Catan

"One of the great classics of Eorpean board gaming FINALLY has a chance to shine in America, too"

The situation: You've got Microsoft points, and you have no idea how to spend them.

The solution? Spend 800 on Catan, and spend hours enjoying the best Xbox Live Arcade purchase of your life.

The Settlers of Catan is an up-and-coming board game craze from designer Klaus Teuber that originated in Europe. Since 1995, the series has grown to have multiple expansions and spin-offs, and now has popped up both on MSN Games and Xbox Live Arcade. The premise is simple enough - you want to essentially prove your dominance of the newly discovered Catan.

To do this, you manipulate the resources of Catan through harvesting and trading with the islands' other inhabitants. On each turn a pair of dice are rolled, and the roll determines who collects how many of what resources. There are five resources, and having all of them is essential to winning the game. On your turn you can take the resources you have and either trade with other players, trade four of one resource to the "Bank" for one resource of your choice, or build something. These options are all well-layed out on the game's interface.

Later in the game, as you build more roads, settlements, and cities, your civilization grows and will not only harvest more resources, but harvest them more often. Winning entails scoring 10 victory points. Each player begins with 2 points, and additional points are earned by building new settlements, upgrading settlements to cities, drawing special "Development Cards" that provide your civilization with unique buildings, having the longest road of any player, and having the largest army of any player. As confusing as this may seem, all of these methods of scoring relate back to the simple concept of resource management; knowing when to trade and how to bargain your way into a good deal.

As for graphics and sound, the game has a nice 3D look to it, and the sound is decent enough that you won't mute it while playing. The sound is nothing spectacular, but the board sure is easy on the eyes while also being visually appealing.

All in all, you cannot go wrong with Catan. With so many options for strategy and a new game every time (the board is constructed randomly each game), Catan is both a masterpiece in the board-gaming genre and a worry-free 800 Microsoft Points to spend.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 07/30/07