iOS Universal, Android •
2017 has seen a flood of digital board game conversions from new kid on the block, Asmodee Digital. Today, however, I think we can safely say is their strangest release. It’s called Catan Stories and finally allows us to roleplay as settlers on the titular island like we’ve always wanted to! In all honesty, I’ve never wanted to do this, and never really thought about the people collecting my wheat and sheep when I roll dice in Catan. I’ve thought about the robber, wondering why he’s such a dick, but I don’t think that’s where Catan Stories takes us. Anyway, Catan Stories is out now for iOS and Android.
First of all, let’s get the title straight. It’s Catan Stories: The Legend of the Sea Robbers, so maybe we will get to find out why the robber hates the number seven so much. The story takes place in the world of Catan and lets you play as three different characters in a mostly-text adventure with some fancy maps and other visual surprises along the way. One of the screenshots indicates you can rotate the image 360o to explore a cavern, so it’s not just a “go left/go right” gig.
Without any other info, I may have to cut/paste the blurb for this one:
- Single-player text adventure with three different characters
- 360° environment with immersive graphics and sound
- A storyline based on the new scripted Catan expansion, “”Legend of the Sea Robbers.”” Catan is one of the most popular board games of recent years.
- Extra features to unlock using your Asmodee account
- Developed in collaboration with Klaus and Benjamin Teuber, the creators of Catan
- Several different font sizes available
- Available in English, French and German
Catan Stories is available today for both iOS Universal and Android and can be picked up for only $2 ($3 on Android). It looks polished as hell, so if you’re a gamebook/text adventure fan it’s probably worth a go and, if you’re a Catan junkie, you’re probably already downloading it.
“Several different font sizes available”?!?!?
Fuck YES! Ring up a sale!
Looking forward to hearing any initial impressions from anyone that tries this out. I’m tempted for sure.
Though “Extra features to unlock using your Asmodee account” makes me want to insert the head scratching suspicious-looking emoji.
It looks as though the game is in color too.
God dammit, Diet Pepsi just literally shot out of my nose.
If Ken Follett can write a book about a multi-generational task of building a cathedral and somehow make it interesting, and if said book can become a decent TV miniseries and somehow spawn an excellent classic worker placement game, I guess there’s no reason Settlers of Catan can’t be novelized. Not that I’m rushing out to grab this yet…
“This is what I always dreamed about!”
-No one. Ever.
Still, text CYOA games are fun, so this could overcome its odd setting.
CYOA games are actually quite fun for me to read to my 4-year-old. He loves making choices, even if he isn’t always following the narrative. I much prefer these longer stories for that purpose, though, because when we read the classic CYOA stories, I have to read the same introductory pages over and over and over.