Hi Reddit,

I’ve been going down a rabbit hole of expansions to buy and noticed that there isn’t a single location that compares old vs new expansions*. I’ll explain the differences in content and rules, and give my opinions as to whether or not they are worth it. Thought this might be useful to anyone going through the same thing 😅

*Note: I won’t be going through Expansion 11: Mists over Carcassonne / Ghosts, Castles and Cemeteries or Expansion 7: Siege and Defense / The Catapult as I‘m not interested in buying either at the moment.

Expansion 1: Inns and Cathedrals

Contents:

• the new version has 24 tiles (of which 1 inn+river, 7 inns, 2 cathedrals), whereas the old version has 18 tiles only (no river tile, 6 inns and 2 cathedrals)
• 1 big meeple per player

Rules:

• the rules are largely the same: completing a road with an inn gives you x2 points for each tile, completing a city with a cathedral gives you x3 points for each tile. The difference is that the new rules are more lenient: uncompleted roads/cities with inns/cathedrals score 1 point per tile, whereas in the old rules, they score 0.
• The big meeple has a strength of 2. This is the same in both versions of the expansion

My Recommendation: get the new expansion for the extra tiles, but play with the old rules.

Expansion 2: Traders and Builders

Contents:

• both versions come with 24 tiles, one of which is a river tile in the new version. The goods look different, but have the same distribution of 9, 6 and 5.
• Both versions come with 1 large meeple, 1 pig, 1 builder for each colour.

Rules:

• the rules for the goods are the in both versions. Essentially if a player completes a city (doesn’t have to win it), they receive the corresponding goods token for every city tile with a goods token on it. The end of the game, each player with a majority of a goods token gets 10 points. Where the versions differ is the rules for placing builders and pigs. In the new version, a builder can be placed when you place a meeple on a feature that’s not a farm. The next time you extend that feature, you get to draw a second tile, at which point the builder is returned back to your supply.
• In the old rules, the builder can be added when you extend a feature already occupied by a meeple. Each time that feature is extended, you get to draw another tile. The builder stays on the feature as long as you have a meeple on that feature.
• In the new version, the pig can be placed when you place a farmer. Then if a city anywhere on the play area is completed with a crest in it, then everyone scores the farm with the pig as it is, regardless of majorities. The pigs are then returned to the supply, and you may optionally return the associated farmer as well. In the old version, the pig can only be placed when you extend a field you already have a meeple in. At the end of the game, you get 4 points per city if you are a winner on the field.

My recommendation: get the new version for the river tile. In terms of rules, I like both version. I tend to play with old rules for builder, but new rules for the pig (though I use the placement rules from the old version).

Expansion 3: Dragon and Fairy / Princess and Dragon

Contents:

• the new version has 26 tiles (of which 6 have a dragon hoard, 10 have a dragon symbol and 6 have a magic portal).
• There are 2 double sided, double sized river tiles that come with it as well, one which is a source and one which is an end tile (with a dragon hoard on it). The source tile splits in 2, which adds an interesting dynamic to the game as players can choose which direction of the river to build on.
• The old expansion comes with 30 tiles (of which 5 are volcano tiles, 11 are dragon tiles, 6 are magic portal tiles, and 6 are princess tiles). The volcano tiles are equivalent to the dragon hoard tiles. The princess tiles don’t exist in the new version.

Rules:

