Eh, you’re not missing much. Story time:

When building out my Carcassonne collection, I learned that The Catapult had not been rereleased in Version 2 artwork. Despite the overwhelmingly negative reviews (or perhaps because of them), the completionist in me was compelled to track down and purchase a copy through an online auction website.

After I made this purchase (but before it arrived), I became aware that all of the contents of The Catapult are included in a “5 in 1” expansion sold through an online retail service based in China. Not wanting to break the shrink wrap on my original copy of The Catapult, I ordered this “5 in 1” expansion which arrived a few months later.

While the box claims the manufacturer to be 999 Games, this is doubtful. The tiles are made from thinner cardboard, the tile surface is matte, and the printing is slightly blurred. Everything also smelled rather musty, as though it had been stored an a damp location for an extended period of time. Nonetheless, it contained The Catapult expansion in all its glory.

I played exactly one game with it, and can confirm that it is the worst Carcassonne expansion I have ever tried. The catapult is poorly designed and impossible to aim with any accuracy. It is possible that the knockoff catapult I used is significantly worse than the authentic catapult, but given that the design appears to be identical, I suspect that this is not the case. The dexterity element of catching tokens feels extremely out of place in a Carcassonne game. The expansion is fun to laugh at, but not fun to play, especially given that, in some ways, this was the most expensive game of Carcassonne I ever played.

TLDR: I spent way more than I should have on multiple copies of this stupid expansion and have played it only once. Would not recommend.