I picked this game to play because my husband and I are fans of the television show. I have not read the books yet. So I wanted to see how this game was. I read others thoughts on this game. I do have to agree that if you have never played a living card game before than it will take a lot of patience to learn all of the rules. You will probably have to refer to them many times through out the play of the game to remember what step is next. Or you could go watch this video by the makers of this game on Youtube titled "A Game of Thrones: The Card Game Second Edition Tutorial" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A1s54Wlgfyo