Carcassonne: Hunters and Gatherers

2002

Immerse yourself in the Stone Age with Carcassonne: Hunters and Gatherers. Use your strategy to place tiles, meeples and huts, score points, and conquer the prehistoric landscape!

35
minutes

2 - 5
player(s)

Medium Light

About the game

Carcassonne: Hunters and Gatherers is a standalone game in the popular Carcassonne series. Drenched in a vibrant prehistoric theme, this board game transports players back to the dawn of civilization where they adopt roles as leaders of primitive tribes.

Set amidst the lush landscapes of the Stone Age, the game’s setting is visually appealing, enveloped in green forests, meandering rivers, and grassy meadows. The game board grows with each turn as players lay tiles, ensuring a unique gaming experience every time.

Game components Unboxing the fun!

Carcassonne: Hunters and Gatherers is a standalone game in the Carcassonne series. It comes with a variety of game components, each serving a unique purpose to facilitate the gameplay and enrich the overall gaming experience. Below is a detailed list of the game components:

1. Land Tiles: There are 80 Land Tiles in the game. These are used to construct the game board. Each tile can represent a mix of forests, rivers, meadows, and lakes. The layout progressively evolves as players take turns placing tiles, creating a unique and dynamic game board every time.

2. Followers: Each player has 5 Followers. These can be placed on Land Tiles to claim territories. Followers can be hunters, gatherers, or fishermen, each with their own scoring conditions. Hunters score based on the number of animals in the meadow, gatherers score for forests, and fishermen score for lakes.

3. Huts: Each player has 5 Huts. Huts are placed on river systems and score points based on the number of fish in the river at the end of the game. A river system is a connected sequence of river tiles, regardless of the direction the river flows.

4. Bonus Tiles: There are 12 bonus tiles – 2 each of 6 different types. When a player completes a forest, they may receive a bonus tile. The player then reveals the tile, carries out its action, and returns it to the box. Bonus tiles can give the player extra points, extra turns, or other advantages.

5. Scoring Track: The game includes a scoring track, which is used to keep track of each player’s points throughout the game. Players move their scoring markers along the track as they score points.

6. Scoring Markers: Each player has a scoring marker in their color. These markers are used on the scoring track to represent the player’s current score.

Each of these components plays a crucial role in the game and has an impact on the strategic decisions players make. The skillful placement of tiles and followers, combined with the judicious use of huts and bonus tiles, can greatly influence the outcome of the game.

Game setup Lay it out, line it up, let’s go

Carcassonne: Hunters and Gatherers is a standalone game in the Carcassonne series. The game is set in the prehistoric era, where players become tribe leaders and take charge of hunters, gatherers, and fishermen. Here is a step-by-step guide to set up the game:

Step 1: Prepare the Game Components

Unbox the game and prepare all the components. The game includes 79 terrain tiles, 5 scoring markers, 5 huts, and 30 tribe members in 5 colors.
Ensure that each player has a set of tribe members, a scoring marker, and a hut in their chosen color.

Step 2: Initial Setup

Shuffle the terrain tiles and place them in several face-down stacks within reach of all players.
Place the special “Starting Tile” in the middle of the table. The starting tile is the one with a darker back and a river and a meadow.
Each player places their scoring marker on the 0 space of the scoring track.

Step 3: Player Roles

Players take on the roles of tribe leaders, who will direct the hunters, gatherers, and fishermen on the terrain tiles.
Each turn, players will draw and place a terrain tile, and then decide to place one of their tribe members on that tile, either as a hunter in a meadow, a gatherer in a forest, or a fisherman on a river.
Players may also choose to place their hut on a river system, which will score points for fish in the entire river system at the end of the game.

Step 4: Random Elements

As players will be drawing tiles from face-down stacks, the gameplay involves a significant element of randomness. You don’t know what terrain tile you will draw during your turn.
Moreover, the game includes bonus tiles (gold nuggets) that are also placed randomly in the forests. When a player completes a forest with one or more gold nuggets, they draw that many bonus tiles and immediately plays one, adding an additional layer of unpredictability to the game.

Once you’ve set up the game following these steps, you’re ready to start! Remember, the player who manages their tribe members and resources most effectively will be victorious in the game of Carcassonne: Hunters and Gatherers.

Game flow Round and round we go

‘Carcassonne: Hunters and Gatherers’ is a tile-placement strategy board game for two to five players. It’s a standalone game in the Carcassonne series, with the theme set in the stone age. The game is played in rounds, with each round consisting of three main phases: Draw and Place Tile, Deploy or Move a Tribe Member, and Scoring.

