Our top 5 Carcassonne expansions
Traders & BuildersA second scoring race that rewards finishing anyone's city.Check price
Inns & CathedralsThe gentlest upgrade, and the one that adds a sixth player.Check price
Messengers & MayorsFour small modules that together change the game the most. For veterans.Check price
Sheep & ShepherdsPush-your-luck in the fields: grow a flock, cash it in before the wolf shows up.Check price
How much does each expansion change the game?
The simplest honest measure: how many of the tiles you draw are new. The base game has 72 land tiles (plus 12 river tiles to start with). Shuffle an expansion in and this is the share of the bag it takes over.
Share of the draw pile that is new
New land tiles in the 2025 box, out of the base game's 72 plus those. Special tiles that aren't drawn (town halls, prize tiles) left out.
Show the numbers
| # | Expansion (2025) | Older name | New tiles | Share | Older box: tiles | Older box: share |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Inns & Cathedrals | Inns & Cathedrals | 18 | 20% | 18 | 20% |
| 2 | Traders & Builders | Traders & Builders | 24 | 25% | 24 | 25% |
| 3 | Dragon & Fairy | The Princess & the Dragon | 26 | 27% | 30 | 29% |
| 4 | Towers & Thieves | The Tower | 13 | 15% | 18 | 20% |
| 5 | Messengers & Mayors | Abbey & Mayor | 12 | 14% | 12 | 14% |
| 6 | Jousts & Crests | Count, King & Robber | 9 | 11% | 10 | 12% |
| 7 | Siege & Defense | The Catapult | 18 | 20% | 12 | 14% |
| 8 | Castles & Bridges | Bridges, Castles & Bazaars | 16 | 18% | 12 | 14% |
| 9 | Sheep & Shepherds | Hills & Sheep | 12 | 14% | 18 | 20% |
| 10 | Circus & Artists | Under the Big Top | 20 | 22% | 20 | 22% |
Stacking expansions adds up fast. With every big expansion in, the base game is only 30% of the 240 tiles, and a four-player game runs to 59.8 tiles each instead of 17.8. That is why most groups pick two or three expansions and stop.
How long a game gets: tiles per player
All land tiles in the bag minus the start tile, divided by the players. Six players needs Inns & Cathedrals.
- Base game
- + Inns & Cathedrals + Traders & Builders
- + all ten
Show the numbers
| Setup | Tiles | Base share | 2 players | 3 players | 4 players | 5 players | 6 players |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Base game | 72 | 100% | 35.5 | 23.7 | 17.8 | 14.2 | |
| Base + Inns & Cathedrals | 90 | 80% | 44.5 | 29.7 | 22.3 | 17.8 | 14.8 |
| Base + Inns & Cathedrals + Traders & Builders | 114 | 63% | 56.5 | 37.7 | 28.3 | 22.6 | 18.8 |
| Base + all ten expansions | 240 | 30% | 119.5 | 79.7 | 59.8 | 47.8 | 39.8 |
What the base game gets wrong (a little)
The best expansions fix a weak spot in the base game instead of bolting on a new one. Here is the base scoring, straight from the current rulebook. Notice the roads: a finished city tile is worth 2 times a road tile, so roads are mostly where your spare meeples go to idle.
| Finished | Unfinished at the end | |
|---|---|---|
| Road | 1 per tile | 1 per tile |
| City | 2 per tile + 2 per crest | 1 per tile + 1 per crest |
| Monastery | 9 when surrounded | 1 + 1 per neighbor |
| Field (farmers) | 3 per finished city it touches | |
| Road with an inn | 2 per tile | 0 |
| City with a cathedral | 3 per tile and crest | 0 |
What makes a good Carcassonne expansion
- It still feels like Carcassonne. You bought the expansion because you like the base game.
- It fixes a weak spot: dull roads, farmers stuck on the board, dead-end small cities.
- It adds decisions, not just luck. A dragon is fun once; a second scoring race is fun forever.
