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Guide v1.5
By JaKhajiit (Emily Parrella)

Contents:
1. Introduction
2. Controls and Options
3. Starting the Game
4. Playing the Game
5. Features and Scoring
6. Tips and Strategy
7. Expansions
8. Contact Info
9. Legal Stuff

------------
Introduction
------------
Carcassonne for XBLA is based on the popular boardgame of the same name.  The
object of the game is to settle this uninhabited region of France with cities,
farms, roads, and monasteries (collectively referred to as "features" for the
purposes of my sanity).  Points are earned by using followers to claim the
various features.  The winner is the player who scores the most points by
the end of the game.  Local multiplayer and online player matches support up
to five players.  Ranked matches only allow two players.

--------------------
Controls and Menus
--------------------
Controls:
LT/RT - rotate your tile before placing it
LB/RB - zoom in/out
Left stick and Directional Pad - move tiles and followers to available, legal,
spaces before placing them
Start - Pause
Right Stick - move the camera
B - Back/Undo
A - Place tile or follower/confirm
X - End Turn

Under the Help and Options Menu:
How to Play
Gives a scoring summary and brief explanation of the rules.

Tutorials
There are three tutorials included with the inital Carcassonne download: Basic
Introduction, Farms and Final Scoring, and The River I and II.  I strongly
recommend watching the tutorials before you begin playing.  They are
excellent and will probably give you a better understanding of the game than
just reading this FAQ.

Controls
Shows the controls used in the game and how they function.

Settings
In the Settings Menu you can adjust the music and sound volume as well as the
vibration intensity.  You can also adjust the HUD.

Xbox Live Vision Settings
Helps you to adjust your Xbox Live Vision Camera

Credits
View the credits.

----------------
Starting the Game
----------------

Single Player:
First decide if you want to play the Basic Game, Custom Game or Free Mode.
The Basic Game uses the normal rules of Carcassonne, while a Custom Game will
allow you to make the following adjustments:
Road Scoring - if this is turned off, roads cannot be claimed for points.
City Scoring - if this is set to International, a city made up of 2 tiles is
worth 4 points.  If this is set to off, cities cannot be claimed for points.
If this is set to US, cities made up of 2 tiles are worth only 2 points.
Monastery Scoring - if this is set to off, monasteries cannot be claimed for
points.
Farm Scoring - International rules give you 3 points for every completed city
a farm is touching.  If this is set to off, farms cannot be claimed for
points.  If this is set to US, the largest farm touching a city is awarded
4 points.

No matter which you choose, you will always deal with the following options:
Number of Players - choose 2-5
Difficulty - easy, medium, hard, or expert
The River Expansion- Turned on or off
Choose your color - the color of your followers

In Free Mode, you have no opponent and simply place the tiles how you like.
The River Expansion is not available in Free Mode.  You don't place any
followers and, although features can be completed, you don't get any points
for them.  It is a good way to see the different tiles and get a feel for how
they are placed if you are having a hard time.

Multiplayer:
Decide if you want a Ranked Match which is played against 1 opponent on XBox
Live, a Player Match which is a friendly game played with up to 4 opponents on
XBox Live, or Local Multiplayer which can be up to 5 players on one console.

----------------
Playing the Game
----------------
Each turn has two parts to it.

First you will place a randomly drawn tile onto the board.  There are 71 tiles
althogether.
Tiles can include sections of road, an intersection, a monastery, a part of a
city or city wall, and almost all contain open, grassy area. The tile must be
placed in a logical way.  For example, roads must connect to other roads,
cities, or monasteries.  Also, new tiles must touch another tile on the board.
The game will highlight all the places where it is okay to place a new tile.
Once you have placed your tile, the first part of your turn ends.

The second part of your turn involves your followers.  Each player begins the
game with seven followers.  These followers enable you to claim features and
earn points.  After placing your tile you will have the option of placing one
of your followers on it.  The places where you can place a follower will be
marked by small, yellow dots.  You can only place a follower on the tile you
have just placed.  You cannot place a follower on a feature that has already
been claimed by an opponent.  This is true even if your tile is part of your
opponent's feature.  After you place your follower, your turn is over.

Play continues like this until the last tile has been placed.

--------------------
Features and Scoring
--------------------
The features of Carcassonne (cities, roads, monasteries, and farms) are what
will earn you points in the game.  Understanding how they are built and
what they are worth is critical to unerstanding the game.  You receive points
each time a feature that you have claimed with a follower is completed.  You
also get your follower back.  At the end of the game you will receive points
for any unfinished features you may have claimed.  You also get points for
your farms at the end of the game.  Here is an explanation of the features,
how to complete them, and how much they are worth.

