Germany
Very
good
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Catan – A classic
Tested version: 3.0.2
Latest version: 3.0.2
Requires Android: from 1.6
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Summary
We love to see when game developers continuously update and improve their applications. A good case in point would be our pals over at USM—Catan has been updated multiple times, but the question remains: can we really benefit from any of these changes?
Find out in our review below.
Features & Use
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You may have read Yan’s review of the game which we published a year and a half ago. He was fairly gaga over this game, praising it for its excellent adaption for Android. 18 months later, the developers have updated the game a few times and we felt it was time to revisit it to see what was new.
To quote Yan’s conclusion:
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.
Upon first installing Catan you will be asked to install the additional 20 MB file. I don’t quite get why these 20 MB weren’t integrated into the original APK, but oh well.
To get back to what I was wondering about in the introduction: how has Catan been improved?
My first impression: there’s much more content. Along with the Seafarers expansion there is now also the Cities and Knights expansion to try out; this new adition is also only available via in-app purchase (see details in the Price/Performance category). It’s up to every player to decide whether they want to spend the money to play the new expansion—I decided to go for it and can honestly say that I don’t regret my decision. The new expansion guarantees several hours of fun. I conquer with the developers when they claim that Catan 3.0: “Cities and Knights” expansion (IAP) now available, numerous optimizations to base game!“
Catan feels more tailored and complete than the previous version of the game. You can pick which opponents you wish to step up against or else make a random decision. I also noticed that the opponents are much fairer – and don’t form alliances amongst each other – in this new version. If you’ve read Yan’s review you’ll know that this was something he really stressed as his main critique of the game.
Lite versions of the expansion are also available, though these are more overviews of the games than actual playable expansion.
If we felt like nit picking we might comment on the fact that there’s no multiplayer mode, but I’m not even sure a multiplayer mode would make sense for this type of game.
Therefore, the only real critiques would be that there’s still no tablet-optimised version of the game, and that it isn’t possible to export saved scores.
Bottom line:
Catan is a well-made game overall, and the type of game that personally will revisit over and over again.
The only real strikes against this top-notch game are the high in-app purchase options.
That said, if you are anything like me and were a big Catan fan as a kid this app is a clear must-have.
Screen & Controls
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The Catan controls are much smoother—though to be fair I should point out that this inherent smoothness may also boil down to the actual devices I’ve tested this game on (after all, smartphone technology has improved by leaps and bounds over the past year and a half).
I tested the new version on the Nexus 4 and it was easier to navigate and felt smoother overall than the previously tested version on th HTC One X.
The only thing that’s missing is a tablet version of the game. Controls are not as good when playing on a tablet, and the same thing goes fort he otherwise excellent graphics: below par on the tablet. If this weren’t the case we would be awarding the app a full five stars in this category.
Speed & Stability
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I tested the latest version of Catan over a period of several days. The app crashed once but aside from that it fared rather well.
Price/Performance Ratio
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Catan is available for €2.99 from the AndroidPIT App Center, and the in-app purchases for additional campaigns also cost €2.99 each.
STOP PRESS: Catan is our app of the week and is available for only €1.49 for one whole week.
Developer
Top App:
Catan
Catan 3.0: “Cities and Knights” expansion (IAP) now available, numerous optimizations to (...)
Catan 3.0: “Cities and Knights” expansion (IAP) now available, numerous optimizations to (...)
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Market Comments
A Google User, May 5, 2013
Multiplayer? Great app for fans who want to play a simple game with a computer. However this could greatly be enhanced by introducing multi player much in the same way "words with friends" emails you when its your turn. With such a feature this app gets old unless your just looking to kill time.
A Google User, May 3, 2013
Glitch City This game glitches half way through. It skips turns, says I don't have enough resources when I do. It let's me put roads out for computer players, etc. And it doesn't get fixed when force stopping the app or even restarting the phone. Garbage!
A Google User, Apr 30, 2013
Great game! Love this board game, and the phone version is easy to learn and exciting.
A Google User, Apr 30, 2013
Inconsistent Game Rules Besides AI being able to see what resources you have and you not being able to see theirs, I think the deal breaker, after numerous games figuring out the rules, was the fact that I can only build five settlements but the AI can build as many as possible allowing it to win all the time.
A Google User, Apr 30, 2013
What happened After the last 2 updates this has been continuously crashing poor programming do not buy Poor coding poor support don't waste your money
A Google User, Apr 28, 2013
Great, but.. Why does it use the 3D graphics. This game drains my phone battery because of it. Make a 2D mode so I save battery and you'd get 5 stars.
A Google User, Apr 27, 2013
Buy more, buy more, BUY MORE! Price is right lie you have to buy 'expansions' to get what should be basic features such as a campaign mode. Tutorials were poor and it keeps opening a random one instead on the one I selected. Buy the time I had gone through them all it was too late to get the refund I wanted.
A Google User, Apr 27, 2013
Spiel, Spaß, Spannung Wenn man erstmal die Regeln gelernt hat, hat das Spiel riesen Suchtpotenzial. Ist sein Geld absolut wert. Ein geräteübergreifender Multiplayer Modus wäre wünschenswert, alternativ ein sich drehendes Spielfeld auf Tablet. Läuft ohne Probleme auf Galaxy S2 und Galaxy Tab 2 7.0
A Google User, Apr 27, 2013
Good, but needs better AI and multiplayer The AI isn't intelligent enough. Frequently AI characters do things that do not help them and which make no sense. While hot seat multiplayer is a selectable option, it's not fun to play by passing the phone around. Online play connected to the game's pc servers would be great, but even if that isn't possible multiplayer with people on the same network (like the iPhone Ticket to Ride) would be good. -1 star for poor ai -1 star for lack of online or local network multiplayer
A Google User, Apr 27, 2013
Frozen screen I'm using a Samsung galaxy tab 10''. After clicking on create game, the options disappear and the screen freezes. Please fix soon!
A Google User, Apr 25, 2013
Great but buggy... Catan is a good port of the classic board game. My girlfriend and I play it often. Unfortunately this game has some bugs, which are very annoying. Often, the first player is not able to offer trades with other players. Sometimes man cannot apply the new position of the robber, when moved, so the game doesn't go on. And other bugs occurred. When these things are fixed, it'd be a perfect port and I'd buy extensions.
A Google User, Apr 25, 2013
Pretty good. No online multilayer, minus one star. Too much is an in app purchase, minus one star. Computer failed to win on even the first attempt. This NEEDS online multilayer to be worth anything!
A Google User, Apr 22, 2013
Can't Play Online... Would rate higher if it were possible. Still a good version but without online play its not worth the $$$.
A Google User, Apr 22, 2013
Wheat and oar Go for wheat and oar upgrade to citys before you build any more and you will win just about every game
A Google User, Apr 22, 2013
Can't win against AI. I've literally played 25 games with 1 win. The game favors the computer ai and the same guy wins almost every time. Even if he's in dead last. I enjoy it as afar as sratagy goes but the the ai can't allow me to win. Its fun but horrible too. 2 stars for crappy AI.
I would be willing to buy and even buy the upgrades as I am a big fan BUT with all these crash reports, I am afraid to waste the money. GET A DEMO VERSION PEOPLE CAN TRY. Guaranteed you will get more sales ... if it works.