It's Time to Say Goodbye to Catan (and say hello to three other games)
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- Опубликовано: 30 сен 2024
- #boardgames #review #catan
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Review copies for Castles of Tuscany and Anno 1800 provided by their respective publishers.
Music by: Elaine Bladukienė
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This video is sponsored by Skillshare. The first 1000 people to use this link will get a free trial of Skillshare Premium Membership: skl.sh/nopunincluded11201
Exelent video. You have a talent for explaining things, i enjoyed your video. (This are 3 interesting games, Anno is a game for me.)
1: New games are awesome so when covid 9 is over i will buy new board games.
2: You need the catan big box for 2 players. It has cards and 9 expansions and those make it a awesome game.
After watchin, made my decision - its time to buy Catan!
I too love Catan👍
😅😅😅🤭
Do yourself a favour, buy Concordia. Scratches a similar itch but is superior in every way.
@@oceanblue5595the main issue with catan is if you randomise the tiles (which you will to create different games) the first player might get a single point, near a prefect port, the you all know means they've won before you play.
The game also creates a runaway win. As soon as someone gets a lead they'll get more resources and get better faster. The exact opposite of a catch-up mechanic.
It was my first "new" style game but now never gets played. 😢
@@knightshade4330that's where the robber comes in.
Did anyone else's eyes twitch when they saw two settlements right next to each other on his Catan board?
Yes!
You shouldn't care about a dead game's rules.
@@lutethearrow6605 Maybe, but what you and the youtuber fail to realize, is that those three games do each component of Catan better, but Catan does all three well. So it's not dead, not by a long shot.
The Orange settlement on its side bugged me.
@@jorgedasilva7665 My thoughts exactly, Catan does many things very well while other games focus on one of the many things Catan does very well. Only to do the one thing much better. This doesn't make them better, because Catan offers many experiences when another game only gives one experience. That's my thoughts on it.
"Punishment With Squares" ... sounds like this could be a board game.
"You could make a religion outta thi-"
"No, don't."
Oh, you should do this with other games like Carcassonne and Ticket to Ride.
Nothing can replace Carcassonne! :P
and dominion
Amen! I'd love to see a show like that and dominion.
@@dani.meisner To each their own, but I feel that the expansions upon expansions of Dominion make it much more interesting
I don’t like Ticket to Ride, but if you want a light, fast, family friendly game I don’t think there’s anything that definitely replaces it.
Is it weird this video made me appreciate Catan even more so? It is a classic game that blends together very well, is fun and has good amounts of strategy, luck, planning, and interaction.
It's not weird at all! You know what you like, and that's the important part.
@@NoPunIncluded Which is a really nice way of saying: "Yes, and you're wrong!" :D For what it's worth, I love Catan too!
The problem with Catan is that you have to play with the right types. If you play with people who refuse to trade or that don't care for games that don't provide players with a "final round" the experience can be quite rubbish.
Personally I can see why it's popular and I can see good game hiding there, I just don't have the right group to play with so Catan is a hard pass for us.
@@ClockworkWyrm I can honestly say in years of Catan games with many different people I've never had this problem.
@@ClockworkWyrm The "only trade with friends you most often game with" is a killer. Catan suffers from couples syndrome. This is where a couple consider themselves to win if either of the couple wins, so they help themselves constantly in competitive games where there can be only one winner. This is an immediate disadvantage for every other player at the table. "I don't want to help anyone else at the table but my friend/lover" means a key element of the Catan game falls apart. If the other two players don't notice this from turn 1 they are already 1+ turns behind.
“Sorry for the soup puns, I forgot to stock up on any other ones” I cannot tell if this was intentional or not, but it got a giggle out of me
It absolutely was. And I also giggled.
Definitely intentional and smart 😂
It's time to say goodbye! But if there is kickstarter edition with 3d printed tiles and little wooden sheep then I might change my mind...
Never expected an HBomberguy-Cameo here
They're British, everyone in Britain knows him. Legally.
A pleasant surprise😀
hbomberguy video bomb
I feel like Catan is unable to adapt; it’s status as the old reliable gateway game means people expect it to always be there, consistent and unchanging. I’d love to see where it could go if it went the Iwari route, but with so many great games coming out all the time, I’m happy for Catan to stay with its outdated roots. Great video to help people find alternatives.
Never! I'm not saying goodbye to Catan, you monsters!
