Everybody loves a good board game. Catan is one of the best out there, and it can be hard to find a new one that has all the same features. This article will give you five games like Catan so you can enjoy your favorite kind of gameplay with friends or family.
What Is Catan Board Game?
Scientific Games Corporation is the creator of Catan. The company has been around since 1971 and produces many games, most famously Monopoly and Scrabble. In 1995, they created a number-based board game that came with hexagonal tiles set in various places on different landscapes like deserts or fields. Players compete to build their own civilization and complete goals through numbers, which they can do either alone or with other players.
The game is ideal for family nights because it’s easy to learn and has very few rules that are simple but fun. You don’t need much space to play, so you can easily take the game everywhere you go. There are many expansions available as well if you want to add more depth or difficulty.
The Gameplay of Catan Board Game
The game is usually played between three and four people, but you can also play with two or five. Each player takes a different color to differentiate their pieces from other players’, which consists of 18 roads, 12 settlements, and six cities. You roll the dice in order to collect resource cards like brick, lumberjack wood, sheep wool, or gold. You can choose to collect one resource per turn, just like in real life.
All players must be careful because if another player surrounds them with a city or settlement during their own turn before that happens, then they are out for good. The game ends when only one person is left standing after all other players’ pieces are removed from the board.
Why Do You Need to Play This Game?
Since Catan is so simple, it’s one of the best games for people who are new to board gaming. It can be very difficult to find a game that fits every player’s skill level well enough, but Catan does this with ease because nobody gets left behind.
You may have come up with an unbeatable strategy before only for someone else to beat you next time around! This makes the replay value high overall. Since players start off even too, no one has any advantages over others at first unless they choose certain expansions during setup.
What Games Like Catan?
Games like Catan are becoming more and more popular as time goes on, but there aren’t many games that can live up to the original. The best way to enjoy your favorite style of gameplay is with one of these five alternatives:
| Image | Product | |
|---|---|---|
Best Catan Alternative  | Castles of Burgundy
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Best for Card Game Lovers  | Bohnanza
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Best for Strategic Players  | Concordia
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Best for People Who Like Planning Ahead  | Power Grid
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Best for People Who Like A Bit of Luck  | Mission: Red Planet
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1. Castles of Burgundy – Best Catan Alternative
This game is another strategy title like Catan, but there are more variations in how you can play it. Each player has a number of pawns that they move across the board to collect resources and build their own civilization from scratch. In order to win, you must have one of each resource card when all tiles on your side of the field have been used up by every other player.The difference between both games comes with what kind of cards you get throughout gameplay because Castles gives players only three options: take a certain amount from different piles or draw new cards altogether. If you don’t want to take a specific card, you can use your pawns’ movement points in order to buy them from the bank instead. Trading is also very different since players keep their cards between each turn and there are no dice involved at all.
Gameplay
Each player has a certain number of actions (which depends on the size of your board) that they can use to collect resources, move their pieces around, and trade with other people. The more cards you have at any given time, the fewer amount of moves you may make until it reaches zero if you choose not to buy another one. You must always be able to do something during each turn or else pass; there is no stopping once everyone starts moving! This also happens when someone gets too many points worth in buildings on their own side so this way makes winning much harder than Catan does since nothing stops them from achieving victory except for themselves.
You may receive something that you were looking for or wind up with an unwanted card instead depending on how it works because there aren’t many options to choose from at the beginning of each game either.
Details
- Game Time: 30–90 Min
- Age: 12+
- Players: 2-4
Final Thoughts
There isn’t much fighting over resources here like Catan has because winning only depends on your own skills rather than someone else’s actions (or lack thereof). There are expansions available too if this doesn’t give players enough variety and more ways to win overall; maybe even riskier ones where everything can be taken away at once!
2. Bohnanza – Best for Card Game Lovers
Another board game like Catan, Bohnanza is a trading title that can be played without using any real money because players use beans instead. This way makes it much more interesting and fun overall because each bean has its own value in points too; you may not even need to win the actual match in order to come out ahead! You can also give away cards freely (except for your “bean field” where seven are placed at once) so this adds another dynamic element to gameplay whenever someone else wins.Gameplay
The game starts with each player getting seven cards (and one more per turn) in order to plant on their own field. You can then trade these beans among other players or use them for yourself depending on what they are worth; this is why you need the card of whatever kind it makes so that everyone else knows which bean you want!
There isn’t any fighting over specific resource types like Catan has either since there are no “victory points” involved except for how many people give up on a certain type because of taking too many losses at once. This way keeps things interesting and allows anyone who knows how to trade and manage their hand well enough to win; you can even play without trading if you’d like!
Details
- Game Time: 45 Min
- Age: 14+
- Players: 2-7
Final Thoughts
This is a great game for anyone who loves trading and building up their hand with many different cards to choose from. You can even play it online if you don’t have enough players or the right ones available so this makes Bohnanza one of the best Catan alternatives out there without using money!
