Catan is a game that receives far too much stick these days. Sure, it’s not a perfect game, and it can get a bit old if you’re playing it constantly. But it’s a good game, and it can be a lot of fun for a lot of people.
With that in mind, I’m writing today about replacing it — which may sound a little contrary to what I’ve said, but I wanted it to be clear that I’m not trying to tear down Catan here. I’m more interested here in helping people who love Catan than those who don’t — after all, what would I recommend to somebody who doesn’t like Catan, aside from any other game?
No, this is an issue of this newsletter in which I’ll be thinking about what makes Catan a fun game with an enduring presence, and I’ll work through that lens. Before we get there, let’s enumerate the appealing parts of Catan.
Production: While impacted by random dice rolls, you receive goods on other players’ turns. This engages everyone in the game a bit more, as inevitably, somebody will tell you that they’re not going to tell you when your numbers are rolled.
Negotiation: Catan encourages negotiation between players; finding mutually beneficial moves can really move your game forward. Sometimes, players will catch wind of a good negotiation and start yelling about not trading with somebody “because they’re about to win.” (That happens a lot. Too much.)
Ramp-up: When you start, you’ll be getting scant few resources (barring particularly lucky moments), and as you build out, you have opportunities to position yourself to receive considerably more.
If you like the negotiation in Catan:
Bohnanza has players growing beans, planting them in bean fields, and selling beans. But really, Bohnanza is actually about tense negotiations, selling beans to other players, and getting the most bang for your buck possible. You’ll have a hand full of bean cards, which you won’t be able to rearrange. Every turn, you’ll have to plant the top bean in your hand, and you can also plant the second if you so choose. As a result, trading beans becomes paramount. Designed by Uwe Rosenberg.
QE is a wild little auction game in which you can bid any number you want. No holds barred. Hardcore match style. Want to bid a billion dollars? Go for it. Want to bid a dollar? Of course. As you play, you’re going to have to figure out how to bid the right amount such that you don’t spend more than any other player, because if you do, you’re out. No winning for you. This game is weird, hilarious, and brilliant in equal measure. Designed by Gavin Birnbaum.
Modern Art is an auction game in which the auctions come in four different forms, and you’re all going after modern art. (I love the theme. Modern art’s the best.) It all comes down to this: The auctioneer each turn gets the money if another player buys the art, but if the auctioneer buys it themselves, they’ll pay the bank. There’s some fun negotiation to be had here. Designed by Reiner Knizia.
If you like the feeling of ramp-up
Splendor is one of the great accessible games of the last decade (barely! It came out in 2014). You’ll collect gems, then you’ll use those gems to buy cards, which give you permanent gems. That feeling of growth and ramp-up really shines here. And, importantly, while there are a ton of great engine-building games out there, this one’s dead simple — each turn, you’ll either collect gems or buy a card. (Or reserve a card, I suppose. But you get a gem that way, so we’ll count in collection. I guess. This isn’t a rulebook!) Designed by Marc André.
The Quacks of Quedlinburg is one of our favorites here. Everyone plays as a quack doctor of sorts brewing potions by drawing ingredients one-by-one from a bag. The more you place, the more money you’ll get, and the more powerful the ingredients you can buy. As you ramp up, you’ll (hopefully) be doing better in scoring, too. Or you might just blow up a few too many times, push your luck a bit too hard, and end up way behind everyone else. No judgment — that’s me, too. Designed by Wolfgang Warsch.
Scythe might seem like a bit of one of those “this game is also worth playing” choices, but I do think there’s something more here. First, hex tiles. Sure, in Scythe, you generally don’t get a chance to put together your own map (one of the things that really struck me about Catan the first time I played it). But like Catan, Scythe has you expanding your influence across a map, gaining resources, and even getting a potential bit of a benefit during your neighbors’ turns. Designed by Jamey Stegmaier.
If you want good things to happen on other people’s turns
Space Base is sort of a spiritual successor to Catan, in a way. You’ll have a set of cards in front of you in spaces from 1 to 12, and on your turn, you’ll be rolling dice and gaining resources listed on that card. Every other player gets resources, too, based on your roll. It’s a fantastic little game that has some of that Catan feeling — rolling the dice, getting resources on other players’ turns, building up — but it’s a pretty different experience, too. Designed by John D. Clair.
Machi Koro is also sort of a spiritual successor to Catan, and the core conceit is very similar to Space Base. This is not a case of them being the same game, though. In Machi Koro, you’re developing a city, and the buildings you place within will net you coins, often on other players’ turns. Designed by Masao Suganuma.
Camel Up is a game in which you’re betting on camels in a camel race, and you’ll spend much of the game hoping for positive outcomes when somebody pulls a die from the pyramid to move a camel forward. Which, well, that’s sometimes something good happening on other players’ turns. Or sometimes, it’s a bad thing. It’s pretty breezy and fun. Designed by Steffen Bogen.
If you want something easy to teach your family — but with a bit of strategy, too
These games are sort of a grab-bag category, and that’s because in some ways, it’s not actually about what Catan does on the inside, but it’s the freshness of approach that wins hearts and minds. While these days, it seems you’re far more likely to be playing games with folks who have played Ticket to Ride, Carcassonne, Pandemic, Codenames, or Azul, there are still so many people out there who just haven’t been introduced to modern board games — in the same way Catan was an introduction for me and so many of you. These games represent opportunities, not comparisons. You could still even introduce them to Catan. There’s nothing wrong with that at all.
A note about this section — these games are all intentionally easy to buy. Teaching Catan and introducing players to the hobby often means they go out looking for it, and these games are all very widely available.
Ticket to Ride is a classic for a reason. It’s easy to teach most folks who want to play, and the conceit is pretty simple: Fulfill your route objectives, earn points for doing so. It’s no coincidence that this is one of those oft-recommended replacements for Catan, because the weight is very similar and can provide great teaching opportunities. Plus, you can even get some of that robber-meanness here as you block off somebody’s critical path — for better or worse. Designed by Alan Moon.
Carcassonne is another easy-to-teach classic with deep strategy. You’re laying tiles, building a city, and placing your pieces around said city as you build it. It’s one of my absolute favorites. It, too, can be a bit mean — when you point a road into somebody’s city, prepare to feel their annoyance. Designed by Klaus-Jürgen Wrede.
Azul is less mean than the other two games above, but it’s still strategic and easy to teach. This is a tile-laying game in which you’re adding colored and patterned tiles to one of five different queues, which range from one tile to five tiles. One color can only go in one queue at a time. At the end of the round, queues that are full will translate into a tile on your grid, and you’ll score points for it. There’s some thought and planning you’ll have to undergo if you’re to be successful. Designed by Michael Kiesling.
The best possible replacement for Catan
It’s a game you love. It’s not a game that ticks the boxes — it’s a game that you’re excited to teach. The reason Catan hit so well the first time I played it wasn’t just the way it played — it’s the enthusiasm my friend had for teaching us. It was the “look what board games are actually like” approach. Yes, I came to love Catan for some time. My love for it faded. But that memory remains. And you, too, can give somebody that same memory — or maybe you already have. That’s more powerful than any single game I can recommend here, and it’s more powerful than the game you choose. Those memories make board games special.
Hey, thank you for reading! I always appreciate it. If you made it this far, just know that I thought about including Concordia, but I’ve only ever played it digitally against computers. I don’t think that counts. It also wouldn’t have really fit on the list otherwise. Still, seems fun.
Next week: A brief history of cooperative board games.
Bonanza is the most underrated game of all time. Although, my friends birthed “ladies game night” out of that game as the guys around the table didn’t understand that “no means no” during negotiation.