Better Than the Original Carcassonne
928169
The games take less time than the original Carcassonne and it is a cool variant. Instead of getting points for completed features you get goods like fish and clams. Then you use combinations of goods to purchase points. The game ends when the tiles are all gone and the person with the most points wins.
4346165
This is a better enhanced version than the original. The Graphics are much sharper now. The Sound is better but Chick Hearns and Stu lances voice will iritate you with the same catch phrases once you play this game like 5 times. The presentation is improved as the courts look much real and the nba players look more like the ones in reality. Overall, more funner than the first and a little harder. So many ways easy ways to score baskets in the first did not totally work in the second. Oh well, I guess that is one cool thing about improving the game.
3626379
Carcassonne is another great European style board game, like Ticket to Ride and Settlers of Catan. In Carcassonne, you build cites, roads, monasteries and fields, by placing meeples in them as knights, thieves (highwayman), monks, and farmers, respectively. You get various points along the way by placing tiles to create "Carcassonne", like when you have a city completely surrounded by walls, you get two points per tile that is part of that city, or when a monastery gets completely surrounded by tiles, you get one point for each tile of those tiles. These points are kept track of on a scoreboard that comes with it. "The River" is a great mini-expansion that leads to more possibilities at the beginning of the game.
We've played this game many times now, and each time is different, and... very entertaining!
306761
I was addicted to the first game, and found myself playing until the wee hours of the morning, so I was very excited about the sequel.  Although they had tried the other games carrying the "Puzzle Quest" name, they were far from fun.  This game makes some dramatic changes to the RPG portions of the game, allowing for a more interactive environment. There are some storyline elements which are quite weak, but overall the gameplay changes are all very good.  The core puzzle element, while still holding true to the formula, is actually a bit less fun and addictive than the original.  The overall speed and quality are just shy of what made the original a true pleasure.  The other additions to the game though more than make up for this slight detraction.  Overall it is a wonderfully fun experience, and yet I had to rate it with 3 stars for the overall game as you spend the majority of your time in the core puzzle element.  My only true negative on this game is the "loot" minigame which can be just a frustrating aspect after a long fought battle.
4609843
I will echo the other reviews here in that this is a fantastic extension to the base Settlers of Catan game. Its very exciting building ships across water towards other islands, moving the pirate as another way to stymie your opponents, and building on "gold" tiles, which when rolled gives you anything you want.

I won't go into minute differences, as those can be found on YouTube tutorials. Ill just say the big difference in Seafarers is that you can build ships with sheep and wood. This raises the value of sheep and wood to parity with wheat as the most valuable resource, in my opinion.

The Seafarers directions comes with 10 scenarios, a few of which are unique games in their own right. There is enough variety in these scenarios to keep you engaged for hours on end. It took us 4 nights of playing just to play every scenario once. Most scenarios have unique set-ups for 3 players or 4 players.

Issues with the Seafarers 5th edition:

 - The tiles do not fit together perfectly with our base game tiles. I think this is because we got the base game, Settlers of Catan, in 2014 before it was rebranded to just Catan.

 - Seafarers takes a long time to set up. Unlike the base game, you cant just put the frame pieces together and scatter the tiles randomly. You pretty much have to stick to the scenarios to ensure a good resource/number distribution. This means counting out water/land tiles and numbers and seeing where each is supposed to go.

 - Make sure the Seafarers pieces go back in the Seafarers box, and that the base game pieces go back in the base game box. In the Seafarers 5th edition, the number pieces range in font size. Thats different than our base game number pieces (again, which we got before the rebranding), so thats how we tell them apart. I don't know what the rebranded Catan base game number pieces look like. Hopefully the manufacturer kept the base game number piece design to help differentiate it from the expansion number pieces.

