Comment by jader201 | Hacker News Reader

Comment by jader201 | Hacker News Reader

Parent Full thread

If I’m following your logic, in that Monopoly is the opposite of fun, and Catan is the opposite of Monopoly, then you’re saying Catan is the definition of fun.

Catan is definitely fun, compared to Monopoly, but there are many games I’d much rather play than Catan (coming from someone that had to talk his wife into playing it a few days ago after about 5+ years of not playing it, due to the previous — and only — time we played it taking 3 hours over two days). I’ve played it with others, and on Switch, though.

My biggest gripe about Catan is it’s heavy reliance on luck.

Of course, that’s my subjective opinion.

Some of my recent favorites (in no particular order) that all rely quite a bit less on luck:

- Terraforming Mars

- Brass Birmingham

- Hansa Teutonica

- Kanban EV

- Pax Pamir

- Castles of Burgundy

- Scythe

- On Mars

Sorry, just geeking out a bit, since the subject came up.

Those are all great games and great suggestions, but they are also very heavy and and long games. Even with skilled players, you won't be able to complete a session of Terraforming Mars in less than two hours.

While Catan is not a perfect game, it's a perfect beginners game: a bit of luck, but a bit of strategy, lots of player interaction, and not too long. At the same time, it also shows its age, in that there are newer games that are beginner friendly and eliminate some of Catan's shortcomings.

Your main point, however, is still often forgotten: the oars games have come a long way since 1935 and even 1997.

If anyone wants to learn more about this, there are excellent and very friendly communities at boardgamegeek.com and reddit.com/r/boardgames

Yeah, these can definitely be a bit longer. Catan can also take a bit, though, particularly if you’re unlucky or playing with people that don’t trade (which can be frustrating).

For more beginner friendly + shorter games, though, I’d still recommend several over Catan:

- Carcassonne - Ticket to Ride - Splendor - 7 Wonders - Pandemic - Codenames - Azul

Those are all excellent beginner friendly recommendations. In general, the Spiel des Jahres are quite good suggestions, offering enough depth for long-term play, yet being easy enough to learn.

Those are good games too, but Codenames (one of my all-time faves) is radically simpler, quieter and less social than Catan; IME it's great fun for the spymasters but can be less engaging for other players at times. (shrug)

Reply on news.ycombinator.com