3. Concordia – Best for Strategic Players
Concordia is a combination of worker placement and trading where you place your workers in different regions to collect goods or build new structures. You are allowed to trade these goods with other players too since the more stuff you have; the better chance you stand at winning! This also means that each player gets an equal number of turns before it’s anyone else’s turn again so this adds another twist on Catan’s gameplay style while allowing for both strategy and luck overall.There isn’t any fighting over resources here so you can focus on building up your own empire in secret but since everyone starts with two workers, there is a chance that someone else may take something from another player.
Gameplay
Each player starts with two workers and is given a random role card to use for trading or taking money from other players. You can also build up buildings and send workers to take goods from the different regions, but be careful because you can also lose everything if your worker fails!
There is an event deck that players draw cards from each turn which makes things more interesting as well. The top row represents events where everyone gains or loses something (or nothing at all) while the bottom one shows what happens when a card with a certain color is drawn by someone, this means that it’s time for another player’s turn again. This way keeps gameplay moving quickly even though every decision counts so try not to get too greedy in Concordia!
Details
- Game Time: 90 Min
- Age: 14+
- Players: 2-5
Final Thoughts
Concordia is one of the best board games like Catan since it uses a similar style, adds in some unique features, and allows you to trade with other players. You can even play online if you don’t have anyone around who enjoys this type of game so check it out!
4. Power Grid – Best for People Who Like Planning Ahead
Power Grid is a strategy game where players start with only $2000 and must build up their electrical empire by buying power plants to supply regions with electricity. You can also buy other utilities like water treatment facilities which make the price go higher but give you more victory points, or even transport your goods (for money) across rivers that will help pay for everything else as well! This means that you need to plan ahead in PowerGrid because if someone runs out of money; they’re forced to sell off all their stuff which could ruin them completely since there are no refunds here.Gameplay
There are two main types of money here; cash and power plants. You can use your cash to buy anything (including the other utilities) but if you run out before someone else does, there’s no chance for them to pay you back!
You also need at least one region that produces coal or oil in order to provide fuel for all those power plants which make this game more challenging than others where everything takes place entirely in players’ minds. Either way though, building an empire from scratch while fighting against evil Lyons is surprisingly fun even though it can be a bit difficult to win!
Details
- Game Time: 90 Min
- Age: 13+
- Players: 2-6
Final Thoughts
Power Grid is an interesting game since it’s more about planning ahead instead of being able to react quickly, but this makes the gameplay feel smoother. This way you have time to think over what you should buy or sell off while players who don’t plan as much may get stuck with a bad hand and sabotage their chances at winning which can be frustrating sometimes.
5. Mission: Red Planet – Best for People Who Like A Bit of Luck
Mission: Red Planet is a game where players take on the role of colonists who must explore Mars for resources and complete missions to earn money. You can even play online if you don’t have anyone around who enjoys this type of board game so check it out!Gameplay
Each player will begin by choosing one character with different abilities which we’ll use throughout the course of each round; they also get their own starting gear (and income) along with two cards from the red planet deck depending on what kind of terrain they land in that turn.
The main goal here is to make money which you can do by completing missions or selling off your resources, but there’s a catch. You have to buy equipment and fuel tanks from the market before heading out on a mission otherwise it will cost you more in the end if someone else finds those items first!
Details
- Game Time: 90-120 Min
- Age: 13+
- Players: 2-6
Final Thoughts
Mission: Red Planet can be a bit harder than other board games like Catan since there’s an element of luck involved in the red planet deck which adds more randomness to each round, but it also helps keep things interesting.
If you don’t want too much risk then this game probably isn’t for you though since players may not get what they need when attempting missions or won’t make enough money if they aren’t lucky with their cards during trade negotiations!
People Also Ask
How many games like Catan are there?
There's a large number of board games similar to Catan since it is one of the most popular tabletop experiences, but few have reached this level!
How long do most games take?
Most tabletop experiences last between an hour or two so there's not really a time limit unless someone decides they want to speed things up since it doesn't matter how long each round takes. However, some titles like Agricola tend to go on longer than others which are why Power Grid has players end rounds after 90 minutes instead of using turns for all actions!
Is it fun playing with people who are new to these types of board games?
Yes, actually newcomers make these kinds of titles more because they may approach situations in a different way. Even if you lose it's interesting to see what strategies people use and that can help encourage more board game nights in the future!
How many games are there in the Catan series?
There are five tabletop experiences that can be included in this list, but some may consider Seafarers to be a spin-off instead of one of the main ones!
Is Power Grid hard to learn how to play?
What does luck mean when reviewing board games like Catan? Luck means whether players get lucky with equipment cards found during missions or if draw good numbers from an area when trading, but it's mostly about how lucky you are with the random red planet cards because they can really affect players!
How many Catan expansions exist?
There are two board game expansions including Seafarers which adds more islands that players must explore while The Rivers gives each area its own special mana type + six additional scenarios to try out too!
Summary
Catan is a great game that you can play with friends or family at any time. There are many other options out there if you’re looking for something similar, so check out the list above.