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Real-Time Settlers of Catan

robert.ocallahan.org

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Re: Real-Time Settlers of Catan

#51

Post by stevage »

cdelsolar wrote: post #35
demiculus wrote: post #26

Hello, I'm Demi from https://colonist.io team. I love this. It feels like what Bananagram did to scrabble. Scrabble -> Waiting turns Bananagram -> Everyone plays at the same time The difference in fun is 10x. We will use your app to see how it plays out. We might just end up implementing it :)

Cesar from the https://woogles.io team - bananagrams is definitely not nearly as fun as Scrabble :)

They're just different. I never play Scrabble with friends because it's too serious and competitive. Banana grams is light and fun and unpredictable.

Re: Real-Time Settlers of Catan

#52

Post by ryandrake »

declan_roberts wrote: post #18

> Settlers of Catan is still a fine game, but can be tedious when you have to wait for other players to take long turns One house rule we use that dramatically speeds up the game is open-hand resources. No more asking "Does anybody have...?" incessantly. Just look around and get ready for your trade. The bulk of game time is actually just trading. We also remove the bandit and rolling an 7 is an automatic free resour…

Interesting twist. Our group would never have agreed to play open-handed resources. We were all bastards. IMO one of the best parts of the game was that opponent's hands were secret unless you went through the effort of keeping track of their hands. That information imbalance opened up many underhanded and shrewd trading strategies. We also would allow dishonorable trading, like offering a trade you couldn't fulfill, to goad your opponent into revealing whether he would take it, valuable information. We also allowed making side deals, like "trade me two stone and two wheat as a protection bribe and I'll never put the robber on you."

Did you also play with the development cards open-handed? That would be a twist, too, because a lot of the end game is about wondering whether or not your opponents' cards gave them points advantages, whether they were going for largest army, and so on.

Re: Real-Time Settlers of Catan

#54

Post by stevage »

ddek wrote: post #13
mentos wrote: post #3

Was kind of hoping this was browser based version of the game. I have no friends to play with ha I searched apparently ‘Space Alert’ is the most popular real time board game? Can anyone vouch or recommend one that is known for being real time?

Space Alert is silly and fun and cooperative. Everyone also is forced to mention Galaxy Trucker as it’s also silly and fun, but the real time nature is quite isolated, and I prefer interactive games. Trading games like Chinatown and Sidereal Confluence often have real time phases for deal-making, of those two Sidereal is the better game by far but Chinatown is the one you’ll actually play. Finally no real time board…

Galaxy trucker is so dull! Can never see the appeal.

Whereas I never really get sick of space Alert. It's tricky and engaging and interesting and depends a lot on the group.

Re: Real-Time Settlers of Catan

#55

Post by stevage »

smrq wrote: post #17
mentos wrote: post #3

Was kind of hoping this was browser based version of the game. I have no friends to play with ha I searched apparently ‘Space Alert’ is the most popular real time board game? Can anyone vouch or recommend one that is known for being real time?

In my humble opinion, Space Alert can't be beat. Just prepare to explode a lot; like any good co-op, there's a learning curve. After you get hooked, get the expansion, which comes with an addictive character progression system with achievements (and ridiculously hard threats, for good measure).

I really wish there was a version 2 or something. There are lots of annoying quirks in space Alert which could be improved, like the interceptors which never get used. And the lack of any proper difficulty settings.

I'd love a proper Legacy style version of it. I bought the expansion but it seems to add a lot of complication without enough value.

Re: Real-Time Settlers of Catan

#56

Post by paulddraper »

ryandrake wrote: post #52
declan_roberts wrote: post #18

> Settlers of Catan is still a fine game, but can be tedious when you have to wait for other players to take long turns One house rule we use that dramatically speeds up the game is open-hand resources. No more asking "Does anybody have...?" incessantly. Just look around and get ready for your trade. The bulk of game time is actually just trading. We also remove the bandit and rolling an 7 is an automatic free resour…

Interesting twist. Our group would never have agreed to play open-handed resources. We were all bastards. IMO one of the best parts of the game was that opponent's hands were secret unless you went through the effort of keeping track of their hands. That information imbalance opened up many underhanded and shrewd trading strategies. We also would allow dishonorable trading, like offering a trade you couldn't fulfill,…

> unless you went through the effort of keeping track of their hands

I just don't find card counting to be a very fun or useful game mechanic.

Can I take a pencil and paper to my games? Does this really enhance the strategy?

Re: Real-Time Settlers of Catan

#57

Post by jncfhnb »

paulddraper wrote: post #56
ryandrake wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Interesting twist. Our group would never have agreed to play open-handed resources. We were all bastards. IMO one of the best parts of the game was that opponent's hands were secret unless you went through the effort of keeping track of their hands. That information imbalance opened up many underhanded and shrewd trading strategies. We also would allow dishonorable trading, like offering a trade you couldn't fulfill,…

> unless you went through the effort of keeping track of their hands I just don't find card counting to be a very fun or useful game mechanic. Can I take a pencil and paper to my games? Does this really enhance the strategy?

I’m not a catan player but I can’t imagine it’s not a hugely valuable piece of information

Re: Real-Time Settlers of Catan

#58

Post by jncfhnb »

doctorpangloss wrote: post #47
amadeuspagel wrote: post #44

What are simple realtime boardgames?

Escape: Curse of the Temple is probably the best balance of good and simple realtime board game. Captain Sonar is the one you will actually convince people to play though, because it is conceptually cool, even if it's kind of meaningless.

What are you talking about? The real time component is extremely important to captain sonar. The essence of the game is a rush to figure out your opponent’s location and then capitalize on it while they panic.

Re: Real-Time Settlers of Catan

#59

Post by jncfhnb »

rtpg wrote: post #27
declan_roberts wrote: post #18

> Settlers of Catan is still a fine game, but can be tedious when you have to wait for other players to take long turns One house rule we use that dramatically speeds up the game is open-hand resources. No more asking "Does anybody have...?" incessantly. Just look around and get ready for your trade. The bulk of game time is actually just trading. We also remove the bandit and rolling an 7 is an automatic free resour…

I always think about how Catan was this huge boost to board games, and then most games post-Catan are like "there is no trading." I enjoyed trading as a kid in Monopoly and friends but boy does it kill a game

I don’t understand catan’s appeal at all. It seems popular with a lot of people that aren’t at all interested in playing it at a deep level. Which is weird for such as long, involved game that has relatively little emergent gameplay.

Re: Real-Time Settlers of Catan

#60

Post by thaumasiotes »

jncfhnb wrote: post #57
paulddraper wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> unless you went through the effort of keeping track of their hands I just don't find card counting to be a very fun or useful game mechanic. Can I take a pencil and paper to my games? Does this really enhance the strategy?

I’m not a catan player but I can’t imagine it’s not a hugely valuable piece of information

I don't see why it would be. You can easily determine what resources a player is likely to have, and what they need, by looking at the fully public board.
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