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Real-Time Settlers of Catan

robert.ocallahan.org

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Re: Real-Time Settlers of Catan

#71

Post by vikingerik »

komadori wrote: post #36
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…

Indeed, I prefer to openly display information that, were it kept nominally secret, could be determined anyway via lots of tedious bookkeeping.

For standard Catan, the resources aren't quite perfectly determinable - when one player robs another, any players besides those two don't know which resource changed hands. There is a valid argument from that that resources should be fully concealed. Everybody can track how many of each resource currently exists in total, but they don't always know who holds which ones.

Re: Real-Time Settlers of Catan

#72

Post by nimih »

komadori wrote: post #36
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…

Indeed, I prefer to openly display information that, were it kept nominally secret, could be determined anyway via lots of tedious bookkeeping.

This was my staunch opinion for a long time, but I've actually come around to the idea that many games are improved by having some degree of hidden information which is in-theory trackable by players, since it allows a certain sort of player to take their turn much more rapidly (i.e. it mitigates "analysis paralysis"). I don't think it's true for every game, obviously, (IMO it would be a poor house rule to make in 1830, for instance), but I've become a lot more willing to trust designers' decisions on what information should be public vs. hidden as my taste in board games has developed over time.

(For the record, I have no opinion on the value of hidden vs public information as a design decision in Catan.)

Re: Real-Time Settlers of Catan

#73

Post by darkwizard42 »

epolanski wrote: post #10

Slightly ot any interesting boards game you can recommend for a couple?

If you are okay with a deck-building card game, we like Dominion a lot (https://www.riograndegames.com/games/dominion/)

The game objective is to use the rotating 10 types of cards in the middle and always available upgraded coins to buy victory points. Can be very strategic with two players and is lots of fun because the 10 cards in the middle always change game to game. With even 1 expansion it really improves the flavor.

Re: Real-Time Settlers of Catan

#75

Post by thelibrarian »

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…

My house rule to fix Settlers of Catan is to play other, better games.

Re: Real-Time Settlers of Catan

#77

Post by doctorpangloss »

jncfhnb wrote: post #58
doctorpangloss wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

I like the game. I’m saying it’s not a meaningful strategy game. It’s basically competitive dice rolling. Escape, by comparison, is literally rolling dice. But you have to make some real decisions. Anyway, they’re both good, and people should try both.

Re: Real-Time Settlers of Catan

#78

Post by plorkyeran »

jncfhnb wrote: post #59
rtpg wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Catan was many people’s first exposure to a strategic board game that isn’t elimination-based. When your idea of what a board game is is defined by games like Monopoly or Risk, Catan is revelatory in a way that makes you try to convince everyone to give it a try, and so it became relatively mainstream.

Re: Real-Time Settlers of Catan

#79

Post by vanderZwan »

nimih wrote: post #72
komadori wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Indeed, I prefer to openly display information that, were it kept nominally secret, could be determined anyway via lots of tedious bookkeeping.

This was my staunch opinion for a long time, but I've actually come around to the idea that many games are improved by having some degree of hidden information which is in-theory trackable by players, since it allows a certain sort of player to take their turn much more rapidly (i.e. it mitigates "analysis paralysis"). I don't think it's true for every game, obviously, (IMO it would be a poor house rule to make in 18…

I wonder how much you would enjoy (or hate) Bruno Faidutti's games, they are all about hidden information, scheming and bluffing.

"Maskerade" especially, because there you often don't even know for certain which character you are yourself. Everyone is just pretending, scheming and bluffing the time. Which I suppose really captures the idea of scheaming at Renaissance courts.

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