Catan – The First Island

The classic board game Settlers of Catan just came to the iPhone! We’re big fans of the game so I was curious to see how it translated into an app. After playing it through I can tell you that if you’ve played Catan before you’ll have no trouble. If you’ve never played then it might be a bit confusing at first. Then again the original game is confusing the first few times through as well. There’s a built in tutorial that will walk you through game play. If you’ve played the xBox 360 version you will find the app to be very similar.

Catan allows for four players. They can all be “human” players but you’ll have to share the iPhone, no wifi playing unfortunately. If you choose to play against the iPhone you can select which characters you want to challenge. The app will show you their ratings in expansion, aggression and skill. A note – in “Options” you can choose to turn off your opponent’s comments. If you don’t do that you’ll be playing with constant dialogue boxes popping up. In settings you can customize the game even more. My favorite? Switching “Robber Mode” from normal to friendly. I hate that robber.

The game board is a bit smallish but you can zoom in on it which makes it easier to see. The graphics are excellent as is the music and sound effects. Not to worry though, if you’re an intense Catan player who needs total concentration you can mute those.

I found the game play to be extremely smooth and the developers have done a great job taking the board game to the iPhone. I think I’ve got a new favorite time filler for those long waits in the car during dance lessons. Hooray!

Price when Reviewed: $4.99

Seller: United Soft Media