The little wooden men you use to play the game are called "Meeples". Here we see a small family of meeples. From left to right, there is a Pig, a Regular Meeple, a Giant Meeple, and a Builder Meeple.
The core game comes only with 8 "Regular" meeples in 5 different colors, so that up to 5 people can play. With the "Inns and Cathedrals" expansion, everyone also gets one "Giant" meeple. Also, you get a complete set of meeples in Gray, so that up to 6 people can play. The "Traders and Builders" expansion provides everyone with a Pig and Builder meeple.
Regular and Giant meeples are used to take ownership of cities, roads, cloisters (churches) or fields. When a city, road or cloister is completed, the person with the most Meeples on it gets the points (or for a tie, all people in the tie get the points). The Giant meeple counts for 2 Regular meeples.
The Builder meeple can be placed on a city or road that you are building, and allow you to take a second turn if the tile you place extends the road or city that they are on.
The Pig meeple is used to add extra value to Farms (the most confusing aspect of Carcassonne). We'll go into more detail on them later.
The important thing to remember is that the number of Meeples that you have is limited. Once played, you don't get a meeple back until the city, road or cloister it is placed on is completed. This is one of the more strategic elements of the game.