Bottom line, if you're a Settlers of Catan fanatic but its starting to lose its novelty, Seafarers is a delightful way to enliven the game with more features and unique scenarios.
938921
I've played Yahtzee since ever since I was old enough to count the dice. When Triple Yahtzee came along in the 70s, we switched to that and have played it ever since. Going back to regular Yahtzee felt like you were giving up too many facets of the game. Power Yahtzee does the same thing to Triple Yahtzee. I can't imagine going back to either of the others now that I've played this one. The Bonus Die really adds a lot of strategy to the game and the play is faster and less tedious. It also is less obvious who will win. With Triple Yahtzee, it is sometimes clear early on who will win and then it's just a slog to the inevitable finish. I find Power Yahtzee to be much more fun and interesting. Great game!
1982379
If you are an RPG fan tired to death of standard RPG battle strategies (active-time, real-time, too much time, no time), try this game. You LOOK FORWARD to battling. The storyline is a little darker than the original Legend of Legaia, but the graphics are good, and the wit still present. They removed many of the things that were annoying about the first Legaia (took so long to walk across the map to the next level; paid you very little money for very expensive shops). The one unfortunate loss is the progressive changes in costume/armor appearances from Legend of Legaia - however, weapons do change appearance. The new game is MUCH more puzzle intensive than the original. What really makes the Legaia series so much fun is the unique battle system, and creating entirely new and better moves from different combinations.
2835353
My oldest had the original Hungry Hungry Hippos game, I remember it being loud, a pain in the neck, marbles always being lost and it ended up in the garbage. When  my youngest now asked for it, I tried this version. It is small and only 2 players, but much less noise, much better made and the clear dome means no more losing our marbles. I'm pretty happy with it, though quite honestly the game gets pretty boring (even the original bigger version). I think it will be good for road trips though.
322865
This game is much easier to learn than the original. the beginning levels let you win while learning the ropes. The only real issue I had was it will not let you play using an image. I use Alcohol 120% to creat images of my games to prevent the CD's from getting scratched up when I switch them out over and over. The Securom antipiracy programming prevents this, so you cant make a backup of the original or play with an image.
4286155
Love the original boss monster and got the expansion because we had played the original so much. This just added a couple extra things that made it more fun, but also a bit more complex, especially for first timers. Super fun if you love the original and want to get beyond the original rules and characters. I never like when an expansion says that you need to use your own stuff (like chips or counters) though...
3444314
This version has more complex rules than original. I like the original Sorry better because of its simplicity. This one has you bumping other tokens or doing other things against other opponents.
1653373
The new tiles, events, and rules all expand the gameplay to give more variety and unpredictability to a game. I would reccomend this for people who are already used to the base game. The new haunts are hit or miss. Out of 5 haunts, 4 were confusing in parts and left holes in the rules. Some of the new haunts don't fit the theme of the board game. They play more like fan fiction. The expansion is absolutely worth the price. If you come across a bad haunt, just pick a random one from the original.
3583185
If you liked the 1st game, this will be more of the same with a few new twists.  The puzzles and dreams have replaced the collector cards.  You can mine with the dwarfs and use those stones as forms of payment in some areas.  The caf is back, now with a stage and dance party.  There is a lot of re-doing quests to get items you need, which becomes a bit tedious, but none of them take more than 15 minutes.  Your fishing rod doesn't scare away fish if you cast right on a fish, that's an improvement!  I'm nearing completion and it's still holding my interest, but I don't see myself playing it again.  It has been a pretty fun 50+ hours though, not bad for the price.  And it's something my 5 year old daughter can help with.  She's in charge of fashion and dreams, I'm in charge of farming and quests.
682765
Carcassone is a great game for groups who like strategy games! The tile and game piece placement combination allows for a wide variety of different strategies and the plethora of expansions keeps the game new each time.
3719419
I LOVE this game.  Having played the original, I was worried this version might have lost something since it switched companies.

It didn't.  It only added more features.
I really like the additional stats, they make sense and are easier to use than some of the old rules.

I'm not a big fan of the tuner cars rules, but my kids love them, and if it gets them interested, more the better!!

I also love the stat markers. Much, much better than the old ones.

I can't wait to get more tracks.
291059
A great expansion to the original Settlers of Catan game. Adds more depth and complexity for those who seek more out of this series. You can combine this expansion with the Seafarer's Expansion for some of the maps and that also makes it more complex (which is more fun for me). For those who want more out of their game, they should buy this expansion. However, it does add to the play time significantly so be prepared for that. The pieces are still well made and the game comes with stickers that you have put on. If you've never played Catan, I would definitely recommend playing the base game a good amount of times and this is an expansion I will only bring out when everyone has played the base game before.
3936322
I had a previous version of Acquire years ago when the tiles and tile holders were plastic and the overall construction of the game was better. Even though the game now is all cardboard, it is still one of the most fun to play. Highly recommended!