Similar to Catan, players must build settlements and trade for better resources that they can use for their own benefit.Ī huge aspect of this board game involves tile placement, where players will place functional tiles on their game board. The Castles of Burgundy is a board game in which players must plan, trade, and build up their own personal estates. With all that being said, we have done some digging for you and found some of the best board games that we feel are very similar to Catan, whether it is based on game mechanics or theme.Ĭheck out our list below of board games like Catan. If you have played Catan many times over, or just like the idea of Catan, then it may be time to expand your horizons and play other board games like Catan. Where else could you trade sheep for wood!? It may sound like a lot, but Catan is one of the best strategy games out there that is actually so much fun to play. The game is over when a player hits 10 points during their turn. Points are accumulated by building settlements and cities, having the longest road and the largest army (from some of the development cards), and gathering certain development cards that simply award victory points. Players collect these resources (cards)-wood, grain, brick, sheep, or stone-to build up their civilizations and expand through the island by using dedicated roads. On each turn, dice are rolled to determine what resources the island produces. The foundation of Catan consists of players trying to be the dominant force on the island of Catan by building settlements, cities, and roads. Catan’s simple structure of building and trading also involves a lot of strategy that really opens you up to what other board games have to offer. It served as our very own gateway board game that lead to our addiction to board games today.Ĭatan is probably one of the most popular board games on the market for serious board gamers. What is Catan?Ĭatan, also known as Settlers of Catan, is a strategy game that is easy to learn and pick up after a few rounds. You will notice that the board games we will list in this article have similar aspects to Catan, including some interchangeable game mechanics and components. A lot of these games like Settlers of Catan share similar game mechanics that make for a great gaming experience.

Worker Placement/Role Selection – this involves using your “workers” or “ meeples” and choosing from a specific set of actions to complete on a given turn.

Resource Management – everything having to do with claiming, spending, and/or trading in-game resources.

Area Control – this involves using tile placement and strategy to claim certain areas of the board.

Tile Placement – this includes placing physical components or resources on the game board.

Here, 15 two-player board games to get you started.Here are some of the popular game mechanics that we will focus on: And if you truly have no idea what you like, just pick a game and get on playing. Deciding which level of intensity your game night vibe is going for is a good place to start. There are long, strategy-driven games that can last a whole night, like Rivals for Catan and Sherlock Holmes detective, and there are other calmer, slow-paced games that are more relaxing than overwhelmingly competitive, like Wingspan and Patchwork. Plus, many of these games have either options for bigger groups or expansion packs that allow for more than players once you've gotten a handle on both the rules and your methods. You're better off beginning with something a little more manageable, and fewer variables (and personalities) are usually a good place to start. Sure, it might be fun for the whole family to get involved but it can also be extremely stressful, not to mention overly-competitive. Two-player board games are a good place to start. But you don't have to be an expert to join in on the fun.

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Games like catan