• whenever a volcano/dragon hoard tile is placed, the dragon must be moved onto that tile. A meeple cannot be placed on those tiles. The new rules stipulate that the person who places the dragon can choose the direction it faces. In the old rules the direction doesn’t matter.
• When a tile with a dragon symbol is placed, the dragon moves, eating any meeples on the tiles it visits. In the new version, the dragon moves in a straight line in the direction it is facing, until it there are no more tiles in front. Then, it changes direction (only orthogonal, and not backwards) to where there are meeples, and it goes again in a straight line until there are no more tiles on front.
• In the old version of the rules, each player, starting with the active player, moves the dragon one tile (orthogonal) until it has moved a total of 6 spaces. The dragon may not visit the same tile twice.
• The fairy is a new figure that can protect you from the dragon. In the new version, you can assign the fairy to one of your meeples if you completed a city or road that didn’t give you any points. In the old version, you can place it if you don’t move/place Any meeples that round.
• In new rules, the fairy absorbs the dragon, giving it to the owner of the meeple that the fairy was protecting. If by their next turn, no new dragon hoard tiles have been placed, they can move the dragon to any dragon hoard of their choice, and choose its orientation.
• In the old version, the fairy simply prevents the dragon from entering a tile.
• In both versions, you get 3 points of the meeple your fairy is protecting is involved in completing a feature (you don’t have to win the feature). In the new version, it’s explicitly mentioned that you get 3 extra points at the end of the game if you own the fairy. In the old rules this is unclear, and depends on whether you count end game scoring as eligible to get the fairy bonus. In the old version, you get a point each time you start a turn still owning the fairy.
• The magic portal rules are the same for both versions: you may move a meeple to an unoccupied and uncompleted feature (note that farms don’t count as complete, even if they are closed, because farms are completed at the end of the game).
• The old version also has princess tiles. These allow you to remove a meeple when connected to a city that has a meeple already.

My recommendation: It’s not one of the top expansions to get, but if you do, I recommend getting the old version, just so you can get access to the princess tiles. You can still play with the new rules if you prefer them. I can see the double source river being desirable, but if you can snag River II from expansion 6, then you relocate the same effect. River II has a tile with a volcano on it. I personally don’t like the new rules, as I feel like they add too much chaos to the game. I do think the old rules don’t reward the person who drew the volcano tile though, so perhaps id play with a variation where the first move of the dragon HAS to be on the direction that the volcano tile placer chose.

Expansion 4: Towers and Thieves / The Tower

Contents:

• the new tower expansion comes with 13 tiles (12 of which have a thief symbol, one of which is a river with a tower block), and 5 tiles which have tower foundations, but these are distinguished from normal tiles from the back as they have a tower symbol on them. The old expansion comes with 18 tiles that have tower foundations
• The new expansion comes with 20 tower floors, the old one with 30
• There are no thief symbols in the old expansion, and no extra river tile

Rules:

• the versions should be treated as completely different expansions.
• In the new one, the 5 tower tiles are placed facedown near the scoreboard. If a tower foundations tile is drawn, a foundation MUST be placed on it. On later turns, instead of placing a normal meeple, you can place a meeple on a tower, making it a watchman, if the tile you placed is in the tower’s range. You can replace meeples already existing there, and if you do this to another player, they get 2 points. When a thief tile is drawn, a floor is added to each tower without a watchman. The max tower height is 5. If a thief tile is drawn AND there are no watchmen, then the tile you drew cannot be placed, and is put next to the scoreboard. You then take a new tile and place as normal.
• If there is at least one watchman in play, point scoring is triggered: each watchman scores points based on the number displayed on the thief tile. Then the watchmen are returned to their respective owner’s supplies. At the end of the game, each watchman scores 5 points.
• In the old rules, each player gets a fixed number of towers based on the number of players in the game. Whenever a tower foundation tile is placed, you have 4 actions:
  • place a meeple as normal
  • Place a tower foundation on the tile
  • Place a tower foundation on any tower not occupied by a watchman
  • Place one of your meeples on an unoccupied tower
• If you place a tower foundation, you may take 1 meeple off the board if the meeple is in the range of sight of the tower. It can belong to any player, including yourself.
• If you place a meeple on a tower, this prevents people from being able to grow it (thus it gives you a defensive posture).
• If you and another players have meeples of one another, they can be immediately exchanged. Otherwise, you may buy your captured meeple back for 3 points. You can use it in the same round.
• The tower does not score any points.

My recommendation: Im not a massive fan of either of these expansions, though I have personally bought the old version of the expansions because of the extra tower foundations, and the fact that you get more tower tiles (it’s also nice that they look like normal tiles from the back, so you can mix them with the other tiles). I find the old rules too chaotic and the new ones a bit lame (you can barely score points from the towers…). Because the tower foundations are coloured differently, AND the tower tiles look different, it’s possible to play with both expansions at the same time.

