I bought this game for my brother's birthday just because it was a spiel des jahres winner. But we just left in the box for a while and didn't finally play it until the town got blasted with a snowstorm and there was nothing to do. We had no idea how to play the game at first, and it took a few games before any kind of strategies emerged. But then someone did some chaining with the villiage and we started to understand the concept of "building an engine". Got addicted to the game quickly after that! Love the whole series. My favorite game, for sure!