Settlers Of Catan is one of the best-known board games around, largely credited with kickstarting the board game resurgence we currently live in today. While there are digital ways to play Catan on phones and computers, the iconic board game is also making the jump to VR, and it’s the best way to experience the game if you can’t get a group of friends together at one table.
Catan VR isn’t like the existing Catan apps. Catan VR puts you into the world of Catan, sitting down at a table with your opponents sitting next to and across from you. You can talk to them, make trades and play the social angle in a way an app would never be able to replicate.
Playing Catan VR is incredibly intuitive. After one or two turns, I had all the basic mechanics down to plow through the rest of the game. The key to play is a moveable panel that acts almost like a painter’s palette. This panel gives you the controls to roll the dice, see the cards in your hand, buy upgrades and make trades with players and the bank. You can grab and reposition the palette around you at any time, so you never have to worry about it getting in your line of sight.
The presentation of the game is also perfect. Players gather around a table in a house taken straight from the world of Catan. You can explore the house, seeing fun nods to Catan and the different expansions available, as well as look outside at a beautiful scene inspired by the original box art. The board is also fun to examine closely, with the water around the island moving gently, a bird or two circling over the play area and small dust devils popping up on the desert tile. It really makes your game feel alive, like you’re actually settling a living island. More importantly, the fun effects don’t become too overwhelming and distracting from the game.
Unfortunately, the build I played is still in alpha, which means a number of important game rules and features hadn’t been implemented yet. I didn’t get to play against human opponents, but multiplayer is one of the most important factors for the development team to get right. Players will have the option to talk to the group at large, as well as create side conversations to facilitate trades or other “I’m gonna team up with you, and totally not stab you in the back later in the game” moments. There were also a few collision issues, but the team is well aware of them and they should all be ironed out by the beta and eventual full release.
Board gaming is one of the best ways to spend time with friends, which makes it even harder when you don’t live around your board gaming pals anymore. Games like Catan VR are great, because they give the next-best experience to sitting down at a table with your favorite people, even if they live across the country or world. It will be interesting to see how successful Catan VR will be at launch, and if other popular games will follow with similar experiences.
Catan VR is currently in alpha, with a beta planned for later this year. The full release will be coming within the next few months, but there haven’t been any firm release plans made as of yet.
So what do you think? Are you interested in playing Catan, or other games, in VR? Are you like me, and all of your board game friends and family in other states/time zones? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.