Don't own Carcassonne yet? Start with the Big Box
The Big Box is the base game with Inns & Cathedrals, Traders & Builders and a stack of mini expansions (the River and the Abbot among them): over 180 tiles and 86 meeples, according to Hans im Glück. That is our number 1 and number 2 below in one box. A 2025 refresh with the new art is out.
The ten big expansions, ranked
Ranked by what makes each one fun to add: strategy, interaction, how well it fits the base game, and how much rules it costs. The first meter is computed from the tile counts; the other three are our ratings. Hover a meter to see what feeds it.
1. Traders & Builders
Best expansionExpansion 2, 24 tiles
The best expansion: a second scoring race that rewards finishing anyone's city.
- 20 goods tokens (wine, grain, cloth); the most of each kind scores 10 at the end
- The builder gives you a second tile when you extend its road or city
- The pig adds 1 point per city to your field
The goods go to whoever places the tile that completes a city, even with no knights in it. Suddenly it pays to finish your opponent's city for them. That one rule creates more interesting decisions than most entire expansions.
- The builder adds a little luck (two draws in one turn)
- Goods are easy to forget for new players
2. Inns & Cathedrals
Easiest first addExpansion 1, 18 tiles
The gentlest upgrade, and the one that adds a sixth player.
- Inns double a finished road to 2 points per tile
- Cathedrals raise a finished city to 3 per tile and crest
- A large meeple that counts as two, plus pieces for a sixth player
Inns and cathedrals are a gamble with a clear price: double points for a road, half again as much for a city, if you finish. Zero if you don't. That also makes them great for blocking. Drop a cathedral into a rival's city that will never close, and watch the points evaporate.
- Unfinished inn roads and cathedral cities score nothing
- Feels like more base game, not a new game
3. Castles & Bridges
Expansion 8, formerly Bridges, Castles & Bazaars
Rescues the tiny two-tile cities and lets roads hop over fields.
- Small finished towns become castles that profit from the area around them
- Bridges let roads cross over fields
- 2025 box: 12 bridges, 6 castle tokens, 6 barn tokens
In the base game a two-tile city is a consolation prize. Here it can become a castle that collects points when something nearby scores. The 2025 box also brings barn tokens for fields.
- The older box's bazaar auction isn't in the 2025 description
- Castles reward watching the whole board
4. Messengers & Mayors
Expansion 5, formerly Abbey & Mayor
Four small modules that together change the game the most. For veterans.
- Mayors in cities, messengers on roads, scarecrows in fields
- Plus 6 town hall tiles you place where you like
The old Abbey & Mayor was the expansion for players who wanted the base game turned up a notch. The 2025 version reshuffles the modules, and most of them give you new ways to join a feature someone else already claimed.
- The heaviest of the ten to teach
- Overkill for casual groups
5. Sheep & Shepherds
Expansion 9, formerly Hills & Sheep
Push-your-luck in the fields: grow a flock, cash it in before the wolf shows up.
- Makes fields interesting long before the end
- Vineyard tiles add another way to score
- Easy to teach
- The wolf is pure luck
- Only 12 new tiles in the 2025 box
6. Dragon & Fairy
Best for kidsExpansion 3, formerly The Princess & the Dragon
Chaos, in the best way: a dragon roams the board eating meeples.
- Magic portals let you place a meeple almost anywhere
- The fairy protects a meeple from the dragon
- New 1 source and 1 lake river tile
It takes the biggest share of the bag of all ten (27%), so it changes the feel more than anything else on this list. Kids love it. Strategy fans tolerate it.
- Long-term plans get eaten, literally
- More luck than any other big expansion
7. Towers & Thieves
Expansion 4, formerly The Tower
The aggressive one: towers capture meeples, so nothing on the board is safe.
- Stackable towers that capture nearby meeples
- Watchmen score for catching thieves
- The dispenser tower is handy with any big tile pile
- Punishes long-term plans like farmer setups
- Can feel mean in family games
8. Circus & Artists
Expansion 10, formerly Under the Big Top
Acrobat pyramids and a travelling big top. Charming, but light on new strategy.
