Customer Reviews

Settlers of Catan - Portable Edition

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I'm a big fan of the Settlers of Catan game and its variations. This review is only about the advantages/disadvantages of the travel version.
The original version of Settlers of Catan is quite bulky for taking on vacations and impossible to play in the car or plane. This version is very compact and well made. I love it. I wish the original version had such a nice tray for all the cards which are constantly being drawn and played. That's not to say the travel version couldn't be better.
Some cushy foam or something to put over the pieces to keep them from getting scattered in the box while jostled in luggage would help. Though while actually being played, everything stays in place very well.
I'd also like some kind of collapsing holder that fits in the tray for the tiny pieces, so you could pull it out of the tray cup and lay it flat so big fingers that won't fit in the cup can pick up the pieces.
I regret that they made the tile point values immobile. Though the actual tiles can be easily moved around and held in place (GREAT DESIGN), I'd still like to also be able to rearrange the values. Of course, not having to decide on value placement does speed up the game.
Should people new to the game start with the travel version or the original? That's a toss up. More people might like to take a chance on trying the traveler version just because it's simpler. Also, when we travel we meet new people who are new to the game and it is good to have a simple (okay, it will never be simple like tic-tac-toe, but at least more simple than the original) game to share, because if you don't have a long time to know and play with the people, you don't want to spend a long time teaching a long game. I think anyone getting into this game, though, would soon be sorry not to have the larger, more complete version and its expansion capabilities. If I could only have one, I would definitely prefer the full size game, but I am so glad to have the travel game, too.

I love playing Settlers so I was a bit disappointed when I saw that the travel version had some minor differences than the full version. The numbers are set permanently into the board and the desert space is stuck in the middle. Other than that, it's nearly the same game.

Since I'm a purist, I decided to hack the game a bit to provide the full experience. I simply did 2 things :

- Put number labels on the little circles that you punch out of the tiles when you first set it up.
- Drill out a hole in the desert tile to fit the posts.

With this, I now have the full settlers experience in a nice travel edition. I included a ball of Blu-Tack/Sticky Putty to stick the tiles to the posts. The pieces are kind of small, so I also have everything separated by color and type and put into little ziploc bags that I fashioned out of those tiny snack size bags you can find at the supermarket. This is a great version of the game, and with a few minor modifications, I can get the full experience.

Unlike another reviewer, I don't expect the "travel" version of the game to be identical to the regular game. That being said, 99% of the game *is* the same. But it's easier to transport, easier to setup and less likely to be scattered (when the table gets bumped) than the regular version. That's why I got it!

Honestly, I've played this version at home instead of the tabletop version several times because it was simpler to set up...

My college chums and I play about 2 to 3 games of Settlers a day. We play one on one, we play with the six player expansion, we play instead of going to class. So naturally when we spent two weeks in china we had to find some way to bring settlers with us. Here's the problem with this travel version: it changes the game. Whoever made this edition obviously was not a settlers player himself. The desert is pderminantly fixed in the middle? Perminant? The middle? Thats right, sports fans, every game must be played on a donout version of Catan. I modified my set with a sharpie and some cardboard, but be warned that if you want to play real settlers you will need to do this two. Travel editions shouldnt simplify the game.

I first played Settlers at a fourth of July party, with a friend who had a complicated-but-ingenious method of keeping all the little pieces organized ( it involved a lot of tiny plastic storage containers ) and the pieces on the board ( that involved placing that rubbery cabinet surface stuff on the table ). I thought the game was fabulous, but doubted it would ever survive a houseful of cats.

So I got the 'portable' version instead.

It's quite an interesting idea -- a plastic frame with the number values already in place, some cardboard puzzle-piece bits to pop into place and create the board ( although the desert piece will always be in the middle, and there are no volcanoes ), little pegged roads, cities, and settlements to place into the little holes in the plastic frame, teeny little resource and development cards, and dice made for mice.

No, really : teeny. Little. Miniscule. These are all words that will be used to describe this set, which is it's one major failing. I almost feel like I should put a magnifying glass in the box, just in case, because the kit is very small. In some ways, this is a good thing -- the entire game could easily fit inside a gallon-sized plastic zip baggie, and without the plastic frame you could fit it in a quart-sized bag, no problem ( although using a plastic bag would rob you of the kind of nice plastic organizer in the box ). It's a good fine-motor work out, although I'd replace the mini-dice with a pair of regular sized ones -- dice are easy enough to lose as it is! It's small enough to play on an airplane tray, and because everything sort of snaps into place, you can pick it up and move it with minimum fuss.

The portable version can't be expanded ( well, maybe you could buy two of them and shove them together, paint the new pieces new colors... ), but in some ways this is a good thing -- you can't/wont' spend a fortune on expansion kits, and it keeps the game-play time down a little. For once, this is exactly what it's billed as -- a travel version of a great game.

The board is not fully-randomizable (desert is in the middle, numbers are glued on). That lowers the replay-value substantially. Just get the real edition; it's only $10 more The Settlers of Catan.

Because there's no photo on Amazon showing the game board relative to a person, I had no idea just exactly how small all the pieces would be (though you can do an online search to find a picture), and like many other reviewers mention, everything is VERY miniscule. But of course, you have to remember that this IS a portable edition, and although I didn't exactly purchase this for portability, the miniature design and the plastic pieces with peg-like inserts make it great for that. Unlike the original game in which game board pieces constantly move around during game play, this portable edition keeps things intact and even includes dividers in the box for each resource card.

Purist fans of the original game may not be so fond of some slight changes, however. First off, the board is designed to keep the desert tile in the center ALWAYS. Secondly, the numbers for resource tiles are stuck permanently in place. This is the sort of thing that could make or break the deal for potential buyers.

Personally, I am very pleased with my purchase. I think miniatures are adorable, and this portable edition is tiny and cute! Regarding the alterations from the original game, I used the extra cardboard circles punched out from the resource tiles as number pieces so that those can be randomized as well. Also, even though the desert tile wasn't made to fit on any other space but the center, you can always drill a hole in the middle of the tile, as one reviewer suggested, or you can even just place it on top of another space. It won't *fit* perfectly, but it's not a big deal for me. My only gripe is that for only $10 more, I could've bought the original version, and I feel as though I should have just gone the extra mile and gotten that one instead.

A few notes:
-Lots of tiny pieces; hard to see some of the symbols. I cannot imagine trying to play this game in actual travel conditions, such as a train or plane (plane especially, since you really have to have 3-4 players).
-There are no extra pieces, so if you lose one of those tiny little things (i.e. in some well-placed crack on the train) you are out of luck!
-NOT a 2-person game as the Amazon site claims. Sure, you can play it as a 2-person game (search the internet for 2-player Catan) but it is designed for 3-4 players.
-Otherwise, game play is good, but given the comments above I question my decision to purchase this over the regular edition.

My husband and I fell in love with this game while at a friend's house and so decided to buy our own, but the price of the original was above our budget for a board game so I decided to get him this one for Christmas. We both love this travel version b/c, since we have two toddlers, it's so much more easier for us to play it without the kids knocking it over. Plus, when the kids want our attention, we can just pack up and put it away and the pieces will stay intact until the next time we play. A warning though, the pieces are extra small so it should be kept out of reach of small children.

One of my favorite games - and everyone who plays, even those not into strategy, like it.

Just one word of caution - because this is a travel set, the pieces are VERY small. This may not be good for young children or older people with vision problems.

Works perfect for us, and we can easily take it with us wherever we go.