My shelf is more than big enough to Anno and Catan.
Does this mean we can expect Lindsey Ellis and Olly Philosophy Tube to be in a SUSD video?
I think it means Contrapoints will appear on the Dice Tower
Honestly, I would pay good money to see Natalie give Tom a lot of sass.
@@NoPunIncluded If we can ensure Vasel's survival, I vote you pull some breadtube strings and make it happen 😄
I. Am. Here. For. It.
This was pure magic. It reminded me of early SU&SD (with Paul). Great dialogue, crisp editing, and a tight narrative. Well done!
Hbomberguy! I love it!
You sir, are an absolute treasure. Such a fantastic writer and sense of humor. You’ve earned a new subscriber. Love your content, keep it coming! (also, can’t wait to try Iwari)
01:36
My OCD kicks in...the blue and orange settlements...they can't...they must be...too close...
You don't have a clinical disorder
I was looking for someone else to notice that
I wonder if he did it on purpose to spite the game
"Is that Tom Brewster? Wait, that skeleton is fami--HARRY?"
A great video, as usually! Thanks for showing 3 games of different complexity that might be a good option to Catan as gateway games. Why you need pigs to make soap? My grandmother used to make soap with pork fat. She lived in poor rural area in southern Italy (in Calabria, more precisely) and it was crucial to exploit everything from their animals. Apparently, that soap had a very good detergent power. Might be that in 1800 lot of people did the same thing!
CITIES AND KNIGHTS!! That's the next step after basic Catan!!
[3 hours later]
OK that was a little bit better than basic Catan
@@doktarr EXACTLY!
Nope.....time to move on. catan's time has come and go, a long time ago.
@@vanyaserra1 That's sort of the point of my response. Cities & Knights is a much better game but it takes much longer, and I'm not sure it really justifies the play time.
Starting with a settlement then a city in the base game, or two cities in Cities and knights, can make the game much more manageable!
“Catan is old”
*wheezes in rocking chair* “Back in MY day, we had to scour the proto-Internet for a bad translation of the rules that we could print out on our dot-matrix printers (which were the style at the time).”
“If you want Anno 1800, you’ll have to get the English version of the rules off BGG-“
“Hah!”
“Or wait for the English version next year.”
“Darn kids and their unending flood of high quality games from all over the Earth.”
So enjoyed the jazz music spots so lovingly spread over these beautiful games! Awesome video, great editing, love the concept of offering three modern alternatives to an older classic :)
After all of this I think Concordia has already fired Catan.
Harry is sneaking into other people's videos while being ellusive about his own channel... 🤔 Something is brewing.
P.S. thank you for the review, reviewer and guitar :)
I was JUST reading today about how it's absurd to combine totem poles and tipis because one comes from agrarian tribes and the other comes from nomadic tribes. Iwari looks gorgeous, and there's nothing wrong with cultural theming, but it would be nice if game designers tried a bit harder to avoid stupid cultural potpourri.
Hbomberguy in a tabletop review??? That's an instant sub.
I still like Settlers...it has trading, dice, area control, resource management, engine building... it's not for everyone, I understand, but I still have a good time with it.
Me too. It's like poker. Strategic enough to be interesting, but with enough luck that a novice can win.
I've been playing it for 5 years. And I'm addicted to it. The blood, the sweat, the promises, the lies, the betrayals...
I've always preferred Carcassonne to Catan.
I appreciate the inclusion of Anno 1800 in this video. My first hobby boardgame was also Catan, and what it introduced to me was that boardgames could be complex without sacrificing fun and not based purely on dice - that they could be more than not just Monopoly but also Pictionary and the like. I am far from a newcomer to this hobby, but it still persistently annoys me when 'gateway games' are always the simplest ones, when elegant simplicity is hardly lacking in non-hobby boardgames of the sort almost everyone is familiar with. If I had been introduced to the hobby with, say, Iwari, I wouldn't have gotten into it as much as I did.
I literally went to sleep last night thinking how I need to find a new game for my family that is on the level of Catan. You sir have my answer.
How old is your family? 7 Wonders is a great game that has many of the elements of Catan, plus a few more, but it is a little complicated.
that hbomberguy cameo was fantastic
Came here to say this.
Settlers is great, and many of the current Euros lack the interaction and competitiveness that is such a huge draw to new players.
