Which Carcassonne Expansions Should You Get First? Everything You Need to Know!
Which Carcassonne expansions should you get first? That’s a question many people ask when they’re just beginning their board gaming journey and start with this classic title. There’s no perfect answer—but I’ll try to help. Here’s a comprehensive overview of all Carcassonne expansions and versions released over the years.
Carcassonne is a game often picked up by newcomers to the board game hobby. That’s because this timeless title is consistently recommended in “best games to start with” lists. Its simple rules and charming, laid-back gameplay make it a perfect entry point. That said, Carcassonne can also be played aggressively, adding a competitive edge. Players typically fall into two camps: those who stick with the base game and eventually explore expansions, and those who move on to more complex titles.
As I mentioned above, there’s no single best answer to the question of which Carcassonne expansions to choose first. It all depends on what kind of gameplay experience you’re looking for. On my blog, I’ve already written in detail about which expansions I personally picked and why. In this article, you’ll find a full guide to everything ever released for this iconic tile-laying game—at least I hope I haven’t missed anything!
Carcassonne – Base Game and Editions
Carcassonne was first released in 2000 and quickly became one of the most popular board games in the world. Despite its simple rules, it captivated players with its then-innovative tile-laying mechanics, which, despite an element of randomness, allowed for strategic gameplay. The game offers a peaceful experience where players don’t interfere with each other much, but it also provides opportunities for so-called “negative interaction”—stealing territory control or blocking opponents' expansion. You can read more about the gameplay in my Carcassonne review.
In 2016, the original publisher refreshed the game with Carcassonne: Second Edition. This is now the only version available in stores. The primary difference is the updated graphic design, making the first and second editions visually incompatible. Technically, you could combine them, but the visual clash ruins the experience. That’s why it’s important to check the edition when buying the base game or expansions. The Second Edition base game includes two mini-expansions: The Abbot and The River. The Abbot lets players score extra points from garden tiles (similar to monasteries), while The River starts the game and helps shape the initial map layout.
To make things more confusing, a third version has appeared. Some boxes have different artwork, and oddly enough, no longer mention “Second Edition” on the cover. Regardless, this so-called “Third Edition” is fully compatible with Second Edition content and expansions, so you don’t need to worry if you pick it up (unless you’re collecting First Edition expansions from second-hand sources).
Due to its massive popularity, Carcassonne has seen several spin-off versions that are not compatible with the base game’s expansions. I’ll cover those special editions at the end of the article. First, let’s focus on the base game and compatible expansions.
Carcassonne Big Box 6 – 11 Expansions in One Set
Several Big Box editions have been released over the years. The most recent, Carcassonne Big Box 6, is fully compatible with the Second Edition. While the box artwork has changed slightly between printings, the components have remained consistent.
What’s inside Carcassonne Big Box 6? You get the base game plus two large expansions: Inns & Cathedrals and Traders & Builders—both of which I personally recommend and use. The box also includes nine mini-expansions that introduce small gameplay twists:
– The Abbot
– The River
– Flying Machines
– Ferries
– Messengers
– Gold Mines
– Mage & Witch
– Robbers
– Crop Circles
Big Box 6 is an ideal all-in-one starter pack for anyone who knows they’ll want to expand their Carcassonne experience eventually, but doesn’t want to collect expansions piece by piece. Whether it’s worth it depends on your budget and whether you’d prefer to buy everything at once or expand slowly after trying the base game.
Carcassonne: 20th Anniversary Edition – A Unique Release
The 20th Anniversary Edition of Carcassonne features two notable updates. First, the box design is more elegant and minimalistic, emphasizing the title and crest. Second, the tile artwork has been enhanced with thematic Easter eggs—such as characters from expansions wandering the roads. It’s essentially a reprint of the Second Edition and fully compatible with expansions, but with special illustrations that fans will enjoy.
