Friday, February 23, 2007

Settlers of Catan

Big Huge News!

Catan places the player in the role of colonists on the newly discovered imaginary island of the same name. Through strategy and trading, 3-4 players vie for control over the valuable territory and resources of this uncharted wilderness. With ten million copies already sold, Settlers of Catan is the rare board game that appeals to casual players as much as hardcore enthusiasts.


I was introduced to this game a few years ago by some friends of mine who I play D&D with and it quickly became a hit. The design is simple, but the options are many and strategy is varied. It is kind of like combining a card game with a board game with a dice game. Unfortunately for my sake I played against the likes of: The Ice Queen, Red, and The Accountant (who always somehow new what cards everyone had). I may have won once or twice, but not any more than that. It was still loads of fun though. Now I have the opportunity to play against thousands of Xbox Live opponents with whom I might stand a better chance of defeating. Perhaps once I have honed my skills a bit I can return and challenge those who so thoroughly thrashed me in the past.

The game is being developed by Big Huge Games. I think Brian Reynolds is one of the best game designers working today and knowing that the game is in his hands leaves me with a sense of anticipation that I have rarely had for Live Arcade games. Now if they will hurry up and release Cyberball, I will be happy.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Don't know if you have seen this version, but there is a version by http://www.s3dconnector.net (Jason Fugate). The version on that site is called Sea3D. This version seems to be the best out there but it is a stand alone client and there is no Cities and Knights component.

-Noclafder

Flying Norseman said...

hmmm I was not aware of that. Lemme go look. Thanks!