Pyramid Review
Catan Dice Game
Published by Mayfair Games
Designed by Klaus Teuber
Art by Tanja Donner, Harald Lieske, & Volkan Baga
Set with six specialty dice, score pad, & rules; $12
By now it seems like the island of Catan would be lousy with settlers, and would need new immigrants about as much as the island of Manhattan. But as long as gamers keep buying them, Mayfair is going to keep jamming the people in there. This time they're going to do it with just "dem bones" in the Catan Dice Game.
The object of the game is to end with the most points.
One to four players are pioneers on Catan, but this time they don't have the comfortable confines of a board. Instead, each player receives a score sheet with a tiny map of the island, a list of the things one may build, and a track for keeping score. On his turn, the player throws the dice to see what he has to work with.
The dice are six-siders, but with special facings: wood, grain, sheep, brick, ore, and gold. After the first throw the player may decide to keep some results and reroll others. He gets a second and third throw, but he must keep whatever has shown up by then. A small chart on the scoring sheet shows what is required to build items. For example, a brick and a wood on the dice means the player can construct a section of road. Bigger projects require more dice. If the player is lucky enough he may be able to build a couple of items in a turn, though it's rare.
Items cannot simply be thrown together according to the results, though. . . .
This article originally appeared in the second volume of Pyramid. See the current Pyramid website for more information.
Article publication date: September 26, 2008
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