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Free Online Settlers of Catan for the browser. Play online with your friends or random people from the internet. An alternative approach to PlayCatan, Catan Universe, Catan Anytime, Catan Board Game. As a pioneer on the island of Catan, your goal is to grow your settlement by producing and trading resources like grain, ore, and wood.
There are many places online where you can play Settlers of Catan, one of the most popular board games ever created. Some have pay-to-play models, but most are free.
Today we will be listing the best free to play Catan games on different platforms.
We will also be taking a look at what makes these games good, as well as the reasons why Catan players don’t visit them that much.
Colonist
An online game which you can play inside a browser, Colonist is considered to be the purest Catan implementation on the web. The base game is free and can be played online with up to 4 players. It also provides the option to be played versus AI.
Pros
- It's free!
- Easy to get into. Requires no downloads or sign-ups.
- If you want to play expansions only the host needs to have the expansion purchased and their friends can join in and play.
- A direct line of communication in Discord is available between the devs and its players, and the devs actually listen to players.
- The devs rapidly improve its gameplay, features, and quality.
- Updates are done on a weekly basis so you can be sure that the bug you reported this week will be gone next week. Or the one after.
- Can be played on mobile devices, tablets and also iPads via their web browser.
- Can be played on io game platforms such as iogames.space.
Cons
Colonist is a fairly new game hosted on a web platform. It has a lot of aspects to improve upon like:
Basic game free matches against two other human players (4-player matches and more modes available after purchase). Introductory game free matches Rivals for Catan against a human player (all Theme Sets of the base game available after purchase). “Arrival on Catan”: Master the challenges in all areas of the game to get more red CATAN suns. Multiple devices and cross platform. Play CATAN anywhere, anytime. On your smartphone, tablet, desktop or laptop computer: Play CATAN on any device. Download the game for free and start playing right away. One account, all devices: Get the app for Android, iOS, Mac and Windows. Go on a journey into the CATAN universe and compete in exciting duels against players from all over the world. The classic board game with numerous extensions and scenarios as well as the card game (Rivals for CATAN) bring a real gaming table feeling to your smartphone, tablet, PC, or Mac. CATAN dives into virtual worlds on Oculus Rift / Go.
- Graphics. There is much left to be desired in terms of in-game graphics and the UI.
- Since its a free game, it currently relies on advertisements to fund its operations.
- It doesn’t have an actual mobile application yet. Can only be accessed on mobile using the browser.
Catan Universe
It is hard to discuss Catan Universe without tackling PlayCatan.
PlayCatan was the best official Catan online game and fans of the original board game loved it. PlayCatan closed down in 2016 and was relaunched as Catan Universe.
Catan Universe is the current official Settlers of Catan online game that is available in multiple platforms, but mainly for PC.
Pros
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- It is the official video game version for the Settlers of Catan board game.
- It features multiplayer online play so you can play with other Catan players.
- It has 3D graphics which are pleasing to the eyes.
- All official expansions are available to play but have to be purchased separately.
- Has a native mobile application that works much better than the PC version.
Cons
- Players have to pay $5 to unlock the full base game. The free game mode is only a demo which has a standard map with 3 players and no multiplayer.
- The demo game only lets you play on random maps with 3 or 4 players, but not with friends.
- It is very buggy. Players have long reported the issues with bugs, game crashes, and glitches but the devs are not addressing it.
- They rank #60 position in worst games on Steam. This places Catan Universe at the bottom 0.2%.
- Mac users cannot play Catan Universe for more than a few minutes since Macs have integrated GPUs which are not enough to render high end Unity animations and shading. This causes Macs to warm up which results to slow performance making the game or any other apps unusable.
Xplorers - Asobrain Games
This game is filled with hardcore Catan players who will hand your backside at you on a regular basis.
Launched in 2004, Xplorers is the longest living Catan video game platform in history.
Pros
- Includes basic game as well as expansions like Seafarers, Cities and Knights, and 2 vs 2 teams.
- Community is healthy and player count is high.
- Completely free to play.
Cons
- To create a high end community, Xplorers was positioned as an exclusive platform. Players can only sign up with institutional emails, so public email providers like gmail are not allowed.
