Catan Reviews
While Catan is a faithful adaptation of the beloved board game, it doesn't quite deliver on the Switch's potential for tabletop gaming.
A fun and accessible introduction to the world of Catan but technical failings and a lack of options mean it's not quite the adaptation it could've been.
Nothing here will blow you away, and there are better digital implementations out there. It does just enough to get the job done. As we’ve seen with many releases on Switch, that’s usually enough for most people.
While it's functional I feel that Catan: Console Edition could have done a bit more to sway me from playing with its cardboard counterpart. The multiplayer features and AI do a lot for players who cannot get three friends together but some of its presentation, especially the audio side, leaves a bit to be desired. The app could also do with a bit of work to make it more viable. While I will be quite happy to play this by myself or when there is only two of us, it will never replace its board game equivalent. Catan: Console Edition could have been great, as it is, its serviceable, which is a shame.
Catan is a classic and being able to play it on the go is a gift.
It's a strange new way to play the friendship-ending board game, acting as more of a digital alternative to the physical version than a replacement.
If the success of Catan as a board game is more to prove, concerning this adaptation in video games, an absence is an aberration: the lack of a local multiplayer game mode. If, perhaps, the big fans of the board game will find their account between two parties in real life, it seems nevertheless that the designers of this version Switch has missed the main interest of the game.
Review in French | Read full review
Catan: Console Edition has some design issues but can be manageable when desperately looking for a CATAN fix on current generation consoles. It certainly needs some work in its default setup, speed options, and dice-rolling mechanics, but for the most part, it still does the trick.
Overall, Catan on the Nintendo Switch is a treat. The inclusion of a large campaign helps to sell this game easily. The addition of strong AI makes the experience valuable and challenging. If the menu system could improve, then you’re looking at one of the best versions of the board game to ever grace a console.
Catan is a serviceable rendition of the tabletop classic – just don't go in expecting dedicated support or functioning online servers.
Catan – Console Edition is a perfectly fine adaptation of a hugely popular board game. The developers have done their best to make it work for both online and offline play, and present it gorgeously. I just wish that another, equally talented developer, took Twilight Struggle, or the Game of Thrones board game, or any of a few hundred other incredible board games and adapted those instead.
Overall, Catan is a competent reproduction of the popular board game on Switch. It’s understated in some ways as board game-based games are, but it also has a lot of variety to the game, including various offline scenarios and an online multiplayer mode through Nintendo Online. Available DLC adds more to the package.
I love board games, and Catan is a board game. It's as simple as that.
Catan on Switch doesn't have that, so unless you really enjoy playing board games against A.I. or have the patience to wait for potentially unsatisfying online competition, you are better off building the largest army or longest road somewhere else.
Lacking value-added features or even intuitive controls this feels like a stilted replacement for the in-person experience
CATAN: Console Edition is fun, but that has more to do with the design of the original board game than it does the digital incarnation. Combine that with inconsistent music quality and frustrating glitches, and the only real selling point is that it's cheaper than the board game version, and has online play.
It’s a bit difficult to whole-heartedly recommend this digital iteration of Catan. Those new to the series might be better served by starting the old-fashioned way: with the tabletop game and a group of friends.
WORTH CONSIDERING - Catan is about what you’d expect from a board game translation to a video game system. It’s fun, challenging, and it really is excellent for strategy formulation in different situations. I liked it for testing out theories I had about how settlement placement would play out and whether or not certain tactics I thought up would actually translate into a win. If you are a fan of Catan, I think you’d be very pleased with this title.