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Carcassonne Expansion: Traders & Builders |
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Price:
$14.95
Our Price:
$12.95
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$2.00 (13%)
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Description:
In this 2nd expansion to Carcassonne, 24 new landscape tiles not only offer new terrain such as bridges and bent cities, some tiles also contain goods symbols. Players use these to acquire wine, cloth and grain. The best traders can get additional profits at the end of the game.
Builder tokens are also new to the game -- when placed in a city, a second tile may be played when expanding the city or roads leading from it.
Pig markers are also new -- these can be placed with a farmer to enrich the value of a farm.
Also included is a cloth bag for the tiles, making it easier to shuffle and draw them during the game, as well as making the game more portable. The expansion has components for 6 players and is completely compatible with the first expansion. Thus, players may play with the original Carcassonne, with Carcassonne and the 1st expansion, with Carcassonne and the 2nd expansion, or with Carcassonne and both expansions!
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User Reviews:
|  Superb
I was thinking which exp shuld i buy first. And this one was my choice... Its realy good.. love it. Hope other exp's are so good as this one.
by Exonn (Jul 25 2007)
| My favorite expansion, but not for beginners...
(This review assumes you already know how to play Carcassonne.)
Carcassonne: Traders and Builders (Hans Im Gluck and Rio Grande Games, 2003 - Klaus-Jergen Wrede) is an excellent expansion to the main game. Not only does it add even more interesting tiles into the mix, but it also adds several new features that have dramatic effects upon game play. It’s my favorite expansion, as I like the options the game adds, and even can cause a lukewarm fan of Carcassonne to enjoy the game more. The expansion adds five interesting things...
1.) Cloth Bag: Okay, maybe this isn’t interesting, but it’s certainly useful. A nice blue cloth bag (with a picture of Carcassonne Castle on it) is included to draw tiles from. I guess there are a very few people who would still prefer to stack the tiles, but this bag is quite useful. The rules state that the tiles may be off a little in color, hence the bag; but I didn’t notice much, if any difference.
2.) The Builder: A little figure in each color is included to represent the “builder” - looks like a little wooden stamp. A player may place a builder, instead of a meeple, on a city or road - but only one in which they already have a meeple. On future turns, if the player extends the city/road in which the builder sits, they immediately get a free extra tile that they may place. This “double-play” can only be done once per player’s turn. If the road/city on which the builder is located is finished, the builder returns to the player just like the meeples. I enjoyed the builder addition, as it allows a clever person to put down extra tiles, giving them a great advantage. Placement of the builder is crucial, since if a player places one in the wrong location, they can end up with a builder in a spot where a road/city will never be finished, and thus lose the use of the builder for the game.
3.) New Tiles: Twenty-four new tiles are included in this set. The combinations are some of the most interesting in all the expansions, offering up combinations of cities and roads in different and unique ways. Some roads cross each other rather than intersect; other cities stretch in odd ways across the tiles. As always with all the expansions, these tiles help alleviate the power of large farms.
4.) Goods Chits: By far, the most interesting and game-changing part of the expansion is the goods chits. Twenty of the new tiles have city sections on them with an icon with one of three goods. (wine, grain, and cloth) Whenever a player completes a city by placing a tile (regardless of whether they have any meeples in the city), they receive one goods chit corresponding to each icon in the city. These chits are placed face up in front of the player until the end of the game. When the game is over, the player who has the most chits of each of the three types gains ten points for each type. Ties give the ten points to all players. This really has an impact on the game. Players now have an incentive to finish other player’s cities, because they will get goods chits. This balances the game out a bit, and adds strategy. Should I place the tile to finish my own city, scoring points for me; or should I finish another player’s city - giving them points, but netting me several good chits. This part of the expansion is worth the price of the game alone and has changed several people’s opinion of the game, as it actually decreases the luck and increases the strategy. Can’t draw that tile to finish your city? Odds are that someone else will, if you have a goods chit there.
5.) Pigs: A little pig figure (a “peeple”?) is included of each players’ color. A player may place a pig, just like a meeple, into a farm - but only on a farm where they already have a meeple. At the end of the game, the pig scores an extra point for each city that is scored by the farm. If the player doesn’t control the farm, they of course get no points. Many people have criticized the pig, saying that it doesn’t really affect the game too much. I must say that I disagree. The pig isn’t a spectacular addition, to be sure; but I’ve seen at least two games that have been decided by the points won by the pig. Besides, it’s a cool piece.
This is definitely not an expansion for beginners, as the builder rules might confuse some people. But after a couple plays of regular Carcassonne, this one should be able to be smoothly assimilated. If all the game included were the good chits, I would be satisfied - they add some simple, difficult choices to the game play, and a lot of strategy to the game. When combined with the first expansion for Carcassonne, the game suddenly becomes a whole new creature. As a basic game, it was simple, lucky, strategic and fun. With this expansion, it’s still fairly simple, yet a lot of new tiles add a decent variety; and the builder and good chits add more strategy. I like Carcassonne a lot; but when these expansions are added, my enjoyment doubles.