Draw and Place Tile Phase:

The active player draws a tile from the stack. These tiles depict various terrain features such as forests, rivers, meadows, and wildlife.
The player then places the tile adjacent to one or more already played tiles, ensuring that the tile’s edges match the edges of the tiles it’s touching. For instance, a forest tile must be placed next to another forest tile.
If a player draws a tile that cannot be placed, the tile is returned to the box and the player draws a new tile.
The phase ends once a tile has been successfully placed on the board.

Deploy or Move a Tribe Member Phase:

After placing a tile, the player can decide to deploy one of their tribe members (wooden figures) onto the tile they just placed. There are three types of tribe members: Hunters, Gatherers, and Fishermen.
The player can choose to place the figure as a Hunter in a meadow, a Gatherer in a forest, or a Fisherman on a river segment.
Alternatively, the player could choose to move their Shaman (if they have one) from a previously placed tile to the new tile.
The phase ends once the player has placed or moved a tribe member, or chosen not to do so.

Scoring Phase:

Scoring occurs when a forest, river, or meadow is completed. A forest is completed when it is fully enclosed by rivers and/or the edge of other tiles. A river is completed when both its ends are closed off. A meadow is completed when it is fully enclosed by forests and/or rivers.
Depending on where the tribe member is placed, players score points for completed forests, rivers, or meadows. Hunters score for each animal in their meadow, Gatherers score for each gold nugget in their forest, and Fishermen score for each fish in their river.
At the end of the game, any incomplete features are also scored, but they provide fewer points than completed ones.
The game ends when all tiles have been placed. The player with the highest score wins the game.

Players'turn One turn to rule them all

In Carcassonne: Hunters and Gatherers, each player’s turn consists of several steps, which can be broken down into detailed actions and strategic choices that can affect the overall gameplay.

Step 1: Draw and Place a Tile

At the start of their turn, a player must draw a tile from the pile and place it adjacent to a tile that is already face up. The new tile must be placed in such a way that fields connect to fields, rivers to rivers, and forests to forests.

Strategic Choice: The placement of the tile can affect the formation of the territory, which can either benefit the player later in the game or potentially block the progress of others.

Step 2: Place a Meeple

After placing a tile, the player has the option to place one of their meeples on that tile. The meeple can be placed as a hunter in a field, a gatherer in a forest, or a fisherman on a river.

Strategic Choice: The placement of the meeple is a significant decision as it determines the strategy of collecting points. Placing a hunter can yield a high number of points if the field contains many animals, while a gatherer can provide steady points through forests, and a fisherman can score based on the length of the river.

Step 3: Scoring

A territory is scored when it is completed – a forest when it is surrounded by fields and/or the edge of the board, a river when it ends in a lake or joins another river, and a field when it is completely enclosed by forest and/or the edge of the board. The player who has the most meeples in a territory scores the points.

Strategic Choice: Players need to consider whether to complete a territory early for quick points or to expand it for a higher score that carries more risk as other players may try to contest the territory.

Step 4: End of Turn

The turn ends after the scoring. If a player has no meeples left, he has to wait until he retrieves one from a completed territory before he can place another.

Strategic Choice: Managing the number of meeples a player has on the board is crucial. Having all meeples on the board can limit a player’s options in future turns.

In Carcassonne: Hunters and Gatherers, strategic decisions made in each turn can have long-term effects on the final scoring, and thus the outcome of the game.

End of the game All good games must come to an end

The game of ‘Carcassonne: Hunters and Gatherers’ ends when all the land tiles have been placed on the table. After this event, the game enters the final scoring phase. Players should ensure they have completed all possible actions before this phase begins. There are several victory conditions that are assessed during the final scoring, contributing to each player’s total score.

1. Meadows:

Each player scores their claimed meadows. A meadow is scored by counting the number of animals in it, excluding the deer. Each animal is worth one point. However, the player with the most hunters in a meadow scores the points for that meadow. If there’s a tie for the most hunters, all tied players score the meadow.

2. Forests:

Each player scores their completed forests. A forest is considered completed if it is entirely surrounded by meadow and/or the edge of the table. Each completed forest is worth two points per tile. If a forest has a gold nugget, the player scores an additional two points. Unfinished forests aren’t scored.

3. Rivers:

Each player scores their claimed rivers. A river is scored by counting the number of fish in the river. The player with the most fishermen on a river scores the points for that river. If there’s a tie for the most fishermen, all tied players score the river.

4. Bonus Tiles:

Players also score points for any bonus tiles they have collected throughout the game. The points vary depending on the tile.

After all points have been calculated, the player with the highest total score is declared the winner. In case of a tie, the player who placed their last meeple first is the winner.

Scoring Did you outsmart your rivals?

