Following are the ten topics most characteristically mentioned about through the desert in over 2000 user ratings comments on BGG. Hopefully after 60 seconds you'll know if you want to chase more detail.

"THROUGH THE DESERT" IN TEN WORDS:
(Starting with most mentions above average...)
1. Camels / Caravan
2. Pastel / Colours
3. Strategy
4. Oasis
5. Depth
6. Dry
7. Simple
8. Scale
9. Abstract
10.Luck


RUNNER-UP TOPIC WORDS:
"Knizia", "Points" (score), "Easy to learn/teach", "Waterhole", "Candy", "Spouse", "Territory" / "Area Enclosure", "Samurai" (a game), "Love", "Decisions", "Placement"


CONTEXT:

1. CAMELS / CARAVAN
"adorable pastel camels"
"placements of the caravan leaders is crucial"
"common pool of camels"
"place two camels each round"
"extend your caravans"
"bonus points for longest caravans"

2. PASTEL / COLOURS
"dislike the pastel colors"
"a hard time telling the different camel colors apart"
"cool"
"confusion"
"pleasing"
"horrible"

3. STRATEGY
"plenty"
"lots"
"no luck"
"subtle"
"take a couple more plays"

4. OASIS
"get points reaching certain places in the board (water holes and oasis)"

5. DEPTH
"very deep"
"some depth"
"easy rules but great depth"

6. DRY
"indeed as dry and unthematic as people say"
"quite dry and prone to analysis paralysis"
"VERY dry, even for a Knizia game"

7. SIMPLE
"simple rules and simple concept"
"yet involves a good amount of strategy"
"simple rules, but so much to do"

8. SCALE
"scales very nicely from two to five"

9. ABSTRACT
"Yes, it is abstract."
"abstract that doesn’t, for me, feel like an abstract"

10. LUCK
"Zero luck -- all strategy."
"prefer games with at least a dollop of luck"


RULES COMPLEXITY SCORE:
11 to start a first game .. 17 to be ready to fully plan ahead
(Note: roughly speaking this is a concept count, not strategic complexity)

Compare:
Ra: 10 .. 14
Chess: 9 .. 12
Settlers of Catan: 12 .. 19
Puerto Rico: 20 .. 31
Ticket to Ride: 11 .. 11
Bohnanza: 9 .. 10
Carcassonne (H&G): 8 .. 11

The Rules Complexity numbers are simply a count of the number of distinct rule concepts you need to learn to participate in the game... the minimum set to get started and the full set to understand where you might be headed. This article includes a detailed discussion.

I hope you enjoy more "10 Word" reviews