- New players would need to wait for 3 months to get approved and be able to play the game.
- Requires installation of plugins and 3rd party software via Java applet.
- Graphics and UI are not really that great.
Jsettlers
Was Initially created as an AI research project and was last updated back in 2018, Jsettlers only does major updates yearly.
Pros
- Completely free, no need to sign up to be able to play.
- Open source in Github where you can checkout the codebase or contribute.
Cons
- You need to download the source code, build it and run your own server.
- It is not hosted anywhere, so not a viable option unless you are very tech savvy.
- Originally meant to support web but cannot be played in native web, requires installation of plugins and 3d party software via Java applet.
- Graphics and UI are not great.
And there you have it. Good, free sites to scratch that itch to play Catan online anytime, anywhere, right from your fingertips.
Which ones are you playing on right now? What other sites can you recommend? Check out the comments in this reddit thread.
Reading Time: 5-7 Minutes
The Settlers of Catan, or just Catan, is a board game designed by Klaus Teuber and published by Catan Studio, a German company.
Catan was seen as one of the first Eurogame made in Germany to become famous outside of Europe. More than 27 million copies translated into 30 different languages had been sold as of 2019.
The game sees players immersing themselves in deep strategic thoughts, despite the game’s mechanics being very simple to learn. Grey anatomy season 3 complete torrent download.
Contents:
In Catan, players take on the role of the chief of a settlement. Each player would then attempt to build and develop territories and acquire resources.
As their settlement grows, each player gains victory points and the first to get 10 VPs, wins.
One victory point is given for each settlement and two for each city a player owns own. Other achievements like establishing the longest road and the largest army (by playing the most knight cards), grants a player additional victory points.
Players can also spend resource cards to buy development cards which gives special abilities.
To date, there have been many Settlers of Catan expansions that aims to enhance player experience and game variety. The most popular of these are:
Catan: Seafarers
The first Catan Expansion, Seafarers was released in 1997 and adds ships and exploration into the game. Teuber originally planned to have this in the base game but found it too problematic to implement.
It can be extended further using the Catan: Seafarers 5-6 Player Extension. A number of independent scenarios designed specifically for this expansion is also available.
Catan: Cities & Knights
This expansion was released in 1998 and redirects the game’s main theme from expansion to city-building.
Cities can now produce commodities, gain special privileges, and become metropolises as the game progresses further.
Considered to be the most advanced expansion for Catan, Cities and Knights has the infamy of not being able to combine well with other scenarios and variants.
It can further be expanded with the 5-6 player extension for more complex scenarios.
Catan: Traders & Barbarians
This expansion adds the option to play with only 2 players among other features. This expansion also introduces new options for the game like a harbormaster, a friendly robber, as well as in-game special events.
New wooden pieces and board tiles are also added including the ability to link different games to create unique campaigns.
Catan: Explorers & Pirates
The fourth and latest expansion of The Settlers of Catan was released in 2013. It includes 5 building scenarios and introduces new elements to the game.
Despite its similarities to Catan: Seafarers, Explorers and Pirates has a number of new additions like harbor settlements, crew members, pirate lairs, among other things.
It can also be expanded with the 5-6 player extension to further enhance the game’s experience.
Several variants and scenarios were released for the Settlers of Catan base game and its expansions. These are:
Legend of the Sea Robbers. This scenario sees a linear story unfolding over 4 chapters. It also introduces the Council of Catan: an organization that gives players special tasks to work on for the benefit of your clan. It also opens up new regions through the road and settlement building.
Crop Trust. This scenario introduces an organization named Crop Trust into the base game and sees players needing to cooperate with to alleviate the struggle for seed diversity.
It sees players balancing their need to harvest crops versus the need to store seeds for future use.
More like a ‘small expansion’, Helpers of Catan adds the computer opponent characters from the PC/Mac video game Catan - Cities and Knights as “Helper Cards” which can be used during gameplay.
Some Examples are:
- Candamir makes it easier for you to buy development cards
- Louis allows you to move a road
- Lin sends the robber back to the desert
Experts on the game say that Catan Helpers adds aspects of Cities and Knights to the Catan base game without making it overly complicated.