Expansion 5: Messengers and Mayors / Abbey and Mayor

Contents:

• the new version and old versions both come with 18 new figures, but they look different. In the new one you have 6 mayors, 6 messengers, and 6 scarecrows, and in the old one 6 mayors, 6 wagons and 6 barns. The mayors, messengers and mayors, wagons are equivalent characters (though game rules differ slightly, see below), but the barns and scarecrows are different.
• Both expansions come with 12 tiles, of which one is a river tile in the new version. It’s an interesting piece because it splits the field.
• Both come with 6 special tiles called town hall on the new version and abbey on the old one.

Rules:

• in the new version, the mayor is a figure that you can place instead of a meeple on a city tile. You CAN place it even if the city is already occupied by another meeple. If any player places a tile such that the non diagonal tiles around the mayor are completed, then you immediately activate the mayors ability: you get to replace one standard meeple from the same city occupied by your mayor by a meeple of your own. Then you MUST return the mayor, regardless of whether his ability was activated or not. When calculating majorities, the mayor counts for 0. In the old rules, the mayor can only be placed on cities, AND they must not be occupied. The strength of the mayor is determined by the number of coat of arms in the city.
• The abbey/town hall: in the new rules, the town hall can be placed instead of drawing a new tile. It can connect to any feature, and it closes that end of the feature. If mayors are placed adjacent to any of these town hall tiles, they must be removed from play. If you cannot place another tile at the end of the game, you must place your town hall tile. The game ends when all tiles and town hall tiles end. When the town hall completes a feature, the tile itself doesn’t contribute to points. In the old rules, the abbey can only be placed if it will be surrounded orthogonally. The game ends when a player can neither place new tiles, nor place their abbey. The abbey can be treated like a monastery. It has no impact on the mayor.
• In the new rules, the scarecrow can be placed on a field, even if it has meeples or scarecrows on it. Similar to the mayor, it gets activated when it is surrounded orthogonally. You can then: place a meeple from your supply as a farmer, and take the scarecrow out of the game, or lay down the scarecrow as a farmer. The scarecrow must be moved back to the supply, regardless of whether it was activated or not. For scoring, a standard scarecrow doesn’t have any strength. A lying scarecrow has 1 strength as a farmer.
• In the old version, you have barns. These can be placed in a field where all 4 corners are fields. You cannot place it on a field occupied by amother barn. It can sit on a field occupied by farmers. The barn remains there until the end of the game. If there are farmers in the fields when the barn is placed, the field is scored immediately. Then the farmers are returned to the supply. A field occupied by a barn may NOT be occupied by farmers. If you place a tile that joins a field with a barn to a field without one, the farmers are removed as before, but instead of the usual 3 per city scoring, the farmers score 1 per city. At the end of the game, you get 4 points per meeple touching the barn
• Messengers in the new version have the standard strength of a meeple. After a road with the messenger is completed, you can move it to the „next“ road or city, which does not mean any adjacent tile… the road you’re on must connect to the city you want to move into, and for roads, you must connect to another road from a junction. It can go to a road that is occupied by other meeples. In the old version, wagons can move to any adjacent features (including diagonals) that are unoccupied AND incomplete. It can be any feature that a normal meeple can occupy.

My recommendation: I would get this expansion just for the abbey/town hall tile because it adds lots of strategy to the game. I’m not too psyched about the other rules, though they can be fun in certain situations. I like both the scarecrow and the barn, and neither of the mayors. I prefer the Abbey placement over the town hall placement rule. I’m not sure which messenger I prefer… perhaps the new messenger is too powerful in some cases, and too useless on others? I would recommend buying the new version, just for the river tile, even though I much prefer the look of the older characters.

Expansion 6: Jousts and Crests / Count, King and Robber

Contents:

• in the new version, you get 9 new tiles (of which 1 is a river), compared to 22 tiles in the old version (of which 5 are shrines, 5 are normal tiles, 12 are river tiles)
• The new expansion comes with 12 prize tiles, 1 big tile that’s two sided (river and non-river). 1 crown figure, and 30 emblems. The old version comes with 2 large city tiles, 1 count piece, king and robber marker tiles and tokens

Rules:

• the rules for the tournament and count vary drastically. I’m personally not interested in either of them, so won’t describe them.
• The old game comes with the extra river tiles, which can be mixed in with the normal river tiles.
• The old expansions also comes with the shrine tiles. When these are placed next to monasteries they compete for the points. Whichever completes first gets the points.
• The king/robber tokens are earned by the player who completes the biggest castle/longest road. The owner of these tokens gets extra points at the end of the game.

