The Tower is the first and only Carcassonne expansion hate. It casts a sadness across the landscape that not even diving into a swimming pool full of kittens and superballs can cure. However, it is far from the lowest-rated expansion on BGG, so I wonder if it's just me. Here's my review as a way to help me explore and cope with all this hate.

(Note on the ratings: The Quality score is based on the impartial, logical side of my brain. The Hate Factor speaks for itself. A Hate Factor of "1" is a mild, almost amusing annoyance like that time a gnat flew in my eye and didn't come out until 2 hours later. A Hate Factor of "10" is the equivalent of having someone misusing apostrophes while feeding me sun-dried tomatoes.)


Components:
The Tower comes packaged in a box slightly longer than the standard large expansions. It includes the attractive titular tower for drawing tiles. Also included are 30 wooden tower pieces designed for sturdy stacking, as well as creating a meeple steeple at the top. Also included are 18 new tiles, each with a tower base on the artwork.
Quality: 8/10

The long box makes this set a pain in the butt to organize on a shelf and look good. My OCD is in conflict between my desire to put the expansions in order of box size versus my need to have them in the order of their release. The Tower tile holder is totally useless to me since I prefer using the Traders and Builders drawbag instead. Since the Tower is the reason for the long box, I hate it even more. The tiles curry my favor however. Since each is clearly marked with a tower base, they're quite easy to spot during clean-up.
Hate Factor: 5/10


Rules/Gameplay:
The rules are about as easy to learn as they come. Tower pieces can be played in the place of a meeple and used to kidnap other meeples, which can then be bought back with a ransom of points or even hostage exchange. Meeples can also be placed at the top of a tower (a "meeple steeple") and permanently discontinue further building of that tower.

There is a lot of interesting planning involved with the Tower. Since a tower tile could be drawn and built upon at any time, you can't plan as far ahead as you normally would, forcing you to plan for the worst. If anything, this adds a sense of immediate strategy not found in other sets.

Perhaps this new random element is too random though. It can be frustrating for a player to lose the meeple he just played, particularly in 3-6 player games where someone else can immediately take over that feature on a tile out of the tower's range.

Overall, The Tower is a bit shallow for a big expansion and leaves something to be desired.
Quality: 6/10

The rules include words like "orthogonal" which make me feel smart because I know them without looking them up. Plus, Carc jargon like "meeple steeple" always puts a smile to my face. These are about the only good things I have to say about the Tower.

The random element is nerve-wracking. While Carcassonne has always had a lucky draw element, The Tower makes it feel like you get hit with multiple poker-esque bad beats, especially in multiplayer games where a mega-farmer far out of range is suddenly kidnapped by 5 colluding opponents. Worse yet, in every case I've tried to kidnap an opponent's meeple, they draw a tile that allow them to retake the feature with no further repercussion. All I get out of the deal is one less tower piece and a lost turn.

Nobody enjoys playing the tower. It just makes people angry at each other and beg for the game to end. I can even think of a few people who would rather watch the ABC Network's Friday night lineup than play with the expansion again.
Hate Factor: 8/10 (10 - 2 points for "orthogonal" and "meeple steeple")


Expansion Interaction:
The Tower is enhanced by playing with as many expansions as possible. Since the entire expansion is 18 tower base tiles, playing with the base set alone causes a tower base draw 1 in every 5-6 tiles. Meeples have a real hard time staying on the board this way. Playing a gigantic game of Carcassonne keeps this element far more balanced.

When the Princess and Dragon is added, there will no doubt be disputes over the dragon's appetite where towers and meeple steeples are concerned. Thankfully, HiG has all the answers right here on BGG.
Quality (no extra expansions): 5/10
Quality (played with 1 or more expansions): 7/10

Have you ever played a game of Carcassonne with all the expansions at once? It never, ever ends. I've coerced my fiancee into a few of these and she's loved me less every time we do. In fact, we stopped playing Carcassonne for months because of this and only got back into it when Abbey & Mayor came out. I guess this gripe doesn't have all that much to do with The Tower but with Carcassonne as a whole.
Hate Factor (no extra expansions): 7/10
Hate Factor (played with 1 or more expansions): 6.5/10


Overall:
The Tower provides some interesting, albeit too-random elements into Carcassonne and should be, at best, a tad likable with those who love a bit of evil injected into their games.
Quality (not an average): 5/10

It's safe to say I still hate this expansion. I think I hate it enough to become the guy who would complain about it every time someone else suggests it. I really don't want that, but The Tower drove me to it.
Hate Factor (not an average): 7.5/10