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Catan - An Android Version Worthy of the Original?
Tested version: 2.1.0
Latest version: 2.1.4
Requires Android: from 1.6
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Summary
Monopoly, Life, Risk…who hasn’t heard of them?
Just the thought of these classic board games conjure up warm memories of our youth and those long nights spent with friends huddled around cups of hot cocoa. Of course, some of us never grow up and board games remain a big part of our life even as adults.
Recently, I just stumbled upon Catan – the Android version of The Settlers of Catan. I’m sure all of you have played it because it’s only the most popular board game ever made. Anyone who doesn’t have a strong Catan streak running through their blood isn’t part of my generation. Thankfully, I took the honor of testing whether Catan for Android is a total flop or an absolute success. Get the results in today’s test report!
Features & Use
Section rating:
My first impression of Catan was really good - and I’m not saying this because I’m promoting a product or looking for personal gain. It’s just that Catan is one of those games that just looks solid and convincing from the get-go. I’m just one of those people that really values the way something looks. So, yes, I do judge a book by its cover when it comes to apps. Sure there are free apps out there with tons of free features, but I am willing to pay a couple extra bucks for a game/app that actually looks good.
So what’s the game Settlers of Catan all about in the first place? In a nutshell, this board game revolves around different groups of settlers that are fighting over supremacy on an island. This island is divided into hexagonal strip of land, each filled with different natural resources. You can place settlements, cities and streets on these hexagons and extract the resources from the land by rolling a certain dice combination. Only by actively trading and building can you collect enough points to win the game.
Obviously, that’s an extremely abridged summary of the game, but Catan does a really good job of porting the game to Android. Newbies can learn how to play the game through tutorials – a great feature for beginners trying to familiarize themselves with the rules of the game. That just goes to show how thoughtful the developer was when making the game. In addition to the usual classic game mode, players can also complete other tasks and earn bonus points for reaching certain milestones. An example of that is building more port cities in order to get two extra bonus points at the end of the game.
Besides the helpful tutorials, fun gameplay and good first impressions, I can’t continue without mentioned some of the game’s drawbacks.
First off, the game is a bit unfair and unbalanced, which causes quite a bit of frustration for the player. Why in the world does the computer always place the robber (a figure game piece that blocks a playing field) on the playing fields of other players while another AI player is obviously winning by a mile? Why are the computer players constantly trading stuff between each other for absolutely no reason? Of course, there are ways to prevent them from doing so, but that really kills the game. That kind of stuff is unacceptable. Adding different difficulty levels could be a possible solution.
Two other major drawbacks are the limitation on additional functions and the installation size. Just as Android is trying to deal with the problem of devices having too little internal memory, Catan comes around with a 35MB installation file! Is this a joke or have these people gone out of there mind? Basically, this means that a lot of devices will never be able to download the game.
Also, forcing in-app purchases down users’ throats isn’t a good idea. Having to pay €2.99 is bad enough, so asking for additional money is just flat out wrong and over the top.
Bottom Line:
Catan definitely deserves a four star rating when considering both the pros and cons of the game.
For those of you that play Catan exclusively in multiplayer among your friends, the game is a total blast without any downsides.
Screen & Controls
Section rating:
As I already mentioned, Catan really scores well in this category. A great first impression, fluid menu controls, a good presentation with beautiful graphics – it all sounds like a perfect game.
Unfortunately, the controls aren’t nearly as good on the HTC Desire. The screen turns black during the game if I don’t press for too long (that’s definitely a bug). After I turn the screen back on, some of the buttons stop working and pinch-to-zoom works pretty poorly.
This could obviously have something to do with my device, so I am open to feedback and discussion. For the time being, I’m giving Catan four stars because a game needs to more than just pretty eye-candy.
Speed & Stability
Section rating:
Catan runs smoothly and without any crashes aside from the little bugs mentioned in the previous category.
Price/Performance Ratio
Section rating:
Catan offers a lot of fun for €2.99 ($4.39) and is available from the AndroidPIT App Center.
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Catan
Samsung Users: Please note the information on download issues in the FAQ below. "Catan", (...)
Samsung Users: Please note the information on download issues in the FAQ below. "Catan", (...)
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Aug 22, 2011 5:04:15 PM
I was NEVER a big fan of Settlers of Catan. I just don't have the patience for the real game and it evokes memories of high school kids sitting around a table playing this stuff for hours on end. In fact, many of my coworkers continue to get together on the weekends to play it. I just can't understand the appeal of it. Reminds me too much of Dungeons and Dragons and other geeky games. So i'm not even going to give this Android app a try no matter how good it is.
