by: Dakota Grabowski

July 26, 2007

The Xbox Live Arcade platform for Microsoft has been hot and cold since its inauguration on the Xbox 360. As of late though, Microsoft has hit homeruns every Wednesday and one of the better releases of the year so far has been Catan. Catan, the first of its kind, is a classic board game on the Xbox Live Arcade. Based on the German board game, Settles of Catan, the game is a faithful adaptation.

The concept of Catan is to manage resources correctly, plan ahead for expansion, and outwit the other players. It’s not boring by any means; the game picks up pace as players learn how to strategically play the game. What’s even better is that the game doesn’t take too long to pick up and understand the rules of the game. Only after a few games, players will know how to play with among the best players in the world – it’s that simple.

The rules of Catan are quite simple -- for one, the game plays out on a giant board that is separated by several numbered grids. Those numbers actually represent the number that is rolled on the dice each turn. Each grid also has one of the five resources attached to it. The resources include: lumber, wool, wheat, ore, and brick. The idea of the game is to build settlements, roads, and cities. Another important aspect is to collect development cards to turn the tide of the game. Never mind the slow pacing, which is the nature of the game, but instead embrace the tactical thinking that has to go into playing Catan. Players that think ahead and use their cards at the right time will be rewarded with better results.

The goal of the game is to be the first to reach 10 points. Players must build those aforementioned items to earn points within Catan. An example would be to build the longest road or build a city. The development cards also help provide points in the game, such as using three soldier cards for the largest army merit. There are many methods to gain points; it’s up to the player to figure out which is the best.

Players are encouraged to trade resources and barter with other players. This is where the strategy lies – players will play hardball if others are close to reaching victory, while others will give a leg and an arm for one brick resource. The resources are used to build roads, cities and settlements, so having enough of one is essential to gaining the next upgrade.

A lot of the strategy in Catan is common sense. Building roads in the right direction, trading with the right person, managing your development cards correctly, and even understanding the point system all helps out in the long run. If players can think ahead of what they are about to do and what they want to accomplish, they’ll end fit nicely into the Catan community of elite players.

In terms of gameplay, Catan offers both single-player and online multiplayer modes. Online is definitely the route to gain the best experience with Catan. The computer A.I. isn’t ignorant, but sometimes they’ll trade unknowingly with a player too close to victory. They often traded with me when I was nearing 10 points and aided me into the winner’s circle.

The only negative about Catan is that matches could take up to an hour if players wanted to stretch it out. The more fast-paced games run around twenty minutes with the best talent in the game. But be aware of the time consumption that Catan asks for – before you know it, an hour has almost past.

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Catan isn't going to be liked by everyone. It may turn off casual games because it looks too complicated -- the truth is: it's not difficult at all. I recommend Catan to every board game fanatic out there. This will be occupying a lot of my free time in between reviews.

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