne*, when two players jointly occupy the same city or road, the points are **split evenly** rather than each player scoring the full amount. - **Even Split**: The two players share the points of that city or road, each receiving half. - **Odd Number Handling**: If the total score is odd, the extra 1 point is usually awarded to the player with **more followers** in that area; if the numbers are equal, after splitting evenly the remaining 1 point goes to the **current player** (the specific handling may vary by version, so it is recommended to refer to the rulebook text). > **Tip**: Please refer to the official rulebook's specific instructions on "scoring shared areas."
In the case of a tie, points are not split evenly; instead, each tied player receives the full points for that area.
For example, if 2 players jointly occupy the same city and that city is worth 8 points: rather than each receiving 4 points, each of the two players scores 8 points. The scoring rules for roads, monasteries, farmland, and all other areas are the same — as long as the players competing for the area are tied, each one scores the full points.
Note the distinction from "how points are calculated": the value of an area is determined solely by the size of that area itself (number of tiles, number of shields), and is independent of the number of players occupying it.
Rules, cards and Q&A (Chinese)
The rules, card data and player questions for this game are written in Chinese. Open the Chinese page to read them.
Where to find full rules
Full rules and card lookup are available in the cunlema app at cunlema.cn — pick this game and ask about any rule, card or turn you are unsure about.