Review - Catan

Xbox Live Arcade
New Release
$10

In this country, most grown-ups don’t play games, especially board games. Our culture tends to dismiss them as kiddie stuff, I guess because having fun is unseemly. As a result, most people have never heard of a German board game by the name of Settlers of Catan. However, within the boardgaming nerd community, there is a consensus that Catan is one of the best board games ever, right up there with Poker and Chess. And now, with the input of the original’s designer, Klaus Teuber, Big Huge Games has ported Settlers of Catan to Xbox Live Arcade, and the results are wonderful.

If you’ve never played the original game before, buy this game. Find either a copy of the original or download the Xbox Live game. This game just blows Parker Brother’s entire lineup out of the water. It takes about an hour to play, never lags, and doesn’t eliminate players. Furthermore, the board is built out of random hexagonal tiles, so it doesn't get dull because every game plays very differently. I won’t bore you with the specific mechanics, but trust me they are simple, clever, and very, very fun. I’ve shared this game with as many people as I have been able, and I have never found a person who didn’t enjoy it.

If you have played the original game, I assume you are a fan. And if you are a fan, this Xbox port is totally worth ten bucks. The interface is attractive and easy to navigate, and trading is a simple and elegant interface. There are 16 AI opponents, each with their own play style and they are good, competent opponents. Basically, if being able to play Settlers whenever you want, against either good AI or against players online sounds good to you, I assure you that it is well implemented in this game.

Keeping your cards secret is an important part of the game, and so the one thing you are unable to do with this version of Catan is play a game with people on the same Xbox. And since playing together with your friends is the best way to play Catan, this computerized game is not going to be as good as the physical version.

I’d like to think that this game will lead to a large mass of eager Xbox Live Arcade players buying the board game. And showing it to all their friends. And branching out into other games. I’d like to think that this game will single-handedly lead to a board game revolution in this country. It would be a fun revolution.