- Stack meeples into acrobat pyramids
- Ringmasters score near shows
- 20 new tiles
- The theme is a stretch for medieval France
- Less new strategy than its tile count suggests
9. Jousts & Crests
Expansion 6, replaces Count, King & Robber
A king's tournament with prizes for your best travelers, knights and farmers. The newest and least proven.
- Rewards being good at one kind of feature
- Only 9 new land tiles, so it barely changes the draw
- New content in English since 2025, so less known
- Another layer of end-game bookkeeping
10. Siege & Defense
Expansion 7, formerly The Catapult
Sieges and catapults. Fun as a one-off, the first to leave the box.
- 18 new tiles plus 2 fortress tiles
- Defense posts give your meeples a way to fight back
- A combat layer that pulls focus from laying tiles
- Least connected to what makes the base game good
Old names, new names: what changed in 2025
In 2025 Hans im Glück brought its newer edition of the expansions to English, with new art and new names for 8 of them. Several also got reworked contents, so tile counts differ from the older boxes. The refreshed expansions work with older base games, but the art differs: draw from a bag if you mix and want the draw to stay blind.
| Older English name | New land tiles (2025) | Older box | What else is in the 2025 box | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Inns & Cathedrals | Inns & Cathedrals | 18 | 18 | 6 large meeples, pink meeples for a 6th player, 6 points tiles |
| 2. Traders & Builders | Traders & Builders | 24 | 24 | goods tokens, builders, pigs |
| 3. Dragon & Fairy | The Princess & the Dragon | 26 | 30 | 1 source and 1 lake river tile; dragon, fairy |
| 4. Towers & Thieves | The Tower | 13 | 18 | 5 tower tiles; 20 tower floors, a dispenser tower |
| 5. Messengers & Mayors | Abbey & Mayor | 12 | 12 (plus 6 abbey tiles kept in hand) | 6 town hall tiles; 6 mayors, 6 messengers, scarecrows |
| 6. Jousts & Crests | Count, King & Robber | 9 | 10 (plus 12 city tiles and 12 river tiles set up separately) | 12 prize tiles, 1 tournament and crown tile; 30 patches |
| 7. Siege & Defense | The Catapult | 18 | 12 | 2 fortress tiles; 3 catapults |
| 8. Castles & Bridges | Bridges, Castles & Bazaars | 16 | 12 | 12 bridges, 6 castle tokens, 6 barn tokens |
| 9. Sheep & Shepherds | Hills & Sheep | 12 | 18 | 16 flock tokens, 2 wolves, 6 shepherds |
| 10. Circus & Artists | Under the Big Top | 20 | 20 | big top, 16 show tokens, 6 ringmasters, 12 extra meeples |
Where your tiles come from
Share of the bag from the base game versus expansions, by setup.
- Base game
- Expansions
Show the numbers
| Setup | Base tiles | Expansion tiles | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Base + Inns & Cathedrals | 72 | 18 | 90 |
| Base + Inns & Cathedrals + Traders & Builders | 72 | 42 | 114 |
| Base + all ten expansions | 72 | 168 | 240 |
Spin-offs: Carcassonne in a different costume
These are standalone games, not expansions. They don't mix with the base game, which is the point: same tile-laying, new world.
1. Hunters & Gatherers
Standalone, 2002
Forests, rivers and lakes instead of cities and roads. The best spin-off.
2. Mists over Carcassonne
Standalone, 2023
Cooperative Carcassonne: everyone against the ghosts. Also works solo.
60 land tiles and a box full of ghosts. If your group dislikes the meeple-stealing side of Carcassonne, this is the one.
3. South Seas
Standalone, 2013
Islands, ships and goods to deliver. A fresh look on familiar bones.
4. Amazonas
Standalone, 2016
A race down the river with tile-laying on the side.
5. Safari
Standalone, 2018
Spot the animals, score the herds. Lighter and quick.
6. Winter Edition
Standalone, 2012
The base game in snow. Same rules, cozier art.
