The Bottom Line
Pros
- Fun and addictive strategy game
- Nice presentation
- 4-player over Xbox Live
- Great tutorial
Cons
- Very slow paced
- Won't appeal to everyone - try the demo
Description
- Gameplay is easy to learn, but offers a lot of depth.
- Graphics and sound are simple, but effective.
- Games can take 30-45 minutes vs the CPU and over an hour against human opponents.
- Try the demo. Catan is slowly paced, and requires you to think well ahead, so it isn't for everyone.
- The "Learn As You Play" tutorial is excellent.
Guide Review - Catan (XBLA)
Catan is a game of resource management and strategy that seems complex at first, but you learn the basics on your first time through the excellent "Learn As You Play" tutorial. This is another one of those games that gets more fun the more you play it because you'll learn something new in every game you play. It just gets more and more satisfying and strategic and deep and is completely addictive.The game is played like this - The board is split into a bunch of different sections, and each section represents a different resource. The resources are wool, brick, wood, wheat, and ore. Each section also has a number from 2-12 assigned to it. You start the game by placing two settlements on crossroads between sections, and you can earn resources from any of the sections your settlement is touching. Each player rolls the dice on their turn, and that number determines what resources are distributed. If you have a settlement next to a wood section with a number of 8, for example, you'll earn wood each time an 8 is rolled by anyone. You then use these resources to build roads, new settlements, upgrade your settlements to cities, or buy special cards that do things like let you build two roads for free or steal all of one type of resource from the other players. It might sound complex, but once you learn what you are doing Catan is amazing.
You have two boards to choose from, one simple style like the original board game, and one that features much more detail including little animated animals. The sound is simple, but works well.
Overall, Catan is a fun game that is very fun whether you are playing against the CPU or with three other humans over Xbox Live. Games can take from 30 minutes up to an hour, and the pace is somewhat slow, so it isn't for everyone. Try the demo before you buy to make sure it is right for you.