Tom Vasel
“Real men play board games.”
by Tom Vasel (Feb 12 2005)
| Yes, yes, yes
Pick this expansion up too. You can use other sites like boardgamegeeks.com to find more in-depth rule explanations.
by Drew (Feb 11 2005)
|  A good addition
This expansion to Carcassonne adds depth and intricacy to the game, which is especially good for those who have been playing Carcassonne for a while. Thsi expansion is probably the one that adds the most new elements and thus therefore makes the biggest difference in the game. This expansion is helpful in adding more tiles so that the players have more tiles to go through in a four or five player game.
However, I suggest not always using the expansion and sometimes playing the game in its simplest, purest form, especially when playing with two players. The biggest drawback to using this expansion (especially in conjunction with other expansions) is that it makes the game longer. Also, it is easy to forget how to use this expansion (you never really forget how to play the basic game).
by Carolina (Sep 30 2004)
| A Must Have...
If you like Carcassonne (and possibly if you don't like it) you'll love this expansion set. The builder is my favorite new addition. The traders part of the name is a little misleading. You won't be doing any trading, rather you acquire goods throughout the game that get you extra points at the end. I also enjoy the new tiles as they allow for some very interesting shaped cities.
by Brett (Jun 20 2004)
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Carcassonne Expansion: Traders & Builders Game Rules:
BoardGameRatings.com would like to thank Rio Grande Games for allowing us to reprint these instructions.
Traders &
Builders is not a complete game, but must be played with Carcassonne. This expansion
includes the pieces for a 6th player, so it is completely compatible with Carcassonne:
Inns & Cathedrals, the first expansion. Thus, you can play with Carcassonne
and both expansions together! The rules are the same as for Carcassonne,
but with the following additional rules for using the new components.
A city with trade goods is complete
When a city is completed that has 1 or more trade good symbols, the city is
scored in the normal way. The player, who placed the tile to complete the
city, takes a trade good(from next to the scoring track) for each trade
good symbol in the city (he is the trader for the city) and places them in his
play area (the area before him on the table). It does not matter whether he
had knights in the city, or, in fact, if there were any knights in the city
at all.
The trade good
tokens (earn players extra points)
The player who
has the most wine tokens at the end of the game scores 10 points.
This is the same for the player with the most grain tokens and the player
with the most cloth tokens. If players tie for the most of a kind of
trade good token, each tying player scores the full 10 points.
The pigs and
builders are treated similarly to the normal followers. They must be placed
on a just-placed tile. No other follower may be placed on that tile.
The pig
is placed on a field and can increase the value of a city for a farmer. A
player may only place his pig in a field where he has at least 1 farmer.
The pig remains where placed until the end of the game. When scoring the farmers
at the end of the game, the player earns 5 instead of 4 points for each city
he scores that has a pig in the field with his farmer(s). The pig counts only
if he owns the field. For ownership of the field, only the farmers are counted.
A player places
his builder on a road or city where he has followers to allow him a double
turn. How do the players place builders and how do they get double turns?
1. The player places
a thief on a road.
2. In a later
turn, he places a tile that extends that road and places his builder
on the road.
3. In a yet later
turn, he places a tile that extends or completes the road with his builder on
it. After completing his turn (placing a follower and scoring), he draws and
places a 2nd tile as normal, including a follower if he wants (this is
the double turn).
Further details:
- Further extra
turns are not allowed. Thus, if a player extends the road with his builder
with his 2nd tile (double turn), he does not get another turn.
- As long as a
road is not completed, the builder remains there and the player may get double
turns for extending the road. When the road is completed and scored, the player
returns the thief and builder to his supply.
- The player may
place followers on either or both tiles. If the road is completed with the
placement of the first tile (the player gets the builder and thief back),
the player may place the builder on the 2nd tile.
- Builders of
several players may stand on a road.
- The 2nd tile
need not be placed adjacent to the first tile.
- There may be
any number of road sections between the thief and the builder.
- All details,
which mention road, work in the same way for cities. The players need only
substitute "city" for "road" and "knight" for
"thief".
- A builder may
be placed first on a road and later on a city, or in any combination, but
never on a field.
A player can, for
example...
1. Place a thief.
2. Place the builder.
3. Place a tile
completing the road and place a knight in the city there. (The road is scored
and the player returns the thief and the builder to his supply.)
4. Place the 2nd
tile and place the builder in the city with the knight he placed on the previous
tile. |
Rate Carcassonne Expansion: Traders & Builders by Rio Grande Games:
All reviews become the sole property of Wasatch Game Company. |
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