Caracassonne vs. Settlers of Catan?
- Thread starter Iron_Chef
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Hypersmurf
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Really enjoyed both of these games, too. Simply: Carcassone is milder on strategy and faster on gameplay than Settlers, but check out boardgamegeek for detailed analysis.
Settlers has a small problem of runaway losers, though. The game is moderately long, but by halfway into it (when the expansion phase is mostly done), it is easy to identify at least one person who has absolutely no shot at victory. It becomes an extremely long game for that person. This problem is compounded with the expansions, which increase the length of the game.
-Clint
Settlers has a small problem of runaway losers, though. The game is moderately long, but by halfway into it (when the expansion phase is mostly done), it is easy to identify at least one person who has absolutely no shot at victory. It becomes an extremely long game for that person. This problem is compounded with the expansions, which increase the length of the game.
-Clint
Iron_Chef
First Post
My main concerns are 1) it looks like you don't get to kill anything in either game, and resource management doesn't interest my group by itself (at least at first glance --- I'm not ruling it out, but we never play games where we don't get to kill and dominate our opponents, LOL), and 2) the boards/pieces don't look "cool" like AH or Zombies (Carc's abstract wooden "people" vs. AH/Zombies realistic plastic minis for example), making them harder for me to immerse myself in. Knowing this, does it sound like my group would still enjoy either game?
Seonaid
Explorer
After reading all of the thread up until your "main concerns" post, I would have agreed with the majority and added that I prefer Carcassonne (with a possibly lengthy discourse as to why). After that post, though, I would say that of those two, your best bet is Settlers with the Cities & Knights expansion. It's not exactly killing, but it's as close as you'll get with those two games.
Holy Bovine
First Post
Iron_Chef said:
Once you have started to build a map in Carcassone it quickly becomes all about the tiles. I found the tiles to be beautifully done and monsterous cities build up out of a few people vieing for control of it. It is an easy game to learn but can be difficult to master. There is a great deal of competition in it but no 'combat' per say. That being said I have seen games of Carcassone get more competitive than any game of Axis & Allies.
Settlers of Catan is overshadowed, IMO, by Starfarers of Catan. I liked Settlers of Catan but found I enjoyed Starfarers much, much more. It involves exploring the galaxy at large and placing colonies on far flung planets while making contact with alien races and battleing pirates. You still don't get to fight each other but it feels like you do as pirates (drawn from an event deck) are played by your opponents (cards will say stuff like - 2nd person on your right plays the pirates). Settlers is good but is beaten by Starfarers. If you want more interaction and 'combat' between players Starfarers does come closest to this. Regretfully the cost of the game is quite high - about $60 US with one expasion bringing in 5& 6 players pieces (and more planets and alien races) for about $30 US.
As has been mentioned there are several variations of Settlers of Catan available. One that has not been mentioned is Settlers of Caanan. I played this recently with my game group. The game's owner discribed it as "Settler's Greatest Hits" since it seems to combine the elements that most of the players prefer from the other games.
That said I still like Carcassonne better. It tends to be a nail-biter down to the final tile with my group.
That said I still like Carcassonne better. It tends to be a nail-biter down to the final tile with my group.
jmucchiello
Hero
None of the suggested games involve killing anything. They are strategy games. Strategy games tend to involve resource management. Neither game has a lot of "Ha HA Got YOu!!!!" moments. There's nothing immersive about either game either. I suppose you could name your settlements in Catan and make trades as the chieftain of each place. But since you can't go to war with one another, this would be silly.Iron_Chef said:
Likewise, the tile-laying of Carc is very abstract.
Have you tried Runebound or Dungeoneer?
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Maerdwyn
First Post
In this case, and depending on the size of the group, I would suggest some others instead. As stated by others, if 1) and 2) are concerns of the group, the two you're looking at may not be the best fit, despite the really excellent gameplay of both. Instead, I'm going to mention a few games I'd suggest you try first, if you haven't already. (If you've been boardgaming for longer than a few years, you've probably played/own some or all of these, as they've been around for a long time. If that's the case, sorry. Still, if you haven't got them, they're worth a look, as theme-wise, they seem to fit some of your criteria.) Re: the older games -- most of these are better with larger groups, and tend to run longer than some of the more modern games mentioned so far. Anyway, FWIW, here goes:Iron_Chef said:
1) Age of Mythology - Actually, this one isn't old, and it's for 2-4 players - but it's still about 3-4 hours, rather than the 1.5 for Carc or Settlers. It came out last year or the year before and is the easily best game that Eagle Games has put out. All of their games have beautiful pieces, but Age of Mythology is, in fact, an excellent game based on the MS computer game of the same name. Very nice balance of resource management and combat. You can check out Eagles other games (Sid Meier's Civilization, American Civil War, etc.) for more *fantastic* bits, but the games themselves aren't as good, IMHO.
2) The new Hasbro edition of Diplomacy is very pretty, and seems like it would be great for you guys if you can come up with the players (5-7. 7 is easily best). There is absolutely no luck involved, and the negotiation leads to great immersiveness. 4+ hours.
3)A Game of Thrones, a (very light) wargame based on the George RR Martin books, which apparently takes a lot from Diplomacy, though I haven't played it yet. It's gotten great reviews since it came out at GenCon last year, and it might be worth a look.
4) Junta is another large-group, backstabbing-oriented game, with added bonus of being rather un-PC, Banana Republic fun for a larger group. The bits aren't as attractive, but it's quite immersive, especially if your group can manage really bad accents. 4 hours+
5) Illuminati - The money chits and the very funny, full-color cards are all you get for bits, but it's very satisfying to use the Orbital Mind Control Laser to transform the Congressional Wives into a Communist organization so they have better chance to destroy California, all in the service of Cthulhu. Playable with 3, best with 5-6. 2-4 hours.
6) Formula De - Lighter than the others mentioned, but a blast to play. Car racing theme; polygonal dice-based. No outright killing, but you can use your secondary car to crash into an opponent
Comes with a pretty, double sided gameboard, and other gameboards are available to mix up the racing. 1-2 hours, 2-10 players.
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