Adds more strategy options to keep you on your toes.Adds an extra level of fun, but minimal things to add to the original rules making it an easy addition to your gameI love this game, and this is a great expansion! Nothing complicated, but adds to the original game.The newest version of Carcassonne brags about the mini-expansions "The River" and "The Abbot" but they are barely even mini-mini-expansions. "The River" just adds river tiles, which don't add any strategy to the game whatsoever. They just look nice. "The Abbot" DOES add some strategy, but just a little. You play the Abbot on gardens or monasteries, and unlike regular Meeples, they can be removed at any time. We always play with both mini-expansions but ignore the Farmers because there is very little strategy to them and you have to wait until the end of the game to score them.Anyhow, Carcassonne by itself is a fun family game that unfortunately doesn't have a ton of strategy. You basically need to finish your cities or you'll only get half the points at the end of the game. Unfinished roads score the same. Unfinished monasteries score the same. The Abbots help out in the monastery department - a little - but the roads are the biggest issue. So, I looked into the 87,382 Carcassonne expansions and mini-expansions hoping to find something to increase road-building strategy and here it is in "Inns & Cathedrals", the FIRST Carcassonne expansion!The expansion doesn't give you a lot, some new tiles to shake up game play, and some Inns (which have lakes next to them) and two Cathedrals. Once a road piece with an Inn is placed, that road suddenly becomes worth 2 points per tile, instead of just 1. BUT, the road must now be finished, or it will score 0 at the end of the game. NOW it's important to not keep building that road to nowhere! Cathedrals aren't as important as Inns, but they do add some wrinkles. A Cathedral placed in the middle of a city makes that city worth 3 points per tile (and shield) instead of the usual 2 points. And, like roads, if a city with a Cathedral isn't finished, then no points are awarded for that city. These can become deadly late in the game if someone places a Cathedral in the middle of your town! Three points per tile is also something other players can't ignore, so Cathedrals can create more jockeying for ownership of a single city. Which is where the included Large Meeples come into play. Each Large Meeple is equal to two regular Meeples. So if a city is enclosed with 1 regular Meeple and one Large Meeple, the Large Meeple gets the points. (The game also comes with pink Meeples, meaning six people can now play.)I find "Inns & Cathedrals" pretty much completes my expansion needs for Carcassonne. Carcassonne is a good game for non-gamers, so if I keep adding expansions, then I'm making it more difficult on them. And making it more difficult to teach them. There are a few other mechanics out there that I would like to add, but with The River, The Abbot, Inns, Cathedrals, Monasteries, Large Meeples and the basic rules, there's already a lot to teach them.What's new:- Full set of pink meeples (abbott and large meeple included) for an extra player- 5 large meeples that count as 2 meeples instead of one (helps when someone tries to steal your points by jumping on your road/city/farm, your meeple counts as 2 instead of 1)- 18 land tiles - the inns and cathedrals are like a "double or nothing" tile - roads with an inn somewhere along its course become worth 2 points per tile, unless left incomplete at the end of the game, then they all are worth 0 points (multiple inns/cathedrals do not add up to increase the points). The city tiles become worth 3 points (coat of arms also become worth 3 points - so not quite double the points) when a cathedral is present within the city, or if left incomplete are worth 0 points. Tiles are marked with a small faint meeple shadow (same as on the front bottom left corner of the box as seen in the picture) so you can keep the expansions separate after playing. The marking is very discrete and does not draw attention to itself. In fact, it took several sweeps of the board to sort out all of the expansion tiles.- Six 50 and 100 point tiles for easier scoring (50 on one side, and 100 on the other side of the tile)I would recommend buying this expansion before any other expansions, as that is how it is meant to be (hence "expansion 1"). Amazon messed up and actually sent us traders and builders (#2) when we ordered inns and cathedrals (#1). We kept the 2nd expansion and played it without the 1st expansion (the base game is still required in both instances). It was doable and still fun, but the scoring tiles would have made it much easier to keep track of points, since you end up scoring a lot more points with the expansions. Also, the 2nd expansion included a pink builder and pink pig that was useless to us without the first expansion that includes the full pink set.I liked the added risk factor that the inns and cathedrals brought (double or nothing). After becoming familiar with playing the Carcassonne base game, there seems to be less and less strategy involved after each play and it leaves you wanting more. This expansion pack added a great new strategic dimension that revived the game for me. As a side note, it does take a bit longer to play with each expansion (since you are adding tiles to be drawn with each expansion). We usually only play with one of the expansions at a time, but if we have the time both expansions make it more intricate and fun with so much going on. I would definitely recommend this expansion if you are looking to take your Carcassonne game play to the next level!We usually play Carcassone as a two player game - especially now during lockdown! This expansion seems to add an extra dimension, especially to the two player game as there are three new ways to score:1) Adding a cathedral to your city increases its points hall by 50% (instead of being worth 2 points each tile is worth 3) but ONLY if the city is complete, otherwise it scores nothing. You can use if to inflate your own points or take the risk of using it to block your opponent from scoring.2) By adding an inn to the road you double the points (a 5 tile road being worth 10 points) but again - only if it is completed, otherwise it will be worth nothing3) Giant meeples give you the opportunity to steal field/cities off your opponent. Although you still can't put a meeple in a field/city that is already claimed you can use your giant meeple strategically, positioning it somewhere where it will join an established field, stealing all the points for yourself!There are also some new cards that add to play - a card with a garden in the centre surrounded by a city segment on each side being my personal favourite for big scoring.I was initially put off by the high price of this and put off buying it for a while but it was definitely worth it.This our 4th copy of Carcassonne. We’ve played it all over the world and love the game. We were very disappointed that the tiles of the main set and expansions don’t match so you can tell what’s coming next as you play. So the z man printers, designers, proofers or someone messed up. Z man response is provide a bag for ensuring blind choices of tiles. Very unsatisfactory. Jumbling the tiles in a bag wears them out (we can wear them out without the bag through regular use). Plus it’s hard to tell how many tiles are left during play. So l look forward to z man getting the production right when we need our next replacement.Anyone who is familiar with the game will find this expansion easy to incorporate but be warned cathedrals are a pain in the...It's a fun expansion which freshens up the game if you've played a fair few times! Inns act on roads and cathedrals increase the the value of your city - if you get it closed, if not say goodbye to ALL of those points and your meeple!The four star rating is probably more of a reflection on the people I play with rather than the expansion itself; sabotage aplenty! With more honorable opponents this could easily be five stars.Contains 18 extra cards which add more variation to the Carcassonne game than you might think. A cathedral increases your score if a city is completed but reduces your score if it isn't. Inns on the roads also change the scoring. An extra monastery has a road from both sides. Another set of Meeples (in pink) allows for 6 players though we have found playing with four slows the game enough. We play this game almost every night, the variety always makes it challenging and different. Highly recommendedThe expansion adds to the already fantastic base game of Carcassonne. Inns and Cathedrals adds further strategy, tiles, and playable pieces. It also enables 6 players to be able to play. The expansion create further repeatability.I thoroughly recommend this to anyone who is a fan of thr base game.