Name: Catan
Price: $40-50
Gameplay Time: 45 min-1hr 30min
Number of Players: 2-4 (6 with the expansion)
Product Owner: Catan Studios
Rating: 9/10
Pros:
- Great for Kids
- Extremely Replayable
- Customizable/Randomizable Board
- Expansions Allow for New Experiences
- Easy to Learn
- Easy Setup
Cons:
- Strategy is Rather Shallow
- Win-Condition Seems Abrupt at Times
- Element of Randomness High
Overview
Hey! Brian here.
Catan is a game I’ve been playing for years at this point. I think it’s a very solid game overall due to it’s replayability. In this review, I’m going to go over why this game might be a good fit for you, or perhaps it may not exactly be what you’re looking for.
Gameplay
In Catan, all the players are playing as leaders of groups of settlers. Each player picks a color, then you start setting up the board. The rulebook has a default gameboard you can build for your first game that allows for balanced gameplay. After this, the players take turns placing their starting settlements to build from. There are certain achievements players can gain, and these help players get ahead of their competitors. You can find out more about the rules through our how-to guide here.
Pros
If You Have Kids, This is an Excellent Game
Kids really love the imagery this game has to offer. Having a 10 year old boy sit down and play a board game is not the easiest thing to do in the world, and this game definitely has the ability to do that. I had a game night one time where I was with some of my friends’ families. Well, one of them has an 11 year old boy that can’t sit still. I brought Catan, and after a quick set up, we had a game that lasted about 45 minutes. He sat still and played the entire time. His mother was shocked at how uncharacteristically calm and collected he was. He loved it, and they want me to bring it again to our next game night.
Replayability is Near Infinite
Catan is a game you can play thousands of games of and find new situations in. The way the game is set up makes for a gameplay experience that can be enjoyed countless times. This leads me to my next point.
The Board is Customizable, and Allows for Randomization
To add to the replayability of the game, you can find or build custom boards to your liking, or you can also randomize the board. This can allow for some crazy situations. If you are looking for a board game that allows for customization of the board, Catan is an extremely solid choice. To be honest, this is the only way I play Catan anymore, unless I’m introducing someone to the game.
Catan has Several Expansions
For further replayability, Catan Studios has made several expansions to the base game. I won’t go into too much detail here, as all of them deserve their separate reviews. I would also recommend just getting the base game first and trying it out. They do several mechanic changes, like expanding the number of players to 6.
This Game is Simple, and Easy to Pick Up
Catan is truly a game you can learn from your first time playing. With its high replayability, for a small time investment to learn the game you get a game you can enjoy for many hours with friends and family.
With Simplicity Comes Simple Set-up
Let’s face it: setting up and putting away board games is the worst part of playing them. Any game that doesn’t take a long time to set up has a point for it in that regard. Even if you aren’t familiar with the game, the instructions give great set-up instructions that make it as painless as possible.
Cons
As Far As Strategic Value Goes, There is Better
If you are looking for a game that you want to play for the sheer strategy, Catan isn’t the game for you. With the game’s mechanics, this game is great for teaching children basic strategy concepts, but it isn’t good for much more than that. The simple victory point mechanic from building your civilization doesn’t allow for diverse strategies.
With the Mechanics of the Game, Victory Seems Abrupt
If you want to have a game that doesn’t end suddenly, Catan may not be the game for you. You win when you get 10 victory points. It is not unheard of to have someone start one of their turns at 6 victory points, and through a series of events win the game on the spot. Sure, you can argue this allows for more strategic depth, as you have to analyze your opponents resources to determine what they can do on their turn. My counter argument is simply the same goes for your opponents toward yourself. If everyone knows what everyone can do on their turn, it makes counter-play problematic with everybody trying to thwart their opponent’s plans usually to no avail.
The Elephant of Randomness
Catan‘s main mechanic is you roll two six-sided dice at the beginning of your turn. From the result, all players gain resources based on the terrain marked with a number. If you roll a seven, everybody above 8 resources lose half of them, then you move the robber and steal from an opponent. Seven is the most common result on two six-sided dice (this is by design,) therefore it encourages people to spend their resources. The problem with this design is simple: you can try to cheat luck and hoard resources. This isn’t a good strategy usually. However, when it works it can grant an overwhelming advantage to a player.
To add to this, some spaces have a 2 or a 12 on them. These are objectively the worst tiles on the board usually. There have been some games I’ve played where a player has both the 2 and the 12 spaces, and those spaces strongly overproduce. Each of them should have a 1 in 36 chance of being rolled, thus in a 4-player game it should be rolled once every 9 full turns on average. This rarely is how it happens in practice due to the nature of randomness.
There’s more. The game features a deck of cards (called development cards.) These cards can be bought with 3 specific resources, and they allow for some rather nice effects. The effects range in value, from either simply moving the robber (like if you rolled a 7, but not quite the same,) to giving you a victory point. These development cards vary wildly on their usefulness, and you may be looking to get a development card only to get the wrong one for your situation.
Conclusion
To conclude this review, Catan is a great game. With near infinite replayability, and how it can engage people of ages 10 and up, it is a solid choice for a board game. I really love how it is great for teaching children to think on their proverbial toes. It gets a solid 9/10 from me.
Anyway there’s my long-winded review of Catan. If you decide to purchase it, I hope you enjoy it every bit as much as I still do. If you decided you would like to give it a try, you can buy it through Amazon here.