My recommendation: if you can get the river tiles separately, then don’t bother with this expansion. I only got this because it was the only way to get access to the river tiles (I had to get my friend get them for me from Canada…!). The shrines add a cool addition to the game, though it is possible get them standalone from eBay. I rate this expansion because it makes the river less predictable. The addition of shrines is neat, and the the king/robber tokens add another element of strategy to the game.

Expansion 8: Castles and Bridges / Bridges, Castles and Bazaars

Contents:

1. in the new version, 16 tiles (of which 1 river) whereas the old ones have 12 tiles (of which 8 are bazaar tiles. There is no river tile). There are no bazaar tiles in the new version.
2. There are 6 castle tokens in the new expansion as opposed to 12 in the old one.
3. The number of bridges in both expansions is the same.
4. The new expansions comes with 6 barn tokens that don’t exist in the old version.

Rules:

• the rules for the expansions vary slightly. Bridges extend roads, and they can be placed on tiles that have fields on opposing ends. The new rules allow all players to use the bridges from a shared supply, so there is an incentive to build them and not collect them. The new rules don’t allow for two bridges to touch. The new rules give you 3 points for each bridge (instead of just 1) if the road is completed. In the end of the game, the bridges score the same on both versions.
• The new rules score castles completely differently: you can create a castle on a 2 tiled closed city that you own if you don’t take points for it This gives you 1 point for every knight/maiden in the playing area. In the old rules, the castle is scored when a feature in its immediate playing area is scored. And the owner of the castle receives the same number of points. Like the bridges, in the new version everyone has access to the same supply of castles. In the old version, each player is dealt two castles. In the old version, castles in farms at the end of the game score 4 points instead of 3.
• Barns don’t exist in the old version. The scoring mechanism is like the castle: you score 1 point per farmer in the playing area.
• Bazaar tiles don’t exist in the new version. These trigger an auction of tiles, where players bid/buy tiles auctioned by other players. It certainly adds a cool dynamic to the game, but it will extend play time and could feel like a chore.

My recommendation: get the old expansion as it allows you to play with the new rules if you wish. The new expansion doesn’t provide enough castle tiles for you to be able to play with the old rules! I also don’t think the extra barn tokens add much to make the new expansion worth it. I personally prefer the old rules much more, though I‘d consider nerfing the amount of points the castles give, and I would consider giving bonuses for completed bridges like in the new one. You can always ignore the bazaar if you don’t wish to play with it, but having it with the old version gives you more choices when playing with friends!

Expansion 9: Sheep and Shepherds / Hills and Sheep

Contents:

• the new version comes with 19 new tiles (of which 1 is a river tile, 10 are tiles with geese, and 8 are tiles with vineyards). The old version comes with 18 land tiles (of which 8 have hills, 8 have vineyards. There is no river tile).
• Both versions come with 6 shepherd meeples, and sheep/wolf tokens. The distribution of these is the same in both versions.

Rules:

• the rules for both games are comparable, though there are some mechanics that can’t be replicated.
• The vineyards are tiles that increase the points that a monastery scores. for each vineyard tile adjacent to the monastery, the monastery scores 3 extra points. This rule is the same in both versions.
• Instead of placing a farmer, you may place your shepherd. The shepherd can be added to a field with a farmer on it, but not one with another shepherd on it. Each time a field with a shepherd is extended, you take a sheep/wolf token by chance and place it near the shepherd. If the token is a sheep, then the shepherds flock grows. If it is a wolf, then any existing flock is eaten, and the shepherds (regardless of colour) are returned to the supply. If you do not wish to extend the flock, then you must score it, in which case you get points for the number of combined sheep in the flock. The only difference between the new and old rules is that, in the old rules, you get 1 point where every goose tile on the field that the shepherd occupies.
• The old rules have hill tiles. Whenever these are drawn, the next tile is taken from the deck and placed face down under the hill tile. This removes the tile from the game. If you place a meeple on the hill tile, then it acts as a tie breaker when calculating majorities.

