It's Time to Say Goodbye to Catan (and say hello to three other games) 

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Did anyone else's eyes twitch when they saw two settlements right next to each other on his Catan board?

After watchin, made my decision - its time to buy Catan!

Is it weird this video made me appreciate Catan even more so? It is a classic game that blends together very well, is fun and has good amounts of strategy, luck, planning, and interaction.

“Sorry for the soup puns, I forgot to stock up on any other ones” I cannot tell if this was intentional or not, but it got a giggle out of me

"Punishment With Squares" ... sounds like this could be a board game.

This was pure magic. It reminded me of early SU&SD (with Paul). Great dialogue, crisp editing, and a tight narrative. Well done!

So enjoyed the jazz music spots so lovingly spread over these beautiful games! Awesome video, great editing, love the concept of offering three modern alternatives to an older classic :)

It's time to say goodbye! But if there is kickstarter edition with 3d printed tiles and little wooden sheep then I might change my mind...

Never expected an HBomberguy-Cameo here

I feel like Catan is unable to adapt; it’s status as the old reliable gateway game means people expect it to always be there, consistent and unchanging. I’d love to see where it could go if it went the Iwari route, but with so many great games coming out all the time, I’m happy for Catan to stay with its outdated roots. Great video to help people find alternatives.

Oh, you should do this with other games like Carcassonne and Ticket to Ride.

Hbomberguy! I love it!

01:36 My OCD kicks in...the blue and orange settlements...they can't...they must be...too close...

Never! I'm not saying goodbye to Catan, you monsters! My shelf is more than big enough to Anno and Catan.

This video is very well made. Love the humor and the way you compare the games man!

Hbomberguy in a tabletop review??? That's an instant sub.

You sir, are an absolute treasure. Such a fantastic writer and sense of humor. You’ve earned a new subscriber. Love your content, keep it coming! (also, can’t wait to try Iwari)

This was a neat way to connect several lite-reviews together of things. It's well past time to say goodbye, very apt

"Is that Tom Brewster? Wait, that skeleton is fami--HARRY?"

Great video and great topic! Thank you!! Catan (and later Ticket to Ride) were the games that kept me away from board games as a hobby. Both were introduced to me by friends who enjoyed hobby games - and I genuinely didn't enjoy either of them, especially Catan. It felt more like a social activity or placeholder to get together and just hang out. I just couldn't see the point. It wasn't until many years later when I lamented and agreed to play Puerto Rico that I saw potential for hobby games, then discovered 18xx, Lacerda, Splotter etc. and got hooked. My point being, don't assume a non-gamer requires a simpler / gateway game in order to see the benefit & fun of hobby gaming. We use Viticulture, Food Chain Magnate, Gallerist, Cryptid and many others successfully as 'first games' for friends that then come into the hobby :).

A great video, as usually! Thanks for showing 3 games of different complexity that might be a good option to Catan as gateway games. Why you need pigs to make soap? My grandmother used to make soap with pork fat. She lived in poor rural area in southern Italy (in Calabria, more precisely) and it was crucial to exploit everything from their animals. Apparently, that soap had a very good detergent power. Might be that in 1800 lot of people did the same thing!

Oh man! Always good to see a suprise hbomberguy :P

Thank you for this vid! Was surprised that Anno 1800 was that good :) Immediatly cant wait to add it to the collection! Cheers Efka!!!

It *is* mint fresh. Thanks for playing and happy holidays! 💚

Bro, your camera qulity is so good, it made this video even more enjoyable to watch.

Although my friends also brought Catan with them on our 2012 German holiday together, it was actually the random Thurn and Taxis game that was in our Airbnb (did that exist yet?) at Christmas in Nurenburg that was my first intro into modern board gaming. Its like German Ticket to ride. I introduced my mum through Quadropolis, she really enjoys spatial puzzles like that, on to Azul and others.

I wish I could like this video a thousand times. You do SO good NPI! I'm surprised the box held up at the end. And you're right. It is time to say goodbye.

Haha, the tension at the end. I kept waiting for a car to drive over it, some one to walk by and pick it up, or for him to run back out to grab it! Lol, great vid.

I appreciate the inclusion of Anno 1800 in this video. My first hobby boardgame was also Catan, and what it introduced to me was that boardgames could be complex without sacrificing fun and not based purely on dice - that they could be more than not just Monopoly but also Pictionary and the like. I am far from a newcomer to this hobby, but it still persistently annoys me when 'gateway games' are always the simplest ones, when elegant simplicity is hardly lacking in non-hobby boardgames of the sort almost everyone is familiar with. If I had been introduced to the hobby with, say, Iwari, I wouldn't have gotten into it as much as I did.

that hbomberguy cameo was fantastic

“Catan is old” *wheezes in rocking chair* “Back in MY day, we had to scour the proto-Internet for a bad translation of the rules that we could print out on our dot-matrix printers (which were the style at the time).” “If you want Anno 1800, you’ll have to get the English version of the rules off BGG-“ “Hah!” “Or wait for the English version next year.” “Darn kids and their unending flood of high quality games from all over the Earth.”

Excellent and thorough. Thank you so much for this video!

