Carcassonne : Traders & Builders

The Builders and Traders Expansion adds another level of strategy and a certain amount of competition to the base tile lying game.

With the introduction of builders who allow you to play more than one tile in a given go, and a pig that increases the value of fields, the game become slightly more complex. It is however still very easy to pick up and play, as the theory/game structure doesn’t change it merely adds another tactical decision.

The competition side comes in the form of numerous new tile pieces with depictions of cloth, wine and grain to collect. As it is the player that completes the city that collects the goods held within, rather than the player that has his Knight in place, it becomes more important to beat you opponent to laying that final city piece. The collecting of the most of each of the cloth, wine and grain can dramatically alter the final standings, so don’t wait too long, trying to build the new Londinium!

We have played Carcasonne for a while now and found it to be a great game that really does turn out to be very different every time it is played. We started with the basic game and River Expansion and progressed by adding River 2, Inns and Cathedrals, The Tower and Traders and Builders. Each additinal expansion adds more interesting tiles and therefore more possibilities. Both The Tower and Traders and Builders change the outcome of the game considerably and require much more strategy-making to succeed as players can score far more for the same but also be removed (with use of the towers) if getting too prosperous! Well worth a purchase for a more interesting game. By far the best new(ish) board game I've seen for ages!

I found myself on the fence about Carcassonne after a dozen or so plays but then I decided to add Traders and Builders and that made all the difference. The expansion adds 24 new tiles most of which are city pieces, making it even more likely that you will find that piece that fits. Good job really too because this set also adds some new meeples the Builder and the Pig.

The Pig increases the values of cities in the field to 4 points (assuming you win the field) but the Builder lets you have another go as long as you add a piece to the Road or City he is in. This mechanic means that although there are more tiles to place the playing time is not increased dramatically.

T&B also adds incentive for you to complete other player’s cities in order to earn trade goods. If you have the most goods when the game ends you earn 10 points for each set of goods you own the most of.

All in all Traders and Builders is an excellent expansion, especially if you like building (and stealing) cities. The additional tiles and meeples are great quality and the tile bag helps with the problem of people taking their tile OUT OF TURN! Great fun and a good value buy.