I've played a lot of games since I've started with this hobby on 2007 and, that's true... It has a level of interaction that i didnt see on other games.
I am not sure that Catan is supplanted if it takes 3 games to do so. These 3 games are more branching off points from Catan. Catan is more than the sum of its parts. Catan is half board game, half social activity. Yes, art is not great. Think of German sense of aesthetics here. But, it’s unique mix of luck, table talk, mild confrontation, shrewdness opportunity, decently sized components for all eyes to see, opponent second guessing, etc. is unmatched so far. If Catan was as irrelevant and as outdated as suggested in this video, it would have disappeared already. I guess, it’s more games like Splendor that could be possible substitutes. Your suggestions feel more like a geek next steps and don’t seem to have the easy to consume, functional, tactile quality of Catan, or the all-in-one mix of game tricks that get occasional or light gamers excited. IMHO.
Not going to say goodbye to Catan, but I might try the new games! I did however think that there was one game missing from the list: 7 Wonders. A greta game, and it contains many elements of Cata, plus a few more. IMO it is a little richer than Catan, although I love both.
I'm curious to hear what your thoughts are on other Catan versions and if there was an improvement on any of them. I say this as a person who has moved on from the original Catan but actually do enjoy Starfarers.
About the negotiation part of Catan: Chinatown is a better negotiation game!
16:51 Please anyone explain to me why using religious symbolism in games is problematic. I don't think discs with Jesus written on it makes a whole lot of sense, for example there's plenty of christian symbolism in board games. If the theme asks for religious symbolism, it's fine. I mean... I don't hear you complain about building churches in some catan games. Or that a whole genre of abstract games revolves around building a cathedral, a christian place of worship.
I agree, the base game of Cantan has been surpassed ... but I think you forget the expansion and the variety and nuances that they bring to the game.
It's far from being my favorite game, but I think there are many things to thank for it. For example, the number of people introduced to the world of the board games. Catan is what Harry Potter is to reading for a lot of people ... and that's VERY good.
I get where you're coming from, but asking someone who's never played a modern board game to spend extra money and read extra rules to improve a mediocre experience doesn't feel like a winning formula.
I have played a lot of Cattan and after a while the expansions just feel like window dressing. Starfarers seafarers and Game of Thrones for example just add new gimmicks to the same base game I have played hundreds of times. I think it is fare to continue to love and enjoy Cattan, but it is also good to acknowledge that some feel it is time to move on to new games.
@@NoPunIncluded Every game "burns" when you play it too much and for too long. What's old for you and me can be a good experience for others. "Mediocre" seems to me a very unfair word for a game with as much experience and trajectory as Catan. If we talk about mediocrity, time will tell if five years from now people remember those three games you recommend.
I respect your opinion and I share it. Catan was long overdue. But your assessment, like that of many other veteran players, seems too harsh and unfair for this game.
@@necogreendragon I've done so a long time ago, my friend. As I said above, it's not by far my favorite game. In my opinion, a game and its experience are built by 80% players. Sometimes you have to be generous and adaptable, that's all.
@@NoPunIncluded Agreed, I was introduced to Catan/Modern board gaming at University, and it was a a real blast, until it got a bit samey, and we never felt it was as fun with 5 or 6 players. It made for a number fo good evening with friends as a 3-4 player game thats not too hard to play.
However, I bought the "Exploreres and Pirates" expansion, which really changes the game into a pick up and deliver game running ontop of a tweaked version of Catan.
We enjoyed it so much we even ended up playing it as a six player game and enjoying it alot (it fixes alot of the downtime/dud turns with very simple rules and adds multiple ways to score points/expand/progress/interaxct with each other.
However, the value after buying both 5-6 player expansions, is unrecommendable to a newbie or evne a friends, we only did it as we already had the base game plus 5-6 player expansion.
What about Space Base? You get stuff every time some one rolls and on your own turn you can upgrade your engine.
What about it
Machi Koro could be in that camp also.
Don't forget about Valeria: Card Kingdoms or even My Village...these, as well Space Base and Machi Koro are a few years old.
They just wanted to recommend better games than Catan, not worse. Space Base and Machi Koro took some elements of Catan, but left out a lot, what is interesting, like trading and route building. I have to agree, there are better games than Catan nowadays, but these two ain't them. I find them incredible boring.
I do rather rub my hands on a cheese gritter than play Monopoly. Well said.
