Author Topic: Carcassonne and Catan  (Read 6111 times)

Offline Allograft

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Carcassonne and Catan
« on: August 22, 2021, 08:56:18 PM »
Imagine bringing that out on the table for people who don't know the game
"Trust me, it's an easy game"  ;) ;D

I didn't want to muck up the Carc storage thread, but Willem's comment reminded me of what one of my adult kids recently said, that Catan is easier.

I haven't played Catan. What do people think? How do they compare? -  :pink-meeple:




 reminded me of something that one of my adult kids said recently:

Linkback: https://www.carcassonnecentral.com/community/index.php?topic=5441.0

Offline oldbonz

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Re: Carcassonne and Catan
« Reply #1 on: August 22, 2021, 09:16:39 PM »
were 2 different games, but just as pleasant to practice

Offline Willem

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Re: Carcassonne and Catan
« Reply #2 on: August 23, 2021, 01:06:44 AM »
I've played Catan a few times.
The basic mechanics sound easier to explain, but I think overall the 2 (base)games compare fairly in terms of difficulty.
Of course you can have different strategies etc, and I am no expert in Catan, so don't know how that compares to competitive Carcassonne.

The comment I made earlier was also on how all the expansions can be intimidating to new players. Catan also has lots of expansions, which I have absolutely no knowledge of  ;D
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Offline Whaleyland

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Re: Carcassonne and Catan
« Reply #3 on: August 23, 2021, 02:40:10 AM »
I played Catan exclusively as my go-to game for about three years before I found Carcassonne. I quickly lost interest in Catan afterwards. I went from buying every single expansion, from a single tile to a full box, to buying nothing Catan except Rivals for Catan, which is still fun but only for two players. Catan and Carcassonne are about the same learning curve, but I'd argue Catan has more immediate strategy requirements while Carcassonne's strategies are learned over a longer period of time. Both are very random games, but Carcassonne's randomness can be mitigated much more than Catan's, where you can make a mistake early on and never be able to recover. Anyway, both games are easy to learn and I have taught both many times without difficulty.

Offline Carcassonne King

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Re: Carcassonne and Catan
« Reply #4 on: August 23, 2021, 06:55:44 AM »
I'm an avid player of both Carcassonne and Catan and have all the expansions in the most recent art editions for both .  In terms of complexity, I think Carcassonne and Catan are roughly comparable.  There are a number of differences between Carcassonne and Catan of course.  The most obvious difference is that Carcassonne is more or less a map building game, while Catan is a colony building game with the map being decided from the outset. Another difference between the two is that Catan requires negotiation between players as they trade resources with each other, whereas in Carcassonne you mostly just do your own thing and interacting with other players isn't very important.  Actually, the trading aspect of Catan is why it requires at least three players to play properly, while Carcassonne only requires two.  Another difference is that smart playing early on in Catan can create a momentum which will help you later on in the game, and there is definitely an aspect of success begetting success in the game as you develop your economic engine.  Carcassonne games don't really involve this kind of momentum and it's a little easier to change the outcome of the game at the end than it is in Catan. 

In the end, I think I probably play Carcassonne slightly more than Catan just because I can play it at home with my wife without having to have another friend over, but overall, I think both games are fantastic, and I highly recommend getting both.

Offline DIN0

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Re: Carcassonne and Catan
« Reply #5 on: August 23, 2021, 09:19:57 AM »
Catan and Carcassonne are indeed comparable in terms of overall complexity and perhaps the number of expansions/spin-offs/promos.
There are several major differences between the two:

1) Carcassonne expansions are entirely cross-compatible, you can play pretty much everything at once. Catan on the other hand is much more modular and more often than not operates on the basis of "scenarios", most of which cannot be combined, but if played in a succession, create a loose story.

2) Catan is much more strategic game (long term planning), while Carcassonne is way more tactical (short term planning). You need to be worrying about the future of the game and need to know what you're doing from the very start in Catan, otherwise, you might put yourself in a basically unwinnable position. In Carcassonne, you can plow throught the game just by calculating the best possible move in any given moment and not look more than one or two turns into the future and still be fine. On the other hand, a single turn is more valuable in Carcassonne and small mistakes are much more unforgiving. In Catan, you can have a random sub-par turn (or even multiple ones in a row) and it wouldn't affect you much.

When it comes to luck, purely base Catan is much more luck driven than Carcassonne, however make no mistake - that is a luck governed by statistics, which is and always was the part of the strategy. You need to take advantage of the statistics to sway the luck your way in a snowball like fashion.
In Carcassonne, you have much more immediate control over what you're doing at any given point.

Both games are great. But when it comes to purely base game, I consider Carcassonne to be better. If anyone is interested in Catan but feels it might be too simplistic, or luck driven, I recommend the Cities and Knights expansion. That basically serves as advanced rules for the game and adds several layers of depth.
« Last Edit: August 23, 2021, 09:21:40 AM by DIN0 »

Offline Allograft

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Re: Carcassonne and Catan
« Reply #6 on: August 23, 2021, 11:07:17 AM »
Thanks for the input all -  :pink-meeple:

Offline oldbonz

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Re: Carcassonne and Catan
« Reply #7 on: August 28, 2021, 05:12:57 AM »
Hello everyone
after having damaged a card from the Catan game this summer, i decided to "sliver" them. After that the cards no longer fit in the distribution shoe, so I made a wooden one, if that helps

Offline Meepledrone

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Re: Carcassonne and Catan
« Reply #8 on: August 28, 2021, 05:32:53 AM »
It looks great!

Did you use strips of leather too?
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Offline oldbonz

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Re: Carcassonne and Catan
« Reply #9 on: August 28, 2021, 05:36:23 AM »
It looks great!

Did you use strips of leather too?
yes at the bottom of the hoof to cushion

Offline Meepledrone

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Re: Carcassonne and Catan
« Reply #10 on: August 28, 2021, 05:51:45 AM »
That is a really luxurious card organizer!  8)

+1 merit from me

Offline oldbonz

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Re: Carcassonne and Catan
« Reply #11 on: August 28, 2021, 06:12:56 AM »
That is a really luxurious card organizer!  8)

+1 merit from me

thank you for the encouragement, all the elements of the distribution shoe come from various recoveries

Offline Allograft

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Re: Carcassonne and Catan
« Reply #12 on: August 28, 2021, 08:48:32 AM »
all the elements of the distribution shoe come from various recoveries

It's nice giving stuff a second life -  :pink-meeple:

Offline Bumsakalaka

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Re: Carcassonne and Catan
« Reply #13 on: September 01, 2021, 02:47:14 AM »
It looks great!

Did you use strips of leather too?
yes at the bottom of the hoof to cushion

Leadher are required on all of wooden boxes. Or at least some textile to protect of rubbing of tiles and card on wooden sirface of box. But you have sleaved your cards, to it's better.

Anyway this is slowing me down when trying to imagine by carcassonne box, it's that possible damage caused of rubbing tiles on wood (and I don't like sleeved tiles :( it's like playing game stored in snack bags)
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Offline oldbonz

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Re: Carcassonne and Catan
« Reply #14 on: September 01, 2021, 03:03:58 AM »
Carcassonne tiles are not handled like Catan resource cards


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