Like Catan? Here are 3 Similar Gametypes
If you enjoy playing Catan with your friends, this blog post is for you. We have put together a list of 3 games similar to Catan and can provide hours of entertainment. These games all have the same basic premise as Cataan: players must allocate resources, trade them, and compete against one another to amass victory points. If you want more information on these games or how they work, scroll down for further details.
1. Carcassonne
Carcassonne is a game for 2–5 players, where everyone starts with seven followers (meeples) and tries to score points by finishing landscape features like cities, cloisters, roads, or fields. On their turn, players draw a tile at random and decide how to best place it in the playing area to complete objectives and score victory points. As players build up the board, you will find multiple possibilities every turn as tiles become adjacent to tiles already played. There is an expansion pack that brings new elements into play. It’s possible to play with as few as two people and team up with other players against the computer. In this way, it is an excellent alternative to Catan, and we would highly recommend it.
2. Ticket To Ride: Europe and Ticket To Ride: Märklin
Yes, of course, there are multiple versions of this game. If you like trains, then these are the two games for you. They are both for 2–5 players, so you can provide a group activity or be played with your special someone if you wish. The main objective is to complete the train route between cities shown on your ticket cards which earn you points in different ways depending on who has completed their paths first. If that sounds confusing, don’t worry. You can use an app when playing online or against another player who teaches you how to play in just a few minutes. Ticket To Ride is one of the more popular games on the market, so you are probably already familiar with it. However, if you haven’t played this version yet, we recommend you do. Especially if you enjoy Catan, it’s a no-brainer to pick up this game.
3. Pandemic
If Catan is just too competitive for your group or someone always wins and leaves everyone else glumly picking up their meeples at the end of each game, then give Pandemic a try. The game aims to find cures for four deadly diseases before they infect and take over the whole world. Unfortunately, there are only four disease cubes which means four players must work together to research cures and stop each new infection from spreading. Each player has an extraordinary power that they can use, which makes them unique but ultimately contributes to your team’s success as a whole. The winner is the first person who finds all four cures or has the highest number of points by researching, treating diseases, and preventing outbreaks at the end of the game (similar to Catan).