‘Carcassonne: Hunters and Gatherers’ is a tile-placement game where players take turns drawing and placing a tile with a piece of southern French landscape on it. The tile might feature a part of a river, a meadow, forest, or a combination thereof, and it must be placed adjacent to tiles that have already been played, in such a way that forests connect to forests, rivers to rivers, etc.

After the tile is placed, the player can decide to place one of his meeples on one of the areas on it: on the meadow as a hunter, on the river as a fisherman, or on a forest as a gatherer. When that area is complete, that meeple scores points for its owner.

Scoring is as follows:

Forests: When a forest is completed, it is scored. Each tile of the completed forest is worth two points, and any gold nuggets within the forest grant an additional two points.
Rivers: A completed river is scored when it has a source (spring) and a mouth (lake or sea). Each fish in the completed river scores one point.
Meadows: Meadows are scored at the end of the game. Each animal in the meadow scores points: deer are worth three points, aurochs are worth two points, and mammoths are worth one point. Tigers are not worth any points, but they eat one deer, reducing the score by three points.

Tie-breaking rules are as follows:

If two or more players have the same number of points at the end of the game, the player with the most unused meeples wins.
If there is still a tie, the player who was first in the turn order wins.

Understanding these rules of scoring and tie-breakers can greatly influence your strategy during gameplay, and give you an edge over your opponents.

Particular Cases and Exceptions Wait… is that legal?

Carcassonne: Hunters and Gatherers is a stand-alone version of the original Carcassonne board game, with a prehistoric theme. While it shares many similarities with the original game, there are a few key differences and special rules to be aware of.

1. The Fishing Huts:

In addition to the regular followers, each player has a fishing hut. This can be placed on a river system instead of a follower.
The fishing hut scores points at the end of the game. It scores one point for each fish symbol in the entire river system (including fish in the lake).
If a player has a fishing hut in a river system, they are not allowed to place a follower in the same system.

2. The Forests:

Forests work similarly to cities in the original Carcassonne. When a forest is completed, it scores two points for each animal symbol in the forest.
However, the tiger symbol subtracts two points from the total score. If a forest has more tigers than deer symbols, it scores no points.

3. The Meadows:

Meadows are scored at the end of the game. Each deer in a meadow scores two points, and each mammoth scores three points.
However, if a meadow contains a tiger, it ‘eats’ one deer, reducing the score by two points. The tiger does not affect mammoths.

4. Bonus Tiles:

When a player completes a forest, they draw a bonus tile. This can be placed immediately, allowing the player to take an extra turn.
The bonus tiles contain special features that are not found on the regular tiles, such as a fire which scares away tigers.

Note: In case of a tie, the player who completed more forests during the game wins. If there is still a tie, the player who first placed a tile in the game wins.

Tips and tricks Play smarter, not harder!

Carcassonne: Hunters and Gatherers is a thrilling board game that requires strategic planning and foresight. Here are some advanced strategies, beginner tips, and common mistakes to avoid to optimize your gameplay.

Advanced Strategies

Plan Ahead: Try to visualize several moves ahead and plan your strategy accordingly. This will help you stay one step ahead of your opponents and make efficient use of your tiles.
Corner the Market: If you can manage to monopolize a certain type of area – say forests or rivers – you can limit the scoring opportunities for your opponents and increase your own.
Block Opponents: You can use your tiles to block your opponents’ moves and disrupt their strategies. This can be a powerful tool if used wisely.

Beginner Tips

Understand the Scoring: The scoring system in Carcassonne: Hunters and Gatherers can be complex. Make sure you understand how each type of area – forests, rivers, and meadows – is scored.
Use Your Meeples Wisely: Your meeples (game pieces) are a limited resource. Be careful not to tie them all up too early in the game, as this can limit your options later on.
Practice: Like any game, the more you play, the better you’ll get. Try different strategies to see what works best for you.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Ignoring Meadows: Meadows can be a significant source of points, especially towards the end of the game. Don’t neglect them in your strategy.
Not Planning Ahead: It’s easy to get caught up in the moment and just play the best tile you have right now. But try to think ahead and plan for future turns as well.
Wasting Meeples: Remember, once a meeple is placed, it stays there until the area is completed. Make sure you’re using your meeples wisely and not wasting them on low-scoring areas.

Ways to Optimize Gameplay

Balance Your Strategy: Try to balance between scoring immediate points and setting yourself up for future scoring opportunities.
Be Adaptable: It’s important to have a strategy, but be prepared to alter it based on the tiles you draw and the moves your opponents make.
Use Your Hut: Your hut can earn you a lot of points if placed on a long river. Don’t forget to use it!