Carcassonne: Count, King & Robber
2007 / Tile placement board game expansions / 2-6 players
****
We'd already been playing with some of these components in DIY or counterfeit forms, but a nicely-priced bundle was a chance to do them properly – along with lots of extra tiles to extend the map even further beyond breaking point. We play on the floor.
The Count of Carcassonne ***
The Count's convoluted rules are interesting, but hard to keep in mind even when you're not five years old. So for now, this mainly provides some extra optional fiddly setup and a nice centrepiece when we can be bothered, while the vampiric figure himself could get some roleplaying mileage.
King and Robber Baron ****
I love these incentives to build big and long, since we play more collaboratively than competitively anyway. Tile tokens are a simple way to represent the figures, though keeping score is fiddlier than their Catan equivalents – I repurposed the figures I was using for these before as markers on the features. They throw in a few random landscape tiles too, which is always appreciated.
Heretics and Shrines ****
Another compulsory complication as far as I'm concerned, the shrines add some cultural diversity and make for fun one-on-one minigames when taking on neighbouring cloisters. The only problem is there aren't many of them for balance, but keeping the old knock-offs around helps with that.
River II ***
Sneaking in to add value to the compilation, it's the sequel to the original expansion that was so beloved, it was permanently integrated with the base game thereafter. Combining both rivers is arguably too much of a good thing, so we might convert the old tiles into something else. If you're using the dragon expansion, the volcano on the lake can also set you up for a devastating early rampage to reset all progress or finally remind you to use the fairy.