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Market Comments
Zena, Apr 18, 2012
Great game Love settlers of catan & it takes WAY less time than the classic board game.
Cyber, Apr 16, 2012
When the game feels the need to cheat during campaign mode, I want to throw my phone. Instead I choose not to play your game. I love Settlers & want to support this product but 6 turns of 2 & 12 being the only roles or excessive 7's or knight cards stealing 5 resources in a round is just pathetic.
Ryan, Apr 16, 2012
Fix the buttons. The game is exacwwhat it should be., but the buttons are far too close to the edge/settings buttons on my Toshiba Thrive.
matthew, Apr 15, 2012
Very good Well thought out and good value. Close to board game. Impressive for phone app.
tiny, Apr 14, 2012
Needs Online/ Google Nexus Problems I love the Catan series games, however like others have said the font and icons are ridiculously tiny. Just adding this to help speed up this fix. Also being able to play online is a huge thing that will keep my glued. All and all good game though. Easy UI, nice and quick.
Josh, Apr 14, 2012
Great on tablet, terrible on my phone Don't buy this game (or the expansions for it) if you intend to play it on your phone. The buttons are way to small and things are too small to read. Clearly designed for tablet. Make it work better on phones and this review goes up to 5 stars.
Andrew, Apr 14, 2012
Not reinstalling untill fixed... Started fun, but continued enjoyment hampered by constant auto-resets, blatantly unfair AI/dice rolling, and a campaign that deletes progress.
Adrian, Apr 14, 2012
Addicting Works well on my google nexus s. Bit rubbish having to pay extra for the campaign, but seriously good game.
sebagr, Apr 14, 2012
Great game, issues in Galaxy Nexus I bought this game without hesitation because I also bought the iPhone version, but I was too disappointed when I found out it's rendered *really* small in my Galaxy Nexus screen (HD). The board itself is drawn ok, but the remaining artwork (menus, players, resources, setup, etc.) is really small. It seems it's all images and this app doesn't have the required high definition images for an HD screen. I hope the developers update this game soon. If it weren't for this issue, this would be a 5-star rating.
Amias, Apr 13, 2012
excellent but the graphics are tiny otherwise perfect but the sprites are tiny on my htc one x , only just readble and it impairs gameplay because of it. hoping for updates then i can give it five stars. thanks usm :)
Mike, Apr 13, 2012
Don't buy it The resolution is so bad I can't read the text. You have to pay $5 for the game and then it micro transactions you for more maps and the "story mode". Worst purchase I've made on my phone.
Simon, Apr 13, 2012
Not bad so far Bug report: trying treasure island campaign. Settlement in NE corner. Road along coast. When clicking on boat next to it to move, focus shifts into SW corner of map. Unable to move boat
Jonathan, Apr 11, 2012
Ok but AI ruins it Settlers is a great game but the AI in the Android version must be improved. I always get the robber even if you are not in first place. Why? You should add a difficulty selection or something so I can set whether the AI is playing to win or playing to make sure I lose. Or at least make the AI make sense. Also, I cannot prove it but it really seems like the dice favor what the AI has over me. I have played many games and I have never had a "lucky" game where the dice tend to favor me but I have had many "unlucky" games where I go the hold game with only a couple rolls on my 6 or 8 space.
Michael, Apr 10, 2012
Dice not random and crashes abound I like settlers but the dices is not random it rolls 5 most of the time and the computer will always trade 1:1 with each other making it difficult to play against them The game also crashes my phone regularly. My DROIDX restarts 3+ times a game.
Brendan, Apr 10, 2012
Great app but Would love to see a custom board creation tool so i can make my own maps. Adding this would increase to 5 star
Enteri, Apr 9, 2012
The so loves to put the robber on your tile I was a shoe in for the victory and the ai kept putting the robber on my tile long after I had lost the lead. I would say 9out of 10 times. They stole my ore every time.
Lisa, Apr 8, 2012
AI cheats Like this game, but in 30 games I have not won a single one. I'll have the max roads, cities, and settlements and still end up losing. It is consistently 3:1 and you hardly ever get a trade. And, this game throws chance and probability to the wind. There is no way the dice will roll the ai's number 7 times in a row. Poorly done.
Danny
Tried on Archos 101. The buttons are unresponsive / laggy and offset to the right on my device.