7. My First Carcassonne
Standalone, 2009
For young kids: simple goals and no scoring to add up.
Older spin-offs like Gold Rush (2014) and Over Hill and Dale (2015) turn up secondhand. Fine games, but nothing above is missing them.
Mini expansions
Carcassonne has dozens of mini expansions, many first printed in magazines or sold as small packs. The Big Box covers the most useful ones. Newer minis include The Signposts (2021, 12 tiles) and The Bets (2022, 10 tiles). Our advice: get the big ones first, minis are seasoning.
Once you own three or more boxes, a storage organizer stops the tile hunt before every game. Organizers: check the price
How we ranked, and where the numbers come from
The ranking is our editorial call: what an expansion adds in decisions and interaction, how well it fits the base game, and what it costs in rules. Size doesn't earn points. The "% of tiles new" meter is computed: new land tiles divided by the base game's 72 plus those tiles.
Base game numbers come from the current Hans im Glück rulebook. 2025 tile counts come from the distributor's product listings (Asmodee); older counts from Hans im Glück's own product pages. Retailers disagree on the 2025 Inns & Cathedrals (18 or 24 tiles): we use 18, the number on the publisher's page. Product lineups and prices change; this is as of November 2026. More on how we work.
Image credits
- Box art: Hans im Glück (image: Asmodee Canada) (distributor product image (Asmodee)): Box of Carcassonne Big Box, refreshed English edition: a cream lid with a large map of tiles and meeples, Box of Carcassonne Expansion 2: Traders & Builders, 2025 English edition: a trader with a cart in front of a castle under construction, Box of Carcassonne Expansion 1: Inns & Cathedrals, 2025 English edition: an inn in front of a cathedral, Box of Carcassonne Expansion 8: Castles & Bridges, 2025 English edition: a stone bridge over a river below a castle, Box of Carcassonne Expansion 5: Messengers & Mayors, 2025 English edition: a messenger on horseback riding past a town, Box of Carcassonne Expansion 9: Sheep & Shepherds, 2025 English edition: a shepherd with sheep on a hill path, geese overhead, Box of Carcassonne Expansion 3: Dragon & Fairy, 2025 English edition: a red dragon breathing fire at a fairy, Box of Carcassonne Expansion 4: Towers & Thieves, 2025 English edition: a stone tower and two thieves, Box of Carcassonne Expansion 10: Circus & Artists, 2025 English edition: a circus tent and a ringmaster, Box of Carcassonne Expansion 6: Jousts & Crests, 2025 English edition: a tournament ground with banners and spectators, Box of Carcassonne Expansion 7: Siege & Defense, 2025 English edition: a knight with a sword in front of a castle
- Box art: Z-Man Games / Hans im Glück (publisher image): Box of Carcassonne: Hunters & Gatherers, Z-Man edition: a mammoth and stone-age hunters, Box of Carcassonne: Amazonas, Z-Man edition: canoes on a jungle river with a sloth and a toucan, Box of Carcassonne: Safari, Z-Man edition: an acacia tree and animals on the savanna at sunset, Box of My First Carcassonne, Z-Man edition: children crossing a bridge in front of a town
- Box art: Z-Man Games / Hans im Glück (image: Asmodee Canada) (distributor product image (Asmodee)): Box of Mists over Carcassonne, Z-Man edition: ghosts and lantern-carrying figures in fog below a castle
- Box art: Z-Man Games / Hans im Glück (image: Noble Knight Games) (retailer product image): Box of Carcassonne: South Seas, Z-Man edition: a sailing ship and islanders on a beach, Box of Carcassonne: Winter Edition (Z-Man first print with the Gingerbread Man banner): a snowy city gate, a woman in a green hood and a guard in a blue cloak
- Photo: JIP / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0, JIP): A five-player game of Carcassonne in progress on a pub table, meeples on roads and cities
- Photo: L'Éclipse / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 4.0, L'Éclipse): Close-up of a Carcassonne game in progress: city and river tiles with blue, black and yellow meeples
