Inns and Cathedrals; Carcassonne Expansion - Review

Fancy spending time at an inn on the lake? Or perhaps you’d rather spend some time in a cathedral? Then Inns and Cathedrals is the expansion for you! Inns and Cathedrals is the first full expansion for Carcassonne; it contains 18 new Land tiles, 6 Point tiles, a large follower for each player, and includes followers for a sixth player! With the Inns and Cathedrals, players can score more points for their roads and cities, but if they don’t finish a City with a Cathedral or a Road with an Inn, they score nothing! If you like expanding Carcassonne, check out my review of the River expansion!

Check out my review of the base game, or click here to see the full series review of Carcassonne.

Inns and Cathedrals is the first big expansion for Carcassonne

Set-up: 10/10

Much like the base game, setting up Inns and Cathedrals is incredibly easy. All you need to do is shuffle the new tiles into the rest of the deck! If using expansions, I’d recommend using a bag to draw the tiles from, as some expansions can be slightly different in shade, but if you don’t have a bag to put them in, it’s not essential.

Mechanics: 9/10

The basic gameplay of Inns and Cathedrals is identical to that of the original game. On your turn, you draw a tile and place it, before putting a meeple onto the newly place follower, should you choose to. The new tiles have more of an impact on scoring, allowing players to score more points for Roads and Cities containing these tiles. Players also gain an additional follower, which counts as two smaller followers. This allows players to protect their Cities, Roads, and Fields from players who might attempt to steal them.

Scoring: 7/10

Scoring is very similar to the base game. The main difference is to Cities containing Cathedrals and Roads with an Inn. Cities with a Cathedral are worth 3 points per tile and pennant once they’re completed. If left unfinished at the end of the game, they’re instead worth nothing. Roads with an Inn are worth 2 points per tile once they’re completed, but are worth nothing if left incomplete at the end of the game. It’s also worth noting that as the larger follower is worth 2 followers, having one of these on a City or a Farm can cause a big points swing.

Eighteen new tiles are added to Carcassonne, changing how you score cities and roads!

Speed: 6/10

Adding 18 new tiles to Carcassonne does have a large impact on the speed of the game – the original game has 72 tiles (including the starting tile) so this is essentially increasing the number of tiles by 25%. The addition of a larger meeple can also slow the game down, as players have more options in terms of follower placement. However, as the mechanics of the game are largely the same, adding these new tiles won’t make a huge difference otherwise.

Replayability: 9/10

This adds an element of risk to playing an Inn or Cathedral, especially in the later game, but also means you can benefit by playing them on an opponent’s road or city, stopping them from scoring. As players can score more for Roads and Cities, their strategy will adapt to allow them to claim these, or sabotage their opponents. The additional meeple is also really useful, allowing players to keep placing meeples and offering them more tactical flexibility.

Steal neighbouring cities and farms with your larger meeple!

Final Thoughts

I love the Inns and Cathedrals expansion. It’s a great place for players to expand their existing Carcassonne games, and is very easy for beginners to pick up. For me, using Inns and Cathedrals is a must for every game of Carcassonne, and is so similar in style to the base game that it feels as though it could fit within the initial game. If you’re looking for just one expansion, Inns and Cathedrals is what I’d recommend – you’ll probably find you won’t play without it very often!

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Chris