Drinky Drinky
United States
Indy/STL
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I'll start off by saying this: If you do not own either the Catan Card Game, or Rivals for Catan, start looking at reviews for Rivals for Catan. This will be the one you want to buy.
If you already own the 'Catan Card Game', it is not worth buying Rivals for relatively the same game a second time even with its frills. If you are a fan or really enthusiastic about the Catan card game, there is probably nothing I could say that would prevent you from buying it. In rock-paper-scissors like issues, Fanboy-ism will always beat any advice given.
If you find the original Settlers too bogged down in feudality, or not accommodating for 2 players. Then you will want to give the Catan Card games a try.
Catan Card Game (or Rivals) vs. The Original Settlers of Catan.
What is better in the original Catan Card Game:
+ Made for 2 players
+ You are not waiting around for certain numbers to come up, everyone gets something each round, more importantly something to DO each round.
+ Since everyone gets something each round, it feels more competitive rather than luck of the draw.
+ You feel more involved in building up your territory than in normal Catan. You are placing and purchasing specific town and city facilities.
What does original Catan do better:
- Original Catan has a more exploratory feel. You do not feel as involved as much as the rolls are guiding
- You can cut off other players from other locations on the island.
- The original Catan sprawl I think looks better and can be made better with the expansions, the Catan Card game not so much.
-Original Catan pulls off more than 2 players better. Unless you have one of those really AP prone friends, then each turn is more like Sisyphus.
Overall Winner:
Catan Card Game(s) defeats Original Catan – It plays quicker, has a feeling of more choices, and enough interaction is in the game. The original Catan has the possibility for more trading for player interaction, but in the wrong group someone who sits on their cards and says no all the time isn’t really fun. I sometimes feel the original Catan is more about moving the thief than building out your cities. The possibility is there to defeat someone whom has more land with more city features. I feel like I am actually building and in control of my capabilities, rather than along for the ride.
Catan Card Game vs. Rivals for Catan
How does the Catan Card Game stack up vs the new upgrade?
Rivals does what most improvements do as they progress, more features but cheaper materials. Even though they are just dice and wooden tokens, I found that I like the block knight and windmill over the quality of the components in Rivals for Catan when I played.
Rivals has 60 more cards than this installment, also it enables the players to have a quickie starter game, what would be around the terms of a “normal” game of Catan Card Game. Rivals for Catan card game also has the ability to make a cutthroat or a more friendly economic building game. Also the new book symbols for plus cards and card markings and pips do an excellent job of helping to identify cards.
If you want to make some comparisons on the instructions and cards for Rivals of Catan yourself, you can do so at the Catan main site here:
http://www.playcatan.com/cow-instructions/rivals-for-catan.h...
Overall Winner:
Rivals of Catan (card game) defeats the Catan Card Game. There are differences in artwork, where Catan Card Game is more of a medieval setting and Rivals appears to be more renaissance era. Though this is preference of the user both pull off their themes. Rivals has more options than the Catan Card Game. The only thing I can knock about Rivals is the components are cheaper, but they also toss in 60 more cards. If you really want to cling to a block of wood having better pictures, and prefer the “nerf ball (sun) of plenty” as we called it grant you one resource, then that is the only reason you should pick up the Catan Card Game. Or you just want to parade around you have an out of print game.
So my recommendation is to go with the newer version of the card game, if you own neither. Unless you really want to be one of us owners of this no longer in print version of Catan Card Game as we hold our game rocking in the corner trying to assure ourselves the quality Knight and Windmill tokens over the scales and axe tiddlywinks.
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Thank you! Very helpful review and comparison!
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I own the Rivals, but I guess the following applies as well, a few more things to chip in for comparison with the board game.
1. The card game is more complex, the board game shines where the rules are so simple, for the card game, it become a game of knowing which card works well together, which card gives you special abilities and such.
2. I feel there is more strategy (something you decide before the first round) in the card game, as it depends on what are the first 3 cards that you have. For the board game, the only strategy comes from where to put the first two settlements.
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Qualith
Spain
Malaga
Malaga
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Just what I was looking for!
I was a mess about buying Catan Card game or the new one.
Thank you for your review: very clarifying. I'm going for the Rivals :D
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If you own the previous version of the Catan Card game:
Download and use the rules for Rivals for Catan. Play to 10VP. Remove these cards form the base game:
Arsonist, Bishop, Black Night, Brigands, Herb Woman, Spy
The game will be less aggressive and will play faster. No need to buy the new version.
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Colin Harris
United Kingdom
London
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I have the Rivals set but have heard grumbles about it lacking the 'trading' option between the two players that the original game had.How did that work?
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Stefano Gaburri
Italy
Milano
MI
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You simply could trade anything, anytime, with your rival (the other player). It made for a slightly faster game if people did trade. Which they didn't, ever -- that's why the designer took it off.
It's pretty simple to put it back in; just allow trading stuff between players.
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We have "forbidden" trading between the players for the Rivals, since advanced players didn't trade with the old Catan Card game. Trading in a two-player-game gives no benefit for the passive player, whereas in a more-player-game both can have an advantage by trading in contrast to other players. Furthermore, in a two-player game there's always the risk that the active player will use action cards to get his traded resources back and he will often have an advantage with the next dice roll.
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Colin Harris
United Kingdom
London
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I thought about adding the rule that you can only start trading with the other player once a marketplace has been built by someone.
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Dennison Milenkaya
United States
Washington
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On the contrary, there is plenty of reason to trade in a two-player game, even when you aren't the active player.
You can only hold so many resources on one region. If that region is full, you risk missing out on more resources if the next dice roll would cause it to produce or otherwise gain goods.
Similarly, if some resource is in danger of being lost (near a city and a plague is due any moment; you are holding Ore and Sheep and over 7 unprotectd resources), you might trade for something safer (held next to only settlements; not Ore nor Sheep).
You might trade to get two resources for the price of one, which isn't an uncommon deal and makes up for the active player's ability to use her received resource immediately.
In a string of like-production rolls, one player will have a lot of one resource and the other player will have a lot of some other resource. Trading balances that issue.
If you are likely to trade while not active, you'll find your opponent to be far more likely to trade while she isn't active.
Feel free to stipulate that part of the trade means that your traded-for resources won't be yanked out from under you. And if you don't trust your opponent--for indeed, the rules do not enforce honor--you can make a peek at your opponent's hand part of that deal.
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