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The Ludarium · Teach sheet

Teach Carcassonne in ten minutes

2 to 5 players · 30 to 45 minutes · Ages 7 and up

The goal: Score the most points by claiming roads, cities, monasteries, and fields as the map grows.

Carcassonne setup: the start tile in the middle of the table, four face-down stacks of land tiles around it, a scoreboard track with every player's score meeple on 0, and each player's supply of 7 meeples at the table edge.

On your turn

Draw 1 tile and place it so every edge matches the map.
You may place 1 meeple on that tile, on an unclaimed feature.
Score every feature your tile completed, for every player on it.
Return scored meeples to their owners' supplies.

Three tips for your first game

Finish small features early so your meeples come back fast.
Never spend your last meeple on a feature that cannot finish.
Count farms before the last few tiles; they swing the game.

Setup

Put the start tile in the middle of the table.
Shuffle the land tiles into face-down stacks everyone can reach.
Each player takes 7 meeples of one color as their supply.
Put each player's 8th meeple on 0 on the scoreboard.
First game: leave the river tiles and abbots in the box.
The youngest player goes first; play passes clockwise.

Scoring

Completed road: 1 point per tile.
Completed city: 2 points per tile and per coat of arms.
Completed monastery: 9 points (itself plus 8 neighbors).
Most meeples on a feature scores it; ties all score in full.
End: unfinished roads 1 per tile, cities 1 per tile and coat of arms.
End: unfinished monastery 1 plus 1 per neighbor.
End: each field scores 3 per completed city it touches.

Game end: The game ends when the last land tile is placed. Do final scoring; most points wins, and ties share the win.