Carcassonne: Hunters & Gatherers (H&G) was the first stand alone version (not an expansion) to be released after the original. The basic play is much the same as the original as players draw tiles and place them along with followers in order to score points. However I am happy to report that H&G is significantly different from other Carcassonne titles and manages to stand alone as a unique game in its own right.
In H&G, the theme involves the trials and tribulations of early man - basic survival. Forests have replaced the cities found in Carcassonne and completing a forest will earn 2 points per tile. However some forests contain a gold nugget. If any player places a tile to complete a forest containing a gold nugget, they will be allowed to draw a tile from a bonus set of tiles. These are quite powerful and offer either big scoring opportunities or the chance to alter the rules of the game in some way. This is a clever inclusion as it forces players to think carefully about completing their opponent's high scoring forests in return for a bonus tile. It works very well.
Rivers replace the traditional roads of Carcassonne and many of them are littered with fish. Completed rivers earn 1 point per river segment and for the number of fish in them. But there is also another twist here. As well as 5 followers, each player also starts with 2 huts. When placing a river tile, a hut can be placed instead of a follower, but only if no other hut is already present in the river system. At the games end the player with the most huts in a river system will score 1 point for every fish in the system. This means that players who control a river system will try to keep the river flowing and full of fish for the entire game, whilst other players will be trying to stop its growth or get a share of control by getting their huts into the river system!
Finally meadows replace the farms of Carcassonne. Meadows can contain deer, aurochs and mammoths and each is worth 2 points at the end of the game. But beware as fields can also contain tigers and each tiger will eliminate a deer in the same meadow. This allows players to cleverly place tiles to minimise the scoring of opponents. Like farms, meadows require that followers remain in place for the entire game. The player with the most followers in each meadow at the end of the game will score the points.

Carcassonne: Hunters & Gatherers is a pleasantly surprising experience as even experienced players of Carcassonne will find the game play pleasantly refreshing and different from the original. Most importantly, H&G offers more tension. With only 5 followers and the desire to control the high scoring meadows, the players are constantly feeling the pressure that comes with having too few resources. The inclusion of the bonus tile draw cleverly introduces elements that the original can only offer with the smaller expansions. The strength of H&G is that all of those difficult decisions have been included in the one stand alone box. H&G is an experience that many players will continue to come back to. Four and a half stone axes from me.