Cities - Cities can be as large as you can make them.  They are completed when
the city walls are closed.  Followers placed in a city are knights.  A city
is worth 2 points for each tile that is part of it.  You also get 2 points for
each pennant the city contains.  Pennants are small blue and white shields
that are found on some city tiles.  If the city is unfinished at the end of
the game you get 1 point for each city tile and 1 point for each pennant.

Farms - Farms are the empty fields that appear on most tiles.  They are never
really complete and are not scored until the game is over.  Followers on a
farm are farmers and stay on the board for the whole game.  Farms are worth
3 points for each completed city the farm supplies.  A farm is supplying a
city that it touches.  A farm can supply more than one city and a city can be
supported by multiple farms.

Roads - Roads can be as long as you can build them.  They are considered
finished when each end of the road ends at a crossroads or a building.
Followers placed on roads are thieves.  Roads are worth 1 point for each tile
that makes up the road.  Unfinished roads are also worth 1 point for each
road tile.

Monasteries - Monasteries are unique because they are made up of one small
building on one tile. Monasteries are finished when the tile containing the
building is totally surrounded by other tiles.  Followers in a monastery are
monks.  They are worth 1 point for the monastery building itself plus 1 point
for each surrounding tile.  Unfinished monasteries will earn you 1 point for
the monastery and 1 point for each tile surrounding it.

Although it is illegal to place a follower on a feature that has already been
claimed by an opponent, there are times when more than one player may claim
the same feature.  For example if one of your roads becomes joined to an
opponent's.  In this case the player with the most followers on the feature
gets the points.  Ifthere is a tie, both players get the full amount of points
for the feature.

-----------------
Tips and Strategy
-----------------
-Followers are your only means of scoring points.  Be careful with them and
keep in mind that they are a limited resource.  It's easy to want to claim
everything in sight and find yourself with no followers.  If this happens, all
you can do is wait until you pull a tile that will free them up.

-Farms are a great way to score points.  Unfortunately they are also a good
way to tie up followers for the entire game.  It is also hard to tell if a
farm is going to earn you a lot of points early in the game.  It's better to
wait until you can guess more accurately if a farm will be worth spending a
follower on.  When you notice your opponents claiming farms it's a good idea
to use roads to cripple their progress.

-Sometimes you might find yourself sharing a city or road feature with an
opponent.  This isn't necessarily a bad thing.  In fact, if you notice an
opponent building an especially long road or large city, you may want to try
to get in on the action.  Although you won't gain any more points than your
opponent, he or she won't gain any more than you.

-Pay attention to what your opponents are doing.  If you have the opportunity
to close off an opponents city or end their road, you might want to do it
before they end up with a huge feature.

----------
Expansions
----------
The expansions of Carcassonne can be turned on or off in the options.

The River
This first expansion effects the start of the game.  Instead of the usual
starting tile, you will start with a spring.  Players take turns placing 12
river tiles until there are none left.  To avoid circular rivers, the bends of
the river must alternate.  If the last bend curved to the right, the next must
turn to the left.  This expansion is included with the main Carcassonne
download.

The River II
This expansion adds more river tiles including one tile that creates a fork in
the river.  It can be used alone, or with the earlier river expansion.

Kings and Barons
This expansion adds one new type of tile which effects the way cities are
built.  It allows one city to bridge over another one making it possible for
two cities to occupy the same tile.  Each city can be claimed seperately.
The expansion also adds two new ways to score.  One is to become the King.
This is done by completing the largest city.  You don't have to claim the
city, you only have to place the last tile.  At the end of the game the King
will receive 1 point for each completed city regardless of who has claimed it.
The other way to earn points is to become the Baron.  This is done by
completing the longest road.  Again, it doesn't matter who has claimed the
road, the player who completes it becomes the Baron.  At the end of the game,
the Baron receives 1 point for each completed road regardless of who has
claimed it.

------------
Contact Info
------------
Well, there it is.  I hope the guide helped you out with whatever you needed.
If you notice any mistakes, have something you think should be added, or have
a question you want answered you can email me at [email protected].
Make sure you include your name so I can give you credit.

-----------
Legal Stuff
-----------
This guide is for personal use only and may not be republished without written
consent.

The latest version of this guide can be found at gamefaqs.com.
This FAQ may also appear on:
supercheats.com
cheatcc.com
neoseeker.com

Copyright 2007 Emily Parrella