The Definition of an Expansion

[Whaleyland]

I basically am in charge of updating the wiki page for the Carcassonne series on BoardGameGeek and the issues has come up recently: what is an expansion? It may seem obvious, but Hans im Glueck has certainly not made it as clearcut as many games.

Let's begin with The Cult. The Cult released originally with the Count, King & Consort expansion (#6) which was itself a composite of three old expansions and a new one. The symbol on these tiles is a crown. Almost simultaneously, Spielbox released The Cult as a stand-alone promo, with a pentagon symbol on the tiles. Then a few months later, Rio Grande Games released Cult, Siege & Creativity, a "mini-expansion" that really combined a remake of The Cathars with a six-tile version of The Cult (which originally only had five tiles). Are these three separate expansions? They have separate symbols (or lack thereof) and the RGG version even has an extra tile.

Moving on to the most complex of the expansions, The Cathars. This was released twice initially, once in a standard Spielbox issue and once in a promotional Hans im Glueck almanac. Many years later, Rio Grande finally released a variant version of it called The Siege (included in Cult, Siege & Creativity) with new art but almost the same rules. Now, Hans im Glueck has released a version with helmet icons, new artwork, and two additional tiles. Are these three different expansions or are they all really just the same?

Then we get to the compilations. Both have already been mentioned. Cult, Siege & Creativity was a Rio Grande attempt to bring into production two otherwise unobtainable in English expansions: Cathars and Cult. Does this count as a single expansion or as two expansions packages in one box? Similarly, Count, King & Consort was released by Hans im Glueck as their sixth expansion but really just repackaged River II, King & Robber (but not Scout), and Count of Carcassonne, with a new expansion: The Cult. It wasn't released in English except as a part of the Big Box 2, where it was titled Count, King & Cult. Then Z-Man released it finally as a stand-alone under the name Count, King & Robber. So are the original mini expansions still expansions? Is the big expansion still truly an expansion (it has a number)? What is the status of all these different entities?

Disclaimer: This is purely a rhetorical conversation asking for opinions. No final answer is expected.

Linkback: https://www.carcassonnecentral.com/community/index.php?topic=718.0

[kettlefish]

I regular use the HiG - Carcassonne - Homepage.

- Base Game Carcassonne
- expansions (1.-9.)
- mini expansions
- other Carcassonne Games
- Fan-expansions

[Whaleyland]

I regular use the HiG - Carcassonne - Homepage.

- Base Game Carcassonne
- expansions (1.-9.)
- mini expansions
- other Carcassonne Games
- Fan-expansions

So where does Wheel of Fortune fit? Expansion? "Other Carcassonne Games"? Are stand-alone versions of expansions included in #6 mini expansions or components?

[kettlefish]

At CarcF we decided some more:

- special editions
 There you can find the Jubilie Edition and the Wheel of Fortune for examples.

- Stand alone Carcassonne games

And at CarcF we splitt the minis:
- mini expansions (HiG)
- mini expansions (Spielbox and others)

I think what we use at CarcF is great.

[Scott]

As someone who has everything, I'm equally confused as how to best handle this.

I took a look at the wiki page, and the first thought I had was to separate the Spielbox expansions, which I've now done.

I wonder if we also need to separate promos, such as School, Windroses, and German Monasteries.

Speaking of Windroses, Spielbox released their own version, which makes me think it should be listed twice.

The GQ11 expansion seems out of place amongst the others. We could possibly add another RGG-exclusive section and list it there along with CS&C? (which is currently in the compilations section).

I feel like the "Special Editions" section needs to be redone as a cross-reference table showing which expansions are included with each special edition.

I think it's time to remove CK&C from the compilations section. If we also create an RGG-exclusive section as suggested two paragraphs up, the Finland thing could go to the Special Editions section and the compilations section could disappear.

South Seas and the Friday expansion appear to be completely absent from the wiki page. They should probably form the start of an "Around the World" sub-section (under Other Games?), since there will be more standalone games in that series.

In my mind, Wheel of Fortune is like the River, the Festival, and the Besiegers: you (normally) have to buy a complete copy of the game to get it. I think we should remove it from the "Other Games" section since it's not a different game from Carcassonne. If we're going to list it twice, let the second listing be in the Special Editions section?