Catan (0)

Platform

N-Gage Xbox 360 Games Store PlayStation Network (PS3) PC iPhone iPad Android

Developer

Big Huge Games Capcom

Publisher

Big Huge Games Capcom

Theme

Catan

Franchise

Catan

Aliases

Settlers of Catan

Overview

Catan, based on the popular board game "Settlers of Catan," is a game of production, trading, and building in which players compete to develop the most successful colony on the island. Catan is a video game adaptation of the popular German board game The Settlers of Catan, designed by Klaus Teuber. The original board game was released in 1995, and has won many awards, including the German Game of the Year award. Klaus Teuber himself collaborated with the developers of the release closely, designing the AI and suggesting that card limitations be removed from the XBLA this version.

The first videogame adaption of Catan was released on the in November of 2005 and was developed by . New characters were designed for the game by popular japanese character artist Susumu Matsushita. In addition to featuring both online and bluetooth multiplayer, the game featured a robust single player mode that allowed players to play against unique characters and/or play in objective-based matches.

Gameplay

The object of this game is to obtain 10 victory points by building structures such as roads, settlements, and cities as well as through the acquisition of development cards. Each player starts off with two individually-placed settlements which are adjacent to three hexes, each with a resource and a number. On each player's turn, he or she rolls the dice, and every player who has a settlement adjacent to a resource hex with that number on it gets one of that resource. The player then can trade however much he or she wants with the other players (as well as with the bank), and build as much as he or she wants. When that player is finished, the next player rolls the dice, and so on. Each settlement is worth one point, each city (which replaces a settlement) is worth two points, and various special cards (such as the Longest Road card) give you point bonuses. The game ends as soon as one player reaches 10 victory points, regardless of whose turn it is.

XBLA

The XBLA release of Catan allows for single player vs AI opponents or 2-4 players multiplayer over Xbox Live. There is no Local Multiplayer option.

There are two DLC components added to the game: 'Mayfair' , which only alters the appearance of the game without changing the gameplay, and 'Generals', which adds additional AI opponents.

Expansions

There are a few expansion possibilities for this game based on the actual boardgame. Most notable are Cities and Knights of Catan, Seafarers of Catan, and expansions that allow 5-6 players instead of just 3-4. The developers of the arcade game have stated that they may consider adding these expansions based on the sales of Catan.