Players of Carcassonne take turns drawing and laying down tiles to create a landscape made of roads, fields, walled cities, and monasteries. When a player puts a piece into the landscape, he make occupy one of its features, such as the road, city, or farm. As his road or farm expands with the addition of new tiles, it becomes more valuable... unless joined to an opponent's feature. The player with the most points once all the tiles have been played is the winner.

On your turn you draw a tile and place it next to one of the tiles already on the table. You decide where to play, but you must match the features on your tile to ones already played. You may then place one of your men on one of the features of the tile you have just laid. Put him in a city and he becomes a knight; in a monastery and he becomes a monk; on a road a thief; and in a field a farmer. The goal is to build long roads, high-scoring cities, monasteries without running out of the men that you need. There is an element of luck as you may or may not draw the tile that furthers your plans, but plenty of skill in deciding how to deploy your tiles and men.

While the box is not preposessing, the game in progress is quite appealing. Winner of several awards and big favorite with Game Preserve Staff, Carcassonne is heartily recommended.