Mists over Carcassonne – A Standalone Cooperative Expansion
Mists over Carcassonne is the latest addition to the Carcassonne universe. Technically, it’s a standalone game, but it can be combined with the base game. Its core gameplay is cooperative—players build the map together and collect points to reach set thresholds across difficulty levels. The main challenge is the titular mist and the ghosts that come with it. These must be banished using torch-bearing villagers. If too many ghosts appear, the players lose.
You can also mix Mists over Carcassonne with the base game to add a competitive element, using ghosts as obstacles against opponents. It’s a great option even if you don’t own the original game and are simply looking for a unique tile-based co-op experience.
Carcassonne Expansions
Carcassonne Expansion 1: Inns & Cathedrals
The first expansion to Carcassonne introduces a sixth player with an additional set of meeples. It also includes a “big meeple” worth two regular meeples in strength. The main attraction, however, lies in the new tiles featuring inns and cathedrals. Inns increase the point value of roads, and cathedrals do the same for cities—but only if you manage to complete them. If left unfinished, they score no points.
Box contents:
– 18 land tiles
– 8 regular meeples (6th player)
– 1 abbot
– 6 large meeples
– 6 special tiles
Carcassonne Expansion 2: Traders & Builders
This second expansion introduces one of my favorite components: a cloth bag for drawing tiles, which makes the process much smoother. The expansion also adds goods symbols on tiles. When completing a city with those symbols, you collect the associated goods tokens. At the end of the game, players with the most of each type earn bonus points.
The Builders allow players to take an extra turn if they add a tile to a feature that contains their builder. The pig token increases the value of fields during scoring.
Box contents:
– 24 land tiles
– 20 goods tokens
– 6 wooden builder meeples
– 6 wooden pig tokens
Carcassonne Expansion 3: The Princess & the Dragon
For those who miss fantasy elements in Carcassonne, this expansion is a great fit. It introduces a dragon that moves around the map and eats meeples. Its movement depends on the tiles placed.
You also get a fairy that protects meeples from the dragon, and princess tiles that allow you to remove opponents’ meeples from cities. Magic portals let you place a meeple on previously played tiles instead of the one just placed.
Box contents:
– 30 land tiles
– 1 wooden dragon figure
– 1 wooden fairy figure
Carcassonne Expansion 4: The Tower
This expansion is all about vertical gameplay. It comes in a larger box that includes a cardboard tile tower for storing and drawing tiles.
The expansion’s core mechanic allows players to build towers using wooden pieces. These can capture opponents’ meeples and hold them hostage. Players must spend points to ransom them back.
Box contents:
– 18 land tiles
– 30 tower pieces
– 1 cardboard tile tower
Carcassonne Expansion 5: Abbey & Mayor
This expansion adds new ways to score and introduces strategic flexibility. Abbey tiles act like wild cards and can close off incomplete features when placed in gaps surrounded on all sides.
Mayors have strength equal to the number of shields in a city. Barns allow players to score for fields immediately instead of at the end of the game. Wagons move between features if they’re completed in succession.
Box contents:
– 12 land tiles
– 6 abbey tiles
– 6 wooden mayor meeples
– 6 wooden barn meeples
– 6 wooden wagon meeples
Carcassonne Expansion 6: Count, King & Robber
This expansion bundles several mini-expansions. The Count module encourages helping opponents by allowing you to store meeples in a separate area of the board. The King and Robber Baron tiles grant endgame bonuses for building the largest city and longest road.
The cult tiles provide an alternative to monasteries and score points only if they’re completed before their neighboring monastery. The River II includes new tiles compatible with other expansions.
Box contents:
– 1 Count meeple
– 12 Carcassonne city tiles
– 12 River II tiles
– 1 King tile
– 1 Robber Baron tile
– 5 land tiles
– 5 cult site tiles
Carcassonne Expansion 7: The Catapult
Probably the most controversial expansion. The Catapult adds a dexterity element using a wooden launcher to fling tokens onto the board. These tokens offer random effects, such as gaining extra points.
The expansion wasn’t well received and is now hard to find—possibly never officially released in some regions.
