Catan vs Terraforming Mars

I actually thought it was boring at first as I didn't have a clear grasp of the mechanics yet. After re-reading the rules and playing games a couple more times I slowly came to realize this game is deep in strategy, and even if you're dealt the same set of cards you can approach the game from different angles.

This complaint is not a HUGE deal, but probably my biggest concern with the build quality. INSTRUCTIONS I have to admit, when you first look at the instruction manual, it's pretty overwhelming. There are about 20 very dense pages of instructions to read through which walk through the mechanics of the game. It took myself and 4 other people about 2 hours to digest the instructions

Get the extension if you want five or six players. The game involves the strategic gathering of resources and trading with opponents. Instead of traveling across a board to reach the end or a certain destination, Settlers of Catan involves building roads and settlements which eventually lead you to victory.

Throughout the game, the player(s) are attempting to gain victory points (known as Terraform Rating, or TR) while simultaneously terraforming the planet. This terraforming includes 3 main elements: increasing temperature, oxygen levels, and water/ocean tiles. In the solo mode, you are attempting to complete all 3 of these before the end of your 14th turn. If you do so, you win

If you like strategy games, you will like this. The only reason I gave it 4 stars is there are often times where it is not going well for at least one person in the game and this can be VERY frustrating. If your family is overly competitive, you may want to consider a different game.

This was mind blowing to me. Having to make the decision of giving up hard earned VPs for long term gain was such an interesting one.

All this, and then of course, young people. 8-16 year olds adore the Munchkin system. One of the best parts of playing board games for them is ruining someone else's plan, or stopping a friend or parent from winning. That is the fun part, and they aren't thinking even a little about the mechanics involved

I gave it to my 11 yo for Christmas and it remained very intimidating the first few passes...husband and brother in law complained of how long it took to finish the game

Good, but half of the pieces had some black stuff on them that wouldn't come off. We didn't know what it was and even cleaned them in a bleach solution. Still stained. But other than that everything was perfect!

I don't think it's worth all the hype, but it's a decent game. The components are junk though. Low quality.

don't say you weren't warned. ○ Short Synopsis : Way, way, way too much luck for such a long, laborious, & way overpriced game (for $68+ w expansion, you can get one or more games that are way, way, way more fun.) ○ Why This Review : Pre-pandemic, I ran the largest irl board gaming group in NJ

It took us about 2 hours to fully understand and comprehend all the pieces and rules associated. However, the investment was well worth it. We had a blast going from generation to generation working on the red planet, building our resources, messing with each other, enjoying the randomness of the cards.

Ever version of Catan has gotten worse and worse in my opinion. And not just the board pieces. Renaming the soldier to knight after already having a different knight piece with a different mechanism of play in Cities & Knights expansion was such a poor decision.

Wow--this is such a well designed game. My husband and I are avid board game players and tend to play games that are good for two players, but have the ability to be played by a larger group (so we are ready for when friends come over). We have played this game with two players 25+ times in the past two months and 2 times with three players--it works well for both sizes (and I imagine would work well with more and there is a solo variant as well). What we particularly like about this game is how well-balanced the different cards and mechanics have proven to be

We're not exactly dummies in my house but we couldn't figure out after two nights the rules of the game. My brother and his wife enjoy the game so much that we gave it a try. It's in the garage to go off with the next load to Goodwill. Hopefully to a family smarter than us will get it

00 for what essentially amounts to an intellectual property and some cardboard, you should get quality cardboard!

I love it! It looks true to the natural theme of Catan and doesn't go too far out. Quality looks fantastic as well!

Thematically, you are a corporation whose job is to Terraform Mars. On your turn will take 1 or 2 actions and this usually involves playing a card or activating an ability on one of your cards already in play. At first, your options will be pretty limited to just playing the cards from your hand, but as you buy more cards (consider them patents) you'll have more options. We probably played the first 4-5 rounds (called Generations) wrong