Markers let you tally up your victory points in real time, and there’s nothing quite like racking up points with a particularly good strategy. The tile placement and resource management elements feel familiar to fans of Catan, but also welcome newcomers with the gratification of well-played turns. The player with the most points at the end of the game wins. In short, each tile has different effects that earn you victory points and/or resources when you place them, and careful strategy can net you a few extra victory points at the end. The exact structure of the game’s turns, rounds, and phases can seem a little intimidating at first, but the gameplay isn’t actually as complicated as it looks. In this game, the goal is to use strategic actions and tile placement to build the most successful estate. The Castles of Burgundy takes the “Settlers” part of Catan to its logical next step. The best board game like Catan for small groupsĭesigner: Stefan Feld | Players: 2–4 | Duration: 30–90min | Difficulty: 3/5 If you enjoy the tile placement aspects of Catan but are looking for simpler, in-the-moment gameplay, consider checking out Carcassonne! Your approach, much like the game board itself, must evolve and adapt in real-time to stay ahead.
We consider it to be the most replayable Eurogamebecause no one strategy will work the same way every time you play, and the expansions only add more features to develop and claim. You claim pieces of the landscape as it unfolds (rather than forming strategies from a completed map), and the points you earn are a little more nebulous. At the end of the game, final points are tallied, and the player with the most points wins.Ĭarcassonne utilizes many of the same mechanics as Catan, though the interpretation is different. After laying a tile, you can claim one of its features and earn points as the landscape continues to fill out. It’s exquisite in its simplicity - tiles display one or more features (fields, cities, roads, etc.) and are lined up by matching these features to an existing tile on the board (fields connect to fields, cities to cities, etc.). The best replayable board game like Catanĭesigner: Klaus-Jürgen Wrede | Players: 2–5 | Duration: 30–45min | Difficulty: 2/5Ĭarcassonne is a beautiful game in which you simultaneously develop and lay claim to the rapidly-expanding landscape of the French countryside. Without further ado, here are our picks for the best board games if you like Settlers of Catan! Best Board Games Like CatanĪs you can see, there are a lot of ways for a game to be “like Catan.” To help you better navigate our recommendations, we’ve dedicated the first half of this list to Eurogames that share more than a few gameplay mechanics with Catan or otherwise offer a similar gameplay experience. Most Eurogames will name only one winner, but some include conditions that allow multiple players to win under different criteria. Using these mechanics, players take turns until a given trigger is met, then points are tallied to determine who wins. Worker Placement/Role Selection: choosing from a specific set of actions to complete on a given turn.Resource Management: claiming, spending, and/or trading in-game resources.Area Control: using tile placement to claim strategic areas on the board.Tile Placement: placing physical components or resources on the board.Although you are in direct competition with other players at the table, the focus is often less on eliminating the other players and more on steadily collecting points that allow you to meet the game’s win condition(s).Įurogames are commonly characterized by some version or combination of the following mechanics: Settlers of Catan belongs to a genre of board games called Eurogames, which prioritize strategy over strife.
For our tabletop debut, we’re rounding up the best board games like Catan. We’re breaking out of our video gaming shell to bring you a list of tried and true board game recommendations.
That’s what we here at High Ground Gaming are for. Looking for more tabletop games ideas & strategies? View all our tabletop gaming content. But what do you do when you’ve grown tired of trading sheep and competing for the longest road? How do you find something new that still hits the spot? Modern board games are sweeping tables across the world, and Catan has become a household name as a result. Settlers of Catan may have come to mind right away, and for good reason. You pull out a board game - something that won’t take too long but guarantees a fun time for everyone involved. It’s a modest gathering (remember those?), but you’re having a great time and aren’t quite ready for the night to end. Picture this, if you will - you’re sitting on your couch on a Saturday night, drink in hand, surrounded by friends.