Box contents:
– Special tokens
– Wooden catapult device
– Land tiles
Carcassonne Expansion 8: Bridges, Castles & Bazaars
This expansion introduces bridges that allow players to continue roads over features like cities. Castle tokens let you delay scoring for small cities in exchange for points from future completed features.
Bazaars introduce a bidding mechanism for tiles, which can significantly shift gameplay momentum.
Box contents:
– 12 land tiles
– 12 castle tokens
– 12 wooden bridge pieces
Carcassonne Expansion 9: Hills & Sheep
This expansion focuses on fields. Players can place shepherds in fields and draw sheep tokens from a bag to grow their flocks. But beware—the wolf token can scare away your entire herd, scoring you nothing.
Hill tiles create a tiebreaker advantage, as meeples on them win ties. Vineyard tiles offer bonus points for adjacent monasteries.
Box contents:
– 18 land tiles
– 18 sheep/wolf tokens
– 9 shepherd meeples
– Cloth bag
Carcassonne Expansion 10: Under the Big Top
The final numbered expansion introduces circus tents and acrobat tiles. The circus awards points to all meeples near it when triggered, based on the animal tile underneath.
Acrobats can stack into pyramids and earn points depending on their height.
Box contents:
– 20 land tiles
– 16 animal tokens
– 1 wooden circus tent
– 6 wooden ringmaster figures
Mini Expansions and Promos for Carcassonne
Carcassonne’s popularity has led not only to ten major expansions but also to a large number of mini-expansions. Many of these were either never released in some countries or only available for a short time.
One of the most recent mini-expansions is Carcassonne: Halflings & Ladders. While it’s just a scoring track overlay, it adds an interesting layer of strategy with ladder mechanics that influence point collection. You’ll find a full write-up on my blog.
In Poland, a special bundle titled Carcassonne: Expansion Set 1 was released. It included four mini-expansions: double-sized Leipzig fair tiles, six German cathedral and monastery tiles, and a customs house module. Online you may also come across school tiles, German castles, official tile storage containers, or monastery tiles representing real-world locations in the Netherlands, Belgium, and Japan.
One major appeal of these regional promos is their artwork—many depict real historic buildings. If you’re interested in collecting them, I recommend the store Mepel.pl (this is not a paid promotion)—they import most of the available mini-expansions, including Halflings & Ladders, which I personally purchased from them.
Standalone Versions of Carcassonne
Now that you know what expansions you can get for Carcassonne, let’s take a look at the standalone versions. These are complete games in the Carcassonne family that use the core tile-laying mechanics but are set in different themes and often feature modified rules. Note: they are not compatible with the standard expansions due to different artwork and gameplay elements.
– Carcassonne: Winter Edition – A holiday-themed reskin of the original game with snowy artwork. Based on the First Edition, so it uses the oldest graphic style.
– Carcassonne: Gold Rush – Takes you to the Wild West, where players build towns and search mines for gold.
– Carcassonne: Safari – Set in the savannah, players create watering holes and gather animal species.
– Carcassonne: Star Wars – Rebel and Imperial factions compete for control over planets and hyperspace routes.
– Carcassonne: Hunters & Gatherers – A prehistoric setting where rivers replace roads, and forests replace cities.
– Carcassonne: South Seas – Players build islands and bridges to collect goods, which they trade for scoring tiles.
– Carcassonne: Amazonas – Players travel down the Amazon River, building tributaries and settlements while scoring along the way.
– Carcassonne: Junior – A simplified version for younger children with larger tiles and shorter playtime.
Each of these games offers a unique spin on the Carcassonne formula and is perfect for players looking to try something new while still enjoying tile placement gameplay.
Final Thoughts
I hope this overview of the Carcassonne series has been helpful. Now you have a better idea of which Carcassonne expansion—or standalone version—might suit your gaming group best. Whether you’re diving into Big Box 6, trying the spooky Mists over Carcassonne, or exploring gold mines in Gold Rush, there’s something for everyone in the world of Carcassonne.
.jpg)
