Carcassonne: Expansion 9 – Hills & Sheep *

Carcassonne: Hills & Sheep is the ninth expansion to the classic tile-placement game Carcassonne, introducing new gameplay elements that enrich the pastoral landscapes players cultivate and compete over. In this expansion, players take on the roles of shepherds, in addition to the familiar thieves, knights, monks, and farmers, venturing into the rolling hills and lush vineyards to maximize their points through strategic tile placement and judicious management of their flocks.

Gameplay Overview

Hills for Strategic Advantage: Elevate your game—literally—by placing tiles with hill icons on top of other tiles, creating a 3D landscape that offers strategic advantages, particularly in tie-breaking scenarios.
Vineyards Enhance Monasteries: Surround monasteries with vineyard tiles to significantly boost their value, incentivizing completion for bonus points and adding a layer of competitive sabotage.
Shepherds and Sheep: Introduce a push-your-luck mechanic with shepherds and sheep, allowing players to accumulate sheep tokens for points or risk losing them all to the wolf lurking in the draw bag.

Special Features

Tie-Breaker Mechanic with Hills: Hills serve as tie-breakers in shared majority situations, adding a new layer of strategy in claiming features.
Push-Your-Luck with Sheep: Decide whether to cash in your flock for points or gamble for a bigger herd, while avoiding the wolves that can scatter it.
Vineyard Tiles for Monasteries: Boost the scoring potential of monasteries with adjacent vineyard tiles, increasing the strategic value of completing these features.

Conclusion

Carcassonne: Hills & Sheep significantly expands the strategic possibilities of the base game, inviting players to explore new dimensions of gameplay. With the introduction of hills, vineyards, and a new shepherd mechanic, this expansion offers both a visual and tactical enhancement to the Carcassonne experience. Whether you're maneuvering for positional advantage on the hills, carefully cultivating vineyards around your monasteries, or managing the risk and reward of shepherding, Hills & Sheep promises to refresh and invigorate your Carcassonne adventures, making it a must-have for fans of the series.