Catan

Dang… no reviews, no free codes… wondering where I’ve been the past couple of days? I’ve been parked on the couch playing Catan! Seriously, this game is addictive if you’re a strategic board game weirdo like me.

Catan, aka Settlers of Catan, has been around for a long time in various forms. I first played the board game version about five years ago and I’d completely forgotten how to play it, but USM’s iPhone Catan did a nice job of refreshing my memory. If you’re new to the game it might look overwhelming, but if you go through the in-game tutorials you shouldn’t have any trouble picking it up.

The basic gist is that you need to be the first one to collect a predetermined number of 8-12 Victory Points, and those points are earned by doing stuff like building towns, cities, and constructing the longest continuous road. In order to do these things, you’ll need to collect resources, trade with other players, and make strategic use of the game’s Development Cards. Again, it might sound complicated but once you get into it this is a really fun game!

Catan allows for up to four players, and you can play against computer players or against your friends, or a combination of both. A friend of mine who’s played a PC release of Catan commented that the action in this game is relatively slow, but this is the kind of game that could take an hour or more to finish so you really shouldn’t be in a big hurry to begin with. The game will let you save it for later and it will also autosave if you quit the app or get a call, so you can still play it in short spurts, but if you’re really into it chances are you’ll make the time to play through to the end. It really is pretty engrossing, especially if you’re kicking ass.

If you’re already a fan of Settlers of Catan, this game should be everything you want it to be: great graphics, great sound, and the gameplay is true to the original set of rules. Setting up your initial colonies is done in snaking order (the person who gets first pick also has to pick last for the second colony), and you can trade with each other as well as the bank.

Catan noobs will be glad to see a full set of tutorials as well as a glossary of terms to get you up to speed on everything you need to know to rule the island. There are some judgment skills you’ll need to pick up along the way but, trust me, you’ll be an old pro after playing through one complete game.

A couple of improvements I’d really like to see are a game speed option (game speed is there! I just missed it) and also a better place for the “pass dice” button! There have been several times when I’ve meant to make a trade offer but I accidentally hit the button that passes the dice to the next player. Bummer.

Obviously I love this game and totally recommend it to board game nuts! $5 might be more than you’re used to paying for apps, but this one is worth it.

iTunes Link – Catan
Version 1.1
Reviewed on iPhone 3G OS3.1.2