@@pimentoloaf1509 Communist cheese gritter? If you mean Kolejka, that is not even close to be related to Monopoly. It had been just called "Communist Monopoly" by some newspapers, which have no idea about board games and could not find a better tag line.
Great video and great topic! Thank you!!
Catan (and later Ticket to Ride) were the games that kept me away from board games as a hobby. Both were introduced to me by friends who enjoyed hobby games - and I genuinely didn't enjoy either of them, especially Catan. It felt more like a social activity or placeholder to get together and just hang out. I just couldn't see the point. It wasn't until many years later when I lamented and agreed to play Puerto Rico that I saw potential for hobby games, then discovered 18xx, Lacerda, Splotter etc. and got hooked.
My point being, don't assume a non-gamer requires a simpler / gateway game in order to see the benefit & fun of hobby gaming. We use Viticulture, Food Chain Magnate, Gallerist, Cryptid and many others successfully as 'first games' for friends that then come into the hobby :).
I get you, tho from different perspective. My intro gsme was Citadels, and that was when I Got into gaming. If I was introducdd to typical euros first, i would flthink im not into this thing. I guess some people are into different things and to introduce someone you kinda need to know waht they like xd.
This video only is true if you never add any of the expansions or if you never incorporate some of the amazing house rules people have come up with and published on Reddit, like when rolling for resources everybody has their own set of three dice (instead of 2) and everybody rolls for themselves and produce resources only as per their roles, choosing only two dice to produce resources with out of the three they rolled, this reduces the chances of you not producing resources and also you are in charge of your own production of such, and once you play with all four expansions combined it's a massive experience with an extreme level of strategy, there's even a new dragon's expansion which is awesome!
Please don't try to equate American Indian religion to Judaeo-Christian religions. It's an insult to both. Not all religions have the same taboos or even treat holy things the same. Even inside Judaeo-Christian religions they treat them differently and sometimes in the same church the treatment of sacred and holy objects have changed over the centuries.
I'd make the argument that using religious symbols as part of a game mechanic isn't inherently problematic. There are plenty of games out there that use symbols of western religion in a similar fashion (I believe that Carcassone has a mechanic about building churches, and there are plenty of games that cover Greco-Roman mythology in very non-historical ways). Where it becomes problematic is when those religious symbols are used in a way that degrades the culture and religion tied to that symbol, such as prescribing them with ridiculous powers that misrepresent their actual spiritual connotations. In my mind, arguing that the presence of symbolism from non-western cultures in a board game is problematic just scares people away from exploring the history of those cultures, out of fear of offending someone.
Using symbology from another culture WITHOUT representing that culture in any actual way doesn't teach anyone anything - it's appropriative and exploitative.
@@NoPunIncluded I disagree. Take D&D for example--that game appropriates the heck out of a myriad of cultures. From Druids to Monks to Clerics and Paladins, D&D borrows elements of a wide slew of cultures without ever representing those cultures. Those three classes alone are all based on real-world practices; is it exploitative of ancient Gallic culture to make a Druid? Is it somehow an offense to Tibetan Buddhism that people play as Monks? Does the existence of Clerics and Paladins serve as an insult to Christianity? Heck, even Barbarians have a subclass that involves Totems and Animal Spirit Guides--isn't that just as problematic, if not moreso, because it actually goes into lore about this fictionalized representation of a real-world custom, and even uses it as a means for a character to commit violence?
Yes, Iwari has stuff like totem poles. No, it is not in the context of historical totem poles from Algonquian cultures. What I fail to see is how it is somehow exploitative of those cultures. Iwari is a fantasy setting, representing the birth of the world as varying tribes spread out across the land. As far as I can tell, the game doesn't go out of its way to explain what these Totems are or are made for beyond acquiring some ever-elusive "Victory Points." It isn't using anything about Native American culture beyond the use of the word and general concept of a Totem. I fail to comprehend how that in any way harms Native American peoples--heck, looking at this game I didn't even think of it as being explicitly tied to any one culture (with perhaps the exception of Central Asian cultures, but that's likely me projecting from my own interest in those cultures).
As an American, I'll be the first to admit that my country's treatment of the Native Americans has been horrible at best, and downright genocidal at worst. I have always been fascinated by Native American culture, and greatly angered by the mistreatment of Native American peoples; seeing Native American culture misrepresented is something that genuinely bothers me. However, to me, the fact that a board game uses a Totem in its mechanics seems like a non-issue. Like you said, it doesn't teach anyone anything, but that's because it has virtually nothing to do with the culture beyond the most surface level. At that point, can we really say its appropriative?