My recommendation: it’s a no brainier to get the older version of the expansion. The goose rules are just lame, and the hills add a very interesting dynamic to the game. you can even play with a variant of the rules where you allow the person who drew the hill tie to see what tile is being removed from play. Even though the expansions seems small, I highly rate it for the uncertainty it adds to the game, and that it bolsters cathedrals, which are arguable rather nerfed.

Expansion 10: Circus and Artists / Under the Big Top

Contents:

• Both expansions come with 20 new tiles (of which 8 are acrobat tiles, and 12 are circus sites). In the new version, one of the circus sites is also a river tile.
• Both expansions come with circus tokens with the same distribution of points.
• Both expansions come with ringmasters/ringmistresses for each colour.
• The new expansion comes with 2 extra standard meeples for each colour.

Rules:

• the rules for the new and old version are almost identical. Essentially there are two new types of tiles: circus tiles and acrobat tiles. Whenever a circus tile is placed, you take a circus token and place it face down under the circus piece. Whenever a second circus tile is drawn, the circus token is revealed, and all meeples adjacent to the circus score points equivalent to the number of points on the token.
• The acrobat tiles can be occupied by meeples whenever you place a tile adjacent to them. Once 3 acrobat tiles are on the feature, the feature can be scored. In the new rules, you must have a meeple on the acrobat tiles to be able to score it, whereas the old rules allow you to do it to other players to ruin their strategy. When it is scored, each acrobat meeple scored 5 points. This may seem like a silly gimmick, however the value of the acrobats is in being able to surround a circus with them, because you could potentially get 3x the number under the circus.
• The final rule in this expansion is the ring master. The ringmaster functions exactly like a normal meeple, however you also get 2 extra points for any circus/acrobat feature present on the adjacent tiles. The new rules are more lenient in they give you the 2 extra points at end game as well.

My recommendation: get the new expansion as it gives you a river tile, and the extra meeples. You can always decide to play with reduced meeples and the old rules. I rate this expansion quite highly as it incentivises people to hold onto their meeples near circus sites, thus adding a new depth to the strategies of the game.

Hi Reddit,

I've been thinking about house rules for "The Tower" expansion to make it more predictable/strategic. I've come up with an idea that I think adds a very interesting dynamic to the game.

When you place a tower tile, if you choose to claim the tower, you pay 3* points to build a tower foundation, and then you place your meeple on it. Any enemy Meeple now visible to the tower's range must:

- EITHER: be removed from play.

- OR: pay a bribe of 3* points to you.

The owner of the enemy meeple decides what to do.

From now on though, no enemy meeples can be placed in your tower's range. Essentially this mechanic allows players to limit where other players can place their tiles. Any existing meeples in the tower's range that have paid the bribe remain there as normal.

In subsequent turns, instead of placing a meeple on a tile you just placed, you can pay another 3 points to extend the tower. The same rules as before apply if new enemy meeples are detected in the tower's range.

The tower doesn't score any points at the end of the game. So if someone uses the tower they may lose points depdening on how they play. The advantage of the tower isn't necessarily to score points, but it is to limit the moves that other players can make.

What are your thoughts? Would appreciate feedback!

*Notes on the points: I need to play it a few times with this rule to see if these 3 points to build, and 3 points as a bribe are too much or too little.

Hi reddit,

I've been contemplating getting the dragon expansion to add to my collection, and I've noticed that much like the other expansions it has had a re-brand.

The rules have changed substantially, but as far as I can both versions support both versions of the rules, so I can pick and choose which rules to use depending on my mood. What isn't replicable though, is that there are different tiles in each version.

The original, called Princess and Dragon, has 6 extra tiles which are princess tiles: these add a dynamic whereby you can kick a meeple off a city when you connect to it. These don't exist in the new version.

The new version, called Dragon and Fairy, comes with 2 new 2-tiled river tiles which I like, because I get tired of having the river be so predictable.

I'm leaning towards buying the Princess and Dragon, because of the princess tiles. I was hoping to get some advice: Is the river so good that I should change my decision? Does anyone have experience with the princess tiles? Does the dynamic work well, or will I opt to skip those tiles more often than not?