Carcassonne: The Discovery

A stand-alone Carcassonne where robbers, seafarers and explorers settle mountains, seas and meadows.

Designers: Leo Colovini, Klaus-Jürgen Wrede
Published by: Hans im Glück
Editions by: Rio Grande Games, 999 Games, Hobby World, Albi, Piatnik, Smart Ltd, Venice Connection, Funagain

This is a stand-alone Carcassonne from 2005, not the original, and it swaps medieval fields for newly found land: meadows, mountains and seas. You place a tile, matching landscapes edge to edge, then you may put down one of your four followers, plus a fifth that keeps score on the track. Here they are robbers in the mountains, seafarers on the seas and explorers on the meadows. The neat idea is that you score when a follower leaves, based on the size of its region, closed or not, though closed regions pay much better. It keeps the Carcassonne feel, quick turns and tile puzzles, but scoring is gentler on unfinished regions, so the mood is a little more relaxed.

Stand-alone, no base game neededRobbers, seafarers and explorersRegions score even when not closed

Who it's for

You know Carcassonne and want a standalone variant with a new landscape and slightly gentler scoring.

Not for you if…

You want the classic cities-and-roads game. This is a different take and does not replace the original.

Vibe's take

Gentle, tile-by-tile puzzling with a light competitive edge. Open regions still pay out, so you are never punished harshly for leaving something unfinished.