Games like Kemet, Inis, and Cyclades are all much more appropriative in that regard, even going as far as to explicitly name the actual, real-world, "people literally worshipped to and in many cases killed in the name of" gods of their respective cultures. These games all three offer a wildly fantasized take on these cultures; if they do teach you about their respective cultures, it's a very bare-bones lesson, and chock full of your usual appropriative-bruhaha-shenanigans. Are these games problematic for focusing on such an inaccurate interpretation of these cultures and their religions?
I wanna be clear that I love your channel, and I really do appreciate your viewpoint; you guys create thought-provoking board game reviews, and its clear that your stance on this matter is one driven by genuine compassion for people groups that have been terribly mistreated throughout history (and in many cases, to this very day, if not directly, than through the lasting effects of the past). However, I still disagree with this particular point, that using Totems in Iwari is problematic. I know that this is a comparatively tiny detail to have gone on such a rant about, but I do strongly believe that people shouldn't be limited from exploring foreign cultures out of fear of appropriation. Showing something as simple as a generic Totem in a game is so harmless, and serves to expose people to a kind of culture (even if it is entirely fictional in this case) which they otherwise might not engage with. In my mind, the benefit outweighs the cost.
catan has table talk and interaction, tuscany is multiplayer solitaire, heads down game. Everyone bashes Catan and says other euros are better, but all those alternatives are usually solitaire puzzles.
This is important! I strongly dislike Catan, but I think it is very difficult to find a good recommendation of a better game that does as many "things" as Catan. There are better negotiation games, better area control games, better take that games, better dice rolling games, better route building games, etc. but almost no games that do all of those things. A "Catan Fan" (TM) will unfailingly look at whatever modern game you've said does ______ better than Catan, and think it's not a good game because it also doesn't do ______ and _______.
@@notgeoff799 Well, yeah that's why Catan is so good. It has so many elements in one board game. The objective is simple: get ten points. Depending on your group the game can have a very high skill ceiling with each person having a completely different strategy to winning the game. A lot of other board games have a very narrow way of playing (See the three alternative games in the video) whereas with Catan your strategy must be different for every game you play.
@@Kevin3826 That's great that it works well for you and your group, and more power to you. For myself and my groups, it is not a good game despite having so many "things". As I mentioned, above I don't think Catan does any one of those things particularly well, and thus I don't have fun playing it. It's area control and settlement building are done better in games like Terra Mystica and Kingdom Builder. It's negotiation is done better in games like Sideral Confluence or Cosmic Encounter (or Heck, even Monopoly). It doesn't have any player agency for mitigating dice rolls like games that have come after it such as Castles of Burgundy. It is nearly themeless. Catan also seems to have a pretty high frequency of someone being "out" of the game in the first few turns (or even during initial placement), and that means one person is not having fun for an hour or more. I've been in that position in at least two games of Catan, and seen it happen to others, and I can't see that as "good" game design. In fact I might honestly play a game of Monopoly before Catan at this point, despite recognizing Monopoly as a "worse designed game".
I'm glad Catan exists, as it really helped create the modern hobby. I had a few fun games with it back in the 90s, but nowadays it just doesn't hold up compared to the designs we have access to.
Now all that said, I think the point still stands that these "If You like Catan, try this better game" video and lists don't work because people who like Catan like it because it does a little of everything, and almost no other game does. If you introduced Efka's three suggestions to a Catan player, and never mentioned Catan as a comparison, they'd likely find a game they loved in here. If you said "Oh you like Catan? Well these three are better!" You'd likely build their expectations for something none of these games can do and lose them after the rules explanation.
People who go deeper into the boardgame hobby reach a point when they feel like it's time to ditch Catan. Don't. Keep it on the shelf. Take a break. Sooner or later, you're going to come back to it and re-appreciate it in a fresh light. Catan resides in the sweet spot: simple, compelling, easy to teach, great tactile elements, many avenues to victory, no player elimination, highly interactive, and just enough luck & tension to keep it feeling fair. Similarly, we all like to crap on Monopoly,...but that makes sense: Monopoly is a fundamentally awful game which preys upon our worst traits, makes one player King Asshole, and leaves everyone else feeling like they've wasted their time. Catan is NOT Monopoly. It brings people together. I have a shelf of 100+ games behind me, but Catan keeps hitting the table. It's a legitimate classic which has proven it can endure.