Does this mean we can expect Lindsey Ellis and Olly Philosophy Tube to be in a SUSD video?

A collab with Hbomberguy? This is a crossover I didn't know I wanted, and I'm glad it exists!

I like your humor, set up and radiating kindness. Subscribed.

Efka, I have never seen you so nerdy as your explanation of Tuscany, and I love it!

CITIES AND KNIGHTS!! That's the next step after basic Catan!!

Nice video! Now I will go back, and play some Catan.

Did I just witness two villages next to each other?! Unforgivable!

I literally went to sleep last night thinking how I need to find a new game for my family that is on the level of Catan. You sir have my answer.

I still like Settlers...it has trading, dice, area control, resource management, engine building... it's not for everyone, I understand, but I still have a good time with it.

Catan is still a game I enjoy playing every once in a while. I recently pre-orderd Anno 1800 due to your video. I can't wait to get it to the table, looks like I gotta wait til June or July though. I've also added Castles of Tuscany and Iwari to my list of games to consider purchasing.

This video led me to binge watch your reviews. Love everything about you two except that I'm not in your gaming group. :)

The cameo was a surprise to be sure, but a welcome one

man this was a great reviewj thank you¡¡¡¡ youve got a new subscriber¡¡¡

did NOT expect an hbomb cameo here

Dude. You made this video at the right time. Not only that, you have a great sense of humor.

having just gone to ikea, with two masks and almost before closing, to get a Kallax, I feel immensely called out by hbomberguy, and it's not even his channel. amazing! And now I want Anno 1800

THANK YOU. Someone had to say it. Great recommendations too.

That ad break was so smoothly snuck in I laughed out loud, and then I genuinely signed up for Skillshare.

I agree, the base game of Cantan has been surpassed ... but I think you forget the expansion and the variety and nuances that they bring to the game. It's far from being my favorite game, but I think there are many things to thank for it. For example, the number of people introduced to the world of the board games. Catan is what Harry Potter is to reading for a lot of people ... and that's VERY good.

Ah man ...just discovered that the English version of Anno 1800 will not release this year. Was looking forward to play that around Christmas

OMG didnt expect that cameo :D

Excellent review. Loved the jazz ~4:21

I have around ten stupid boxes of Catan on the Kallax next to me, gathering dust, and you are spot on, Efka. I'll still be playing Catan (the Star Trek version, my parents LOVE it) this xmas, but its age shows.

Isaac Childres as Herbert the Skeleton - Hahahahaha - that got me!

The tension at the end waiting to see if a car would wreck it

I love your humour, but more importantly, I love your opinion on boardgames! Anno 1800 may well be my next purchase.

forgot to "stock up" on non-soup analogies XD

After all of this I think Concordia has already fired Catan.

Love the video. I'm going to be the other guy though, I love Catan. It's simplicity makes it easy to explain and teach. If you're not a great teacher there's always another person on the table whose played it. Catan has given me an opportunity to learn how my friends play board games and in turn helped me strategize against them as they do me. We still take it out often in our few years of this hobby. Easy to set up, quick for my group and high stakes with high rewards.

My first "technically" modern board game was Cosmic Encounter, and I still love it, and it holds up really well with my gaming group! I played Catan once long ago, and it didn't stand out to me, I recently bought it, for a ridiculous deal, just to see how it plays, but I'm not expecting a knockout like some of the recent favorites of ours have been.

Personally, I feel as though the negotiating mechanic is what turns Catan from Monopoly++ to a proper hobby board game. It opens up newcomers' minds to the possibilities of what could be, after that first taste. I want to negotiate with my friends, broker deals, create friendships (or backstab each other afterwards). Otherwise, we'd get something as dry (for a casual player) as Chess. That's what makes Catan Catan, for me at least. And that's something that was sadly not really touched upon in this video.

Brilliant video!

I took away from this video that catan is still my favorite board game still and Iwari is definitely worth a look.

This guy should not be a surgeon. But I appreciate his views, humor, and perspective and will certainly look into these games. Thanks!

Settlers of catan was my gateway board game. Now I have like 50 board games in my collection. The ones we are playing at the moment is wingspan, maripousis, dinosaur island and others

My family has developed a few house rules to speed the game up and take a little of the edge off. We’ve tried different house rules and stopped using them, these are the ones that have stuck. 1) The thief doesn’t exist in the beginning. The first two to four 7’s rolled (minimum of 2, but if it was a particularly painfully slow start we would determine in that moment if we wanted to add 1-2 extra rerolls). We found that any time a 7 got rolled early on it ground the entire economy to a halt due to a shortage of that material. Also, it almost always sparked a bitter swapping back and forth of the Thief between 2 people. 2) You can access a port by having a road connecting to it. It actually never came up in our first 2 or 3 games, but eventually someone placed a settlement on a port and we had to decide if that blocked access or not (we weren’t sure how they worked at the time). We settled on you being able to access a port with a road directly pointing at the port, but you could also build there if desired (though it wouldn’t block access). 3) You can only use development cards during your turn. My sister supposedly knows someone who plays Catan “professionally” and she swears you can play them any time you want once the dice pass, but not only is that counter-intuitive to every board game I’ve ever played, it also causes absolute chaos the one time we decided to try it out, with people playing cards mid sentence of some players and it nearly ended the game then and there due to fighting. Basically, if it isn’t your turn we don’t like you still doing things, as it distracts from the person who’s actually playing their turn (and we all kinda think she’s misinterpreting the rules anyway). Obvious exception being Victory Point cards which are always valid, but we keep hidden/face down. 4) Whoever holds the dice leads the conversation. To prevent people from getting overwhelmed with trade offers, questions, etc... we decided that whoever’s turn it is must ask for trades. You can counter-offer, if you like, but they initiate it with whomever they want to talk to, and the trade is only final once both parties agree to swap cards (which is final, no take-backs). I’d love to know what your house rules are (and who’s misinterpreting development cards) from anyone replying.

