Catan Dice Game
Like all the other games of the "Settlers of Catan" series, this game is about building settlements, roads, cities and hiring knights. This time, there is no board on which to place little figures: Every player has his own score card called the building sheet, which depicts a mini Catan (compare with Die Siedler von Catan: Paper & Pencil). You build by drawing the settlements and roads on your score card.
To build you still require resources. These are collected by a Yahtzee-like mechanism that involves throwing six special dice (depicting the different resource symbols) up to three times. After each roll, the player can select which dice to keep and which to roll again. In the end, he may build using the thusly determined resources, and is awarded victory points for any finished buildings, which are recorded on the score card.
The game lasts fifteen turns or about 15-30 minutes, after which the player with the most victory points wins.
User Reviews (2)
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I got this game for 3 euros, so I can’t complaint too much about it. I wasn’t expecting much either, I just wanted a game that I could play whenever I had a few minutes to spare before dinner or in between games without having to think too much.
The game features the key elements that we all know from the board-game version but instead of getting them from the field that is adjacent to your town, you just get them every turn after you roll the dice. You have the opportunity to roll the dice three times and go for the result that will help you get the most points either on the short term (by building a town/city) or in the long term (building a road or a knight). Each town/city/knight gives you a different amount of points: the further they are from the starting position, the more points they give you. However, there is a rule that forces players to build the element with the lowest value first.
The luck that you have when rolling the dice is determinant in the success that you will have in the game and even if you have a strategy, the dice may not play in your favor. In addition, the rule that imposes that the town/city/knight with the lowest value be built can make things even more frustrating when you are not getting the results that you need, since you start to fall behind your opponents. I feel like, if you at least get the chance to build the road that leads to elements with higher value, you should be allowed to build them (I haven’t play-tested this, but I will definitely do it and if it works, post in the house rules section). The lack of luck, however, can also be overcome (slightly) thanks to the knights, which allow you to change as many dice as wanted to the result that you need once per game after you get them. Besides, the sixth face in the dice, gold, allows you to get one of the goods whenever you get two of them by changing one of them to the face showing the material needed and discarding the other one.
In conclusion, this version does not replace the board game and it will not satisfy those players who hate the luck factor in games but it will definitely entertain those who want to get a taste of this popular game without taking it too seriously.
There is nothing I dislike about this game, and it’s seen quite a few solo plays (~15 plays) and plays with my 10 year old kids (~10 plays). So in that sense, it’s a decent game.
The problem is that since buying Roll Through the Ages, it’s hard to see myself playing this again. Everything is a bit “cheaper” here — the score pad glue fell off, the score pad doesn’t have many sheets in it, the dice are nice enough but nothing special … Compare that to the large wooden dice, peg board, and huge, thick score pad that come with Roll Through the Ages and you can see what I mean.
In summary though, the game plays fairly well as long as you enjoy dice games and don’t care if luck is what steers you. It’s not a complex game and my kids have usually enjoyed this one to the end. They like planning where they are going to build the roads, and adding up each others’ points during the game to see “who is winning?”.
A light dice game using Yahtzee mechanics, for a low price, which is also portable — but it’s nothing special, and if you can afford Roll Through the Ages I would recommend it over Catan Dice for sure.