I strongly prefer this over Carcassonne. It plays faster (I don't want a tile laying game to go for more than 30 mins or so) and I happen to like the limited options. Carcassonne just gets on my nerves because I just don't view selecting between so many placement options to be that interesting. Obviously, YMMV. Ditto the previous statement, it's different than Carcassonne. And that's why I like it.