I took away from this video that catan is still my favorite board game still and Iwari is definitely worth a look.
Love the video. I'm going to be the other guy though, I love Catan. It's simplicity makes it easy to explain and teach. If you're not a great teacher there's always another person on the table whose played it. Catan has given me an opportunity to learn how my friends play board games and in turn helped me strategize against them as they do me. We still take it out often in our few years of this hobby. Easy to set up, quick for my group and high stakes with high rewards.
My re-entry to this hobby was Power Grid...
Anyone else disappointed they didn't run over the box with a car in the end of the video?
I'm surprised it held up tbh. My copy would of evaporated it's so worn.
Yes, was definitely waiting for it and expecting it!
Isaac Childres as Herbert the Skeleton - Hahahahaha - that got me!
My first "technically" modern board game was Cosmic Encounter, and I still love it, and it holds up really well with my gaming group! I played Catan once long ago, and it didn't stand out to me, I recently bought it, for a ridiculous deal, just to see how it plays, but I'm not expecting a knockout like some of the recent favorites of ours have been.
I love that Cosmic Encounters is almost 20 years older than Settlers. A classic that still holds up. My family loves it!
Cosmic seems to be the exception to the rule. A really old game that is so evergreen. If someone told me Cosmic came out in the last decade I would probably believe them.
Ouch, that smashing box at the end really hurt my boardgamers heart even though I do not like Catan and abbandoned it recently from my shelf of games, because nobody likes the robber 😡
Sorry if I might have made writing mistakes, I am German
Lucky man, you get to enjoy Anno 1800 before us!
If most people started gaming with Iwari or 18xx they’d never go on to enjoy the hobby any more. Even Tuscany isn’t a very good starting place. There’s a reason why Catan is the gateway for millions of people into modern boardgaming, and why games like TTR and Azul others are similar in drawing people in. They’re fun. The recommendations here are fun for a small number of gamers and decidedly not fun for a much larger amount of people. If they were, they’d have replaced games like Catan, Carcassonne and TTR and left them behind. Clearly not the case.
I bought a game called Terra Mistica a few years ago and have never played it because it looks too complex. Can you do a game play or explain how to play it 😆
There's a digital version on android and steam. A friend has TM with the same issue as you, so i bought TM on steam a few days ago to learn
Personally, I feel as though the negotiating mechanic is what turns Catan from Monopoly++ to a proper hobby board game.
It opens up newcomers' minds to the possibilities of what could be, after that first taste.
I want to negotiate with my friends, broker deals, create friendships (or backstab each other afterwards). Otherwise, we'd get something as dry (for a casual player) as Chess.
That's what makes Catan Catan, for me at least. And that's something that was sadly not really touched upon in this video.
I agree. The negotiation is why I have played so much Catan. While I’m sure Anno is great in its own right, I think I would prefer the human negotiation found in Catan. My replacement for that mechanic has been cosmic encounter.
@@nolanolson7517 Cosmic Encounter is fantastic, but IMO not as a gateway game. Just explaining a normal turn with its 8 different phases can be difficult to grasp for a newcomer, and that's disregarding all the alien powers that break the game.
It can be a little intimidating.
It *is* mint fresh. Thanks for playing and happy holidays! 💚
This video led me to binge watch your reviews. Love everything about you two except that I'm not in your gaming group. :)
This video is very well made. Love the humor and the way you compare the games man!
Wait, now review all of the Catan expansions!
forgot to "stock up" on non-soup analogies XD
Should have used some canned laughter after that soup line.
slow clap
The biggest takeaway here is that it is odd they never updated Catan. They could make it look nice and get a bit more per box if they did, but changing the look might be dangerous with something that is as well know... Not sure.
I bet an updated catan would at least sell gangbusters to people who just want a nice looking one.
I also think a game with disc with Jesus written on them would be hilarious.
Ah, but they've just released the 25th Anniversary Edition! And...oh, it's the same. Hmm.
Crossroads is the most well rounded song in rap history. I would bring out crossroads, nothing will ever get close to that level of talent again. Bone thugs >>>>>>
Buddy, that's not the Cross Road I was talking about: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cross_Road_(album)
Oh man! Always good to see a suprise hbomberguy :P
I am who I am, and that's all that I am. I'm buying Anno.
