Carcassonne: The River II
2-6
8+
45+
There is another river in the Carcassonne region. Like the first river, you can use these 12 tiles to start a Carcassonne game instead of the normal start tile. But, there is more. It can be used with the other river, to make an even longer river to start the game. It has a branch, so you get the effect of two rivers instead of one. Its tiles have some of the features of the larger expansions: Inns & Cathedrals, Traders & Builders, and Princess & Dragon. As always, you need the original Carcassonne to play with it, but you can use bits from the other expansions, too, if you like.
The River II is not a complete game, but must be played with Carcassonne.
User Reviews (4)
Add a Review for "Carcassonne: The River II"
You must be logged in to add a review.
Hey dude & dudettes,
Carcassonne was the very first ‘Gamers Game’ I got to know. The board of our local youth club went on a weekend to plan the activities for the following year and after the hard work a friend threw Carcassonne on the table and explained it to us. I was sold from that moment on :). Actually, I liked it so much I actually bought it a few weeks later and after I got to know it a little better I started exploring the expansions like this one. I even bought a second copy of “Carcassonne: The River II” because the extra split was so cool :P.
How did I get to know this game?
I saw it on the counter in a small gaming shop called ‘Red Dragon Games’ in Antwerp (mainly Warhammer) right around the corner of our gaming club. It was appealing and cheap so I picked up a copy, as well as “Carcassone: King & Scout” and “Carcassonne: The Count”.
What’s that theme?
The theme doesn’t change, but now there’s a river in Carcassonne. I’m sure you would’ve figured that out on your own, no? 😛
And the components?
This is only a small expansion with nothing more than a few tiles and some rules. However, the rules are clear and illustrated and the tiles are of the same quality as the base game.
Sometimes the color may differ from the base tiles, but you’ll have to live with that. One fun detail is that one of the two ends has a volcano on it, so if you play it with “Carcassonne: The Princess & the Dragon”, the dragon will enter the game at some point while digging the river.
How does it work?
Well, indtead of beginning with the ‘strat tile’ you open the game by laying out a spring. Keep one of the endings aside and start the game:
Players take turns extending the river.
– When the split shows up the active player places it as he wishes and following tiles are placed on either side (players choice).
– When an end is drawn the active player places it as he wishes too. Remaining tiles have to be placed on the open side.
Meeples can not be placed on the river. You can, however place your meeples on the river tiles on the cities, roads and meadows. The river does close meadows.
So how do you win again?
Same as in Carcassonne, only more fun ;).
Any tricky parts?
Maybe one: The river can not make U-turns!!
So what exactly do I think about this expansion?
I like how it immediatly opens up the board and the split in the river helps shaping it up a bit. I bought a second copy, what do you think? :D.
“The River II” is the successor of “The River” expansion. Just as the older version it adds 12 new tiles to the game. They all contains parts of a new feature added – he river itself. Players start from the river source and continue up to the lake where the flow ends. The river is being set up at the beginning of the game instead of starting from a standard starting tile. This makes more room for early followers placement especially in multiplayer games, as the meeples may be placed on map features like cities and roads that are present on river tiles. After setting up the river the game resumes its standard shape with no additional rules.
There are several features added to the second version: the river has a fork now, one of the roads has an inn nearby (for use with “Inns and Cathedrals” expansion), the ending lake is accompanied by a volcano (so, when playing with “The princess and the Dragon” expansion, the dragon lands on the board very early), and one of the town segments has a shield on it.
The main problem of “The River” expansion – the large farms – is still present however it is less annoying. In order to fully cure it “The Mini Expansion” (with an alternate source tile) is recommended.
It is noteworthy that some basic Carcassonne sets include “The River I” expansion. If you have one of them – there’s no need to buy “The River II” unless you want a longer river or you are a collector. Yet if you have the basic set without any river, I recommend to get “The River II” and “The Mini Expansion” if possible.
Was the River I too short for you? Not enough forks creating interesting farm shapes? Now your worries are over! The River II comes with a fork to have two river segments, one of which will end at a city wall, and the other ends at the usual lake. River II tiles come with support for the Inns & Cathedrals expansion, with an inn on a road segment that crosses the river, and the Princess And Dragon, with a dragon-summoning volcano at the lake.
If you want to play with all the expansions and have a large surface to play on, combine both River expansions for an epic river to start (take out the duplicate spring and lake)
If there is one mini expansion to get for Carcassonne, it is definitely this one.
River II creates an interesting starting forked river as the basis to start building your cities, farms and roads for Carcassonne instead of the basic starting tile, which adds much needed variety to the opening portion of the game. I don’t think is a game we play now where we do not include this expansion as the opening.
The tiles included in the set also include tiles that support Princess and the Dragon (with a starting Volcano tile for the dragon) and Inn and Cathedrals (with an inn located on a road segment).