We really weren't certain what to expect, and the first game caused a great deal of confusion. However, everything seemed to click by the second game, even though we were using a different group of cards. While we are still working our way through the different possibilities, this has quickly become one of our favorite games.
One of the amazing aspects of the game is just how many variations of play there can be, and that's just with the base set. Not only is there the expansion that came with our set, but there are apparently about a dozen others which--according to various sites online--have a wide range of complexity that they might add to the game.
The game is played by everyone starting with their own individual base deck made of the same cards. Players then slowly use their deck to buy other cards to add to their deck that allow them to perform different actions, by even more cards, and accumulate enough victory points to win the game. Once we got the concepts down, each game seemed to take between half an hour and forty-five minutes, making it possible to get in multiple games.
Although recommended for ages 14 and above, even Rowen was enjoying the game. He is still working at how to use various cards in conjunction with one another, but he caught on to the basic idea pretty quickly. Connor, who often avoids our board game playing and initially had to be "dragged" to the table, seemed to enjoy the game as we kept playing.
I look forward to seeing how the cards we haven't used yet change the gameplay. It looks like we will be playing this game for a while.