Germany's colorful 2001 Game of the Year still delights us, win or lose! Pick a facedown tile, add it to the array, and place a pawn on a road, city, cloister, or farmland section of the tile. Score upon completing roads, cloisters, and cities occupied by your pawn, and then return your pawn to the supply for redeployment. Pawns allocated to farms remain to the end, but handsome bonuses await the largest farms. Highest score wins after the last tile has been laid. In the Expansion, tiles double or triple the value of roads and cities that they help complete. However, unlike in the original version, points are never awarded at the end for the incomplete cities containing the tiles. Prolonged battles that cause dramatic scoring swings can result from the new tiles. Expand your collection with this intriguing title.

One of the cool things about most of the Carcassonne expansions is that you can simply throw the pieces into the mix and NOT follow the new rules if you want. For example, in this expansion you can simply have more players, make the scoring easier (with the addition of the point tiles), have more meeples to place (just use the big guy to keep score) and have a longer game (with the addition of more land tiles.) In fact, when I introduce people to Carcassonne we just play with the original rules and I don't have to pick out all the expansion pieces.

Having said that, the new rules do add a lot to the game. It can get a little cut throat, since screwing up an opponent's city hurts them a lot more if it has a cathedral in it. The large meeples also add a new dimension of decision-making and strategy without complecating the mechanics of the game.

I have multiple expansions, and actually just ordered another off of this site (I should get it tomorrow - Yay!), but I would say this is the best one. If you are ready to freshen things up with Carcassonne, this is the way to go. As I said, even IF you don't care for the new rules (which I doubt would happen) then at least you have a bigger game!

Since I can't think of a single complaint about this expansion, I give it a good, solid 5 star rating.

In other words... if you are considering it, buy it now. You won't be sorry! :)

This expansion is a must. With Inns & Cathedrals roads can become just as valuable as cities if not more, therefore adding more strategy to the game. It's also fun to get a cathedral, but it's challenging to finish the city before the end of the game. This expansion definitely adds to the fun and strategy of Carcasonne. I don't like playing without this expansion, which I do when I'm teaching friends how to play the first time.

This addition carves new strategies out for the ambitious and ruthless. Also the ability to add one extra player is an unexpected added bonus of this expansion set. The only reservation I have is that certain pieces from this set tend to elicit the same move (in terms of meeple placement). Otherwise, I'm thoroughly enjoying the new variety found in these yet unfamiliar tiles.