The whole process is pretty simple. You have to place the tile where it 'fits'; roads have to connect to roads, city walls must join other city walls. You only score points for completed objects if your follower is on it, but you only have so many followers to work with. This is where the strategy comes into play. When placing tiles, you have to think not only of where it best benefits you, but where you could place it such that it blocks your opponents. On that some token, you must balance the desire to build large objects for many points and quickly finishing one in order to get your follower back. You still earn points at the end of the game for unfinished structures, but not as many as if they are completed.

The basic game, as described above, is pretty simple. If you want a little more, Carcassonne has TONS of expansions. Each one adds something different. They all add different tiles, including new types of tiles and rules regarding how they are scored. Some, like Princess & Dragon, introduce new wooden 'meeples', like the big dragon in that expansion. Any expansion can be played with or without the others, so you can mix and match your favorite variations to make your own Carcassonne experience. And if you want all the most popular expansions, you can always get the Carcassonne Big Box 2, which has the base game and a half dozen of its expansions.

In addition to all the expansions, there are several Carcassonne spinoffs. Carcassonne: Hunters and Gatherers is a stone age-themed version with some gameplay differences. New Age: A Carcassonne game is set in America as the first settlers are pushing westward, and contains mechanics to reflect this movement. And released earlier this week is Kids of Carcassonne.

Kids of Carcassonne is a simplified version of the game that is more approachable for young children. Unlike the original, the tiles have roads that go to all 4 sides, so tiles can be placed anywhere and still match. Players still have followers, but instead of placing them when they put down a tile, they place them when a road is completed. On each tile is an image of one or two children wearing the colors of one of the players. When a road is completed, followers are placed on top of like-colored children on that road. So there is still some element of strategy when placing tiles, as you wouldn't want to complete a road that gives your opponents points, but the depth of the thinking is not so much as to confuse a child.

It seems Kids of Carcassonne is the perfect way to introduce a young kid to these kinds of games. Because of the similar mechanics of the game, once they're old enough they can transition easily to basic Carcassonne, and maybe even start adding in expansions. With this addition, now there really is a Carcassonne game for all ages!