Frenemies. An overseeing body: Catan Guild, will reward players with favor tokens whenever they commit acts of good will like give away resources to players lagging behind, moving the robber piece to isolated locations, as well as connecting roads for opponents.
The Favor Tokens grant players different advantages such as free road building, development cards, random resources, potential traders, or even victory points.
Catan’s popularity led to the creation of spin-off games. Some directly connected to the game and some to popular titles in pop culture. The most notable of these are:
Starfarers. A newer version of Starfarers of Catan, originally released in 1999, that contains completely new designs and game materials, revised rules, and a game board that brings variety to space exploration.
A Game of Thrones Catan: Brotherhood of the Watch. Players will take on the role of Brothers of the Night's Watch. Using resources to build roads, settlements, and keeps as well as acquiring guards for their patrol or buying development cards, this game is a struggle to strengthen their hold on the north.
Star Trek: Catan. Players will start the game with two small Outposts at the intersection of three planets, with each planet supplying resources based on the result of a dice roll.
Players need to collect and trade resources, namely dilithium, tritanium, food, oxygen and water – and use them to build Starships that connect areas in the galaxy, establish more Outposts and Starbases (which functions like Cities in Catan) at new intersection points to increase resource acquisition, and acquire Development Cards that provide Victory Points (VPs) or unique abilities.
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The Digital Era saw a huge number of Catan video games released in the market.
A few titles worth mentioning were:
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- Catan: The Computer Game - Castle Hill Studios - 2004
- Catan Online - Microsoft - 2005
- Settlers of Catan - Capcom - 2005
None of these games however, were comparable to the official Catan online game: Catan Online World. Popularly known as PlayCatan.
PlayCatan was met positively by both fans of the original board game as well as new players who got into Catan with this online version. Adobe cc xforce.
The game managed to revolutionize Catan board game and bring it to its players screen via online play. The niche was no longer isolated to board game enthusiasts and it saw a huge influx of new players online.
However, the golden era of Catan did not last long. PlayCatan’s service was terminated on January 2016. Much to the dismay of fans of the original board game and the online title.
April 2017 saw a new online game rise from the ashes of PlayCatan: Catan Universe was launched.
Catan Universe boasted better graphic improvements and gameplay mechanics, as well as a multi platform capabilities.
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These improvements and features opened up new avenues for players and was met with much excitement by fans of the popular board game.
Their excitement was unfounded though, as Catan Universe was plagued with bugs and gameplay issues which players deemed unworthy for an ‘improved version’ of PlayCatan.
Catan Universe has one of the highest negative reviews on Steam, at the bottom 0.2% of all games.
Catan Universe was generally panned by long-time fans of Catan, and it is now seen as a shadow of PlayCatan’s former greatness.
Richard Dansky, a writer and a designer of both computer games and role-playing games commented in his Hobby Games: The 100 Best article:
Settlers Of Catan online, free Mac Version
'..for all of its elemental simplicity, The Settlers of Catan has breathtaking depth and breadth of experience. It's a resource-management game, defined by position and strategizing. It's a social game, defined by horsetrading of resource cards and 'Siccing the Fritz' (as my friends call the robber) with bloodthirsty bonhomie. It's a game of chance, ruled by dice rolls and card draws. It's a hardcore game and a light social pastime and everything in between, a laboratory where I can test a hundred different play styles and a genuine reason to invite friends over.'
The Washington Post dubbed it “the board game of our time” in an article published in 2008.
Going Cardboard, a 2012 American documentary film discusses the game’s impact on American gaming communities and beyond.
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Awards Received
Catan Universe
- 1995: Spiel des Jahres Game of the Year
- 1995: Deutscher Spiele Preis 1st place
- 1995: Essen Feather
- 1995: Meeples' Choice Award
- 1996: Origins Award for Best Fantasy or Science Fiction Board Game
- 2001: Origins Hall of Fame
- 2004: Hra roku
- 2005: Games Magazine Hall of Fame
- 2005: Gra Roku Game of the Year
- 2015: GamesCom Vegas Game of the Century