Oh my god, the Anno series has a board game now? I LOVE Anno 2070 and Anno 1701!

Nice review

Not going to say goodbye to Catan, but I might try the new games! I did however think that there was one game missing from the list: 7 Wonders. A greta game, and it contains many elements of Cata, plus a few more. IMO it is a little richer than Catan, although I love both.

That was a surprising crossover

I like the gold house sitting on its roof instead of its base.

Thanks to this video i bought anno 1800 when it released here in the US

My re-entry to this hobby was Power Grid...

The main problem in my household is the competitiveness that ensues over Catan. Castles of Tuscany sounds like a great solution!

I watched that game box in the street for 1 minute and expecting something to happen, knowing nothing would happen...

Should have used some canned laughter after that soup line.

I missed this reviews, I did not care for the rpg videos , thank you . Gracias from Mexico.

If I were to pick a couple of games, from my experience, that I feel would replace Catan and be appropriate for newer players, I might pick Concordia and Chinatown. Concordia is similar sounding to Anno in that it's rules are light but it has a lot of depth that rewards familiarity. Its also about about grabbing territory and can be more or less tense depending on the map you pick. Chinatown, on the other hand, is pure negotiation. I don't pull it out frequently but it usually turns the night into a few hours of playful screaming at friends, depending on your group, this will be an upgrade to the screaming you find in Monopoly or Catan

My (re)introduction to modern games was Sushi Go, Forbidden Island, and Carcassonne. Also can we talk about how GORGEOUS the art for Iwari is?! DANG that's a sexy game.

I'm curious to hear what your thoughts are on other Catan versions and if there was an improvement on any of them. I say this as a person who has moved on from the original Catan but actually do enjoy Starfarers.

I'm gonna say hello to these 3 games so much btw, I think this is my one of my favourite video of yours, keep it up guys (and not because I hate catan or something, I didn't eve play it :v)

About the negotiation part of Catan: Chinatown is a better negotiation game!

lol i like the transition to the ad

I've always preferred Carcassonne to Catan.

Efka, Elaine... this was a great video :)

"Regular Person" indeed.

Settlers is great, and many of the current Euros lack the interaction and competitiveness that is such a huge draw to new players.

Great and perfectly timed video. Awesome shirt with birds. And also are you in any way related to Ron Perlman?

Thank you for having the chutzpah to make this video! Catan was not my first "real" board game - I didn't even play it for the first time until the late '90s - so I have no nostalgia for it. For me, it sits next to Machi Koro in a spot just barely above Monopoly. Games which are VERY dependent upon die rolls with little mitigation available. I don't hate games that use dice, I just don't like when I have little to no way to deal with poor rolling luck. Cheers!

Brave, Efka. Real brave.

Harry is sneaking into other people's videos while being ellusive about his own channel... 🤔 Something is brewing. P.S. thank you for the review, reviewer and guitar :)

Are there any other games that have the support level Catan has? People I've introduced it to, I can direct them to the app or website and there they can walkthrough the rules or practice. They've made it so easy to learn, which makes people more open to trying it.

This is great !

Great video.

We love Catan (with SV and C&K expansions) played it a lot with the family. What we like most is the trading aspect: "Who wants to give one wool for one wood and a stone?" making it one of the most interactive strategic games I ever played. What I hate about is that if you are behind there is no way to catch up and the game just punishes you every round more and more.

This video only is true if you never add any of the expansions or if you never incorporate some of the amazing house rules people have come up with and published on Reddit, like when rolling for resources everybody has their own set of three dice (instead of 2) and everybody rolls for themselves and produce resources only as per their roles, choosing only two dice to produce resources with out of the three they rolled, this reduces the chances of you not producing resources and also you are in charge of your own production of such, and once you play with all four expansions combined it's a massive experience with an extreme level of strategy, there's even a new dragon's expansion which is awesome!

I was playing board games, including war games, for years before Catan existed, since I was a kid in the 70s and saved my allowance for a few weeks to but those old Metagaming Microgames like Rivets, Olympica, and Invasion of the Air-Eaters among others, and we enjoyed Catan when it was new as a light game before jumping into heavier fare like Star Fleet Battles and later on, World in Flames. It's obviously been surpassed in this day in age for games of this type, but I'm glad it exists as it helped our hobby. I'd not seek it out to play today but wouldn't say no to playing either.