I love the PC city builder and the original Anno by Mayfair was ass.
Nice video! Now I will go back, and play some Catan.
having just gone to ikea, with two masks and almost before closing, to get a Kallax, I feel immensely called out by hbomberguy, and it's not even his channel. amazing! And now I want Anno 1800
Brave, Efka. Real brave.
Did I just witness two villages next to each other?! Unforgivable!
Someone should show this to CGP Grey.
Haha, the tension at the end. I kept waiting for a car to drive over it, some one to walk by and pick it up, or for him to run back out to grab it! Lol, great vid.
The main problem in my household is the competitiveness that ensues over Catan. Castles of Tuscany sounds like a great solution!
I wish I saw this before I bought Catan for a gift 4 days ago... Iwari looks awesome
Catan is still a great game, specially for newcomers. But for a "veteran", it might be old.
THANK YOU. Someone had to say it. Great recommendations too.
1:36 illegal placement!!!!!
Which (if any) of these games are good for two players, because that's my main issue with Catan. SO likes Catan but we don't have a third person to play with during Covid :(
A collab with Hbomberguy? This is a crossover I didn't know I wanted, and I'm glad it exists!
Shut Up and Sit Down was Hbomberguy's biggest influence in becoming a content creator. I was super-pleased to see him here.
Fun Fact: Animal fat is an important ingredient in soaps.
I remember playing Settlers of Catan back in the late 90s and was like. This is board games? Pass. The luck element of rolling for resources was just too high for me. It wouldn’t be until years later, after playing Agricola, was I hooked on board games.
This guy should not be a surgeon. But I appreciate his views, humor, and perspective and will certainly look into these games. Thanks!
Thank you for having the chutzpah to make this video!
Catan was not my first "real" board game - I didn't even play it for the first time until the late '90s - so I have no nostalgia for it.
For me, it sits next to Machi Koro in a spot just barely above Monopoly. Games which are VERY dependent upon die rolls with little mitigation available.
I don't hate games that use dice, I just don't like when I have little to no way to deal with poor rolling luck.
Cheers!
Ah man ...just discovered that the English version of Anno 1800 will not release this year. Was looking forward to play that around Christmas
Thank you for this vid! Was surprised that Anno 1800 was that good :) Immediatly cant wait to add it to the collection! Cheers Efka!!!
Did you buy it? How did it go?
Wait that blue and yellow house... They were one space away... I seem to think that's against the settlers rules?
Yah no! Catan is a classic and will always be! If you want a new experience, just get the expansions! Why bash a classic to get views!?
My family has developed a few house rules to speed the game up and take a little of the edge off.
We’ve tried different house rules and stopped using them, these are the ones that have stuck.
1) The thief doesn’t exist in the beginning.
The first two to four 7’s rolled (minimum of 2, but if it was a particularly painfully slow start we would determine in that moment if we wanted to add 1-2 extra rerolls).
We found that any time a 7 got rolled early on it ground the entire economy to a halt due to a shortage of that material.
Also, it almost always sparked a bitter swapping back and forth of the Thief between 2 people.
2) You can access a port by having a road connecting to it.
It actually never came up in our first 2 or 3 games, but eventually someone placed a settlement on a port and we had to decide if that blocked access or not (we weren’t sure how they worked at the time).
We settled on you being able to access a port with a road directly pointing at the port, but you could also build there if desired (though it wouldn’t block access).
3) You can only use development cards during your turn.
My sister supposedly knows someone who plays Catan “professionally” and she swears you can play them any time you want once the dice pass, but not only is that counter-intuitive to every board game I’ve ever played, it also causes absolute chaos the one time we decided to try it out, with people playing cards mid sentence of some players and it nearly ended the game then and there due to fighting.
Basically, if it isn’t your turn we don’t like you still doing things, as it distracts from the person who’s actually playing their turn (and we all kinda think she’s misinterpreting the rules anyway).
Obvious exception being Victory Point cards which are always valid, but we keep hidden/face down.
4) Whoever holds the dice leads the conversation.
To prevent people from getting overwhelmed with trade offers, questions, etc... we decided that whoever’s turn it is must ask for trades.
You can counter-offer, if you like, but they initiate it with whomever they want to talk to, and the trade is only final once both parties agree to swap cards (which is final, no take-backs).
