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- 7.1
Carcassonne: Hunters and Gatherers
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- 2002
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Rules assistance for Carcassonne: Traders & Builders
Plain-language explanations of turns, card effects and disputed situations, with official source references and saved question history.
- 60 min
- 13+
- Complexity 2.1/5
Rules assistant for Carcassonne: Traders & Builders
What would you like to know?
Answers come from the official rulebook, with the page to check.
Carcassonne: Traders & Builders is an expansion for Carcassonne released in 2003 for 2–6 players, 60 minutes per game, and ages 13 and up. It was designed by Klaus-Jürgen Wrede and its main mechanics are Set Collection, Area Majority / Influence, and Tile Placement.
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About the game
The second major expansion to the original game of Carcassonne, Traders & Builders contains 24 tiles with new features such as Bridges and Cities. Some tiles also feature symbols for the goods Wine, Cloth or Wheat. Players collect one of these goods when the feature that has it on the tile is scored. Players with the most of each type of good gets bonus points at the end of the game. (There is a popular house rule that allows the trading of goods between players in exchange for other goods and the ability to choose where a tile is placed.) There are also two new wooden playing pieces in this expansion. The Builder is like a meeple in that it may be placed in a city or on a road as a kind of supervisor. A subsequent tile played that extends the feature the Builder is in allows the player a bonus tile placement. Farmers will also be able to place a new Pig pawn in a field for extra points at the end of the game. Finally, Traders & Builders comes with a large cloth bag. Not only does this make it easier to keep and handle the tiles, but it also removes the problem of having non-identical backsides. Carcassonne: Traders & Builders Expansion Play Summary Traders - Some of the new city tiles depict goods: wine, grain and/or cloth. When you complete a city, your own or someone else's, you collect a matching token for each good in the city. At game end, whoever has the most goods in each category scores an additional 10 points. Builders - Each player receives a builder meeple in his/her color. You can add your builder to any city or road you already have in progress. Thereafter anytime you add a tile to that city or road, you immediately get to take another turn. The builder does not count as a follower for determining control of a city or road. Pig - You can add your pig to one of your farms to enrich its value. A farm with a pig scores 4 points per completed city served instead of the usual 3. Traders & Builders is playable with or without the first expansion. Part of the Carcassonne series Some versions of HiG Scandinavian release, blue box, has The River I included.
Designers
Publishers
- Devir
- Kaissa Chess & Games
- Enigma (Bergsala Enigma)
- Hobby World
- Schmidt Spiele
- Korea Boardgames
- Piatnik
- Swan Panasia Co., Ltd.
- Giochi Uniti
- 999 Games
- MINDOK
- Nordic Games ehf
- cutia.ro
- Albi
- Ísöld ehf.
- Rio Grande Games
- Lautapelit.fi
- Feelindigo
- Filosofia Éditions
- Möbius Games
- Brain Games
- Z-Man Games
- Hans im Glück
- Oxygame
- Fantasmagoria
- Bard Centrum Gier
- Venice Connection
Questions and answers
Carcassonne: Traders & Builders supports 2–6 players according to the catalogue. This range comes from the publisher’s listed player count, so the game can be set up for any group size within it. Some setups, rules and scoring details may still vary by player count, so check your edition’s rulebook for the exact configuration.
The listed playing time for Carcassonne: Traders & Builders is 60 minutes. This is the publisher’s estimate for a full game. The actual duration depends on the group, the player count and familiarity with the rules: first sessions usually run longer, while experienced groups often finish faster. Setup and teaching time are not included in this estimate.
The catalogue lists Carcassonne: Traders & Builders for ages 13 and up. This is the publisher’s recommendation and reflects reading demands, rule complexity and small components rather than theme alone. Younger players can often join with help from an adult, so check the age guidance on your edition and consider your group’s experience with board games.
Carcassonne: Traders & Builders has a complexity rating of 2.1 out of 5 from BoardGameGeek players, which makes it a medium-light game. The rating reflects how much rules knowledge, planning and decision-making a typical game demands. Expect a longer first teach for heavier games, and use a preparation guide before game night.
Carcassonne: Traders & Builders belongs to these categories: Territory Building, Medieval, and City Building. Its main mechanics are Set Collection, Area Majority / Influence, and Tile Placement. Categories describe the theme and setting of a game, while mechanics describe what players actually do on their turns. Each mechanic links to a catalogue hub with similar games, which helps when you want something comparable.
The credited designers of Carcassonne: Traders & Builders are: Klaus-Jürgen Wrede. These credits come from the published game data and name the people responsible for the game’s design, not its illustrators or publishers. Designer pages on MeepleRules collect other titles by the same designers, which helps when you enjoy a game and want to find similar ones.
The catalogue lists Carcassonne: Traders & Builders as an expansion for Carcassonne. Expansions add new content, rules or scenarios to the base game and usually cannot be played on their own, so you need Carcassonne to use it. Check that your edition of Carcassonne is compatible, as some expansions were revised between editions.