I’d love to know what your house rules are (and who’s misinterpreting development cards) from anyone replying.
Say goodbye? Why? I still enjoy it. Probably helps I play with great people. Perhaps it's not the game that's the problem for some people...
Note; I play plenty of other games too.
I've played board games for years and i have never played Catan and never actually wanted to, looks boring haha.
It's not, but you've probably played better. I too played board games for years before hitting up Catan, and when I did all I could muster was a nod that it is indeed a fine game and that I'll never play it again.
It was truely fine for the time it was released. And its still very enjoyable... but most of the appeal, to this day, is explained by very good and active marketing.
It's actually a great design. The problem is, it's at great design for a 30-to-45-minute game. Unfortunately, it's usually a 90-minute game. At minimum. If a game goes under 90 minutes, it's because someone benefited greatly from the setup, and that was time that was straight-up stolen from your life. There are few games where the setup, where the setup can decide the winner. If you have played enough and you can spot a bad board, then there's way more luck on the way, with both cards and dice. You start getting tired of not getting the cards you need or the rolls you want somewhere in that 30-to-45-minute mark. After that, you start wondering how mad people would get if you stabbed that guy the next time he spends several minutes trying to get some wheat! Nothing has driven me to be a serial killer more than this game.
Oh my god, the Anno series has a board game now? I LOVE Anno 2070 and Anno 1701!
Anno 1800 (the video game) is probably my favorite game of all time. So good. Highly recommend.
This was a neat way to connect several lite-reviews together of things. It's well past time to say goodbye, very apt
Thanks
npi and hbomberguy in the same video? What is this a crossover episode?
Oh yeah, it is...
If I were to pick a couple of games, from my experience, that I feel would replace Catan and be appropriate for newer players, I might pick Concordia and Chinatown. Concordia is similar sounding to Anno in that it's rules are light but it has a lot of depth that rewards familiarity. Its also about about grabbing territory and can be more or less tense depending on the map you pick. Chinatown, on the other hand, is pure negotiation. I don't pull it out frequently but it usually turns the night into a few hours of playful screaming at friends, depending on your group, this will be an upgrade to the screaming you find in Monopoly or Catan
The trade mechanism has not been outdone even till now. Mega/western Empires come close... But catan is a sub 20eur game
I will never in my life stop playing with Catan( actually worth of nearly €2500,- in games, extensions (?) and material)
Sorry, you stated Catan was '1994- old' but in fact.... 1997?
An 'Catan- addict'😊😁, proudly own up to it
That was the perfect soundbit for the other side of the Anno 1800 board. r/imagesyoucanhear r/soundsyoucansee
Yeah... What saved this game is that it was the first modern boardgame for many people who only knew Monopoly and... Pay Day maybe. Or Operation (Docteur Maboul in French).
The first time I played Catan was in 2008. I was fortunate enough to have already played Himalaya, Caylus, Puerto Rico and Shadows Over Camelot...
...I was the 4th player around the table, had only sh# spots to settle on at my first turn and didn't even want to finish this miserable game. Was my last time. Never ever again.
I played The Settlers of Catan two maybe three times. I think it was rather boring. But a lot of people seemed to like it when it was published.
The first "modern" board game I played with Lord of The Rings by Reiner Knizia. I say "modern" because I played designer board games a long time before that. I played war games long before LoTR or Catan (and a lot of others games from the 70's and 80's). "But war games can't be designer games" you say. Yes they can. They played with co-op long before LoTR or card and resource management in the 70's. The modern designers just rehashed some old and good mechanics - and played around with them and occasionally came up with a different take. And THAT is good. An art form that stays still dies.
The reason I say this is to remind a lot of people that the the "modern" game designers is standing of the shoulders of a lot of other designers that came before - mostly war game designers.
Edit: Oh, I forgot to say that Castles of Tuscany is great. ^^ I sadly haven't played Iwari or 1800. There's too many games to play.
Pigs are pretty good for making soap, I wouldn't use it, but it is effective and in 1800 sanitary effectiveness was otherwise generally pretty terrible outside of soap...
You use blue workers to build soap, not red artisans!
I'm still a little unclear, is there a skillshare class on making soup?
I found at least like six or seven.
@@NoPunIncluded See, that right there is why I am a subscriber! Really looking forwards to that second Arkham Horror LCG video by the way :)