Rivals for Catan

The Rivals for Catan is a reimplementation of the Catan Card Game.

The Rivals for Catan was released in German in September 2010, on the 15th anniversary of the original card game. An English edition followed in the fourth quarter of 2010. Klaus Teuber, the designer of the game, completely reworked many of the original card game's mechanics to make it easier for newcomers to play.

Each player portrays a prince of Catan, developing their individual provinces and competing to build a more successful province than the other. The basic mode of play is similar to the original Catan Card Game, where players expand their provinces by building settlements connected by roads. Players may also build expansions in their settlements that aid them in various ways or upgrade their settlements to cities to allow for more expansions. These additions are built using resources accumulated each turn, determined by a roll of the die, and cards drawn each turn replenish the players' hands. Action cards can be employed to directly affect either one's own or an opponent's province.

The Rivals for Catan features a reduced pool of cards, omitting the more aggressive style of action cards from the original Catan Card Game. As a result, all action cards are available from the beginning of the game.

Ways to Play:

The Introductory Game focuses on the basics of the card game, with gameplay more suited for newcomers. It is played to 7 victory points and includes 36 Expansion Cards in four stacks. This play style typically takes beginner players 25 to 30 minutes.

Three Theme Games introduce additional rules, expansions, and aggressive cards. These can be played individually or combined to create "The Duel of the Princes." Each Theme Game adds 24 Expansion and Event Cards to the Introductory Game's cards, placed in two stacks separately. When playing a Theme Game, expect a playtime of around 45 to 60 minutes.

As in the original Catan Card Game, players can also engage in the Tournament Game, where specific cards are chosen to build a deck in advance, from which they draw during play.

Theme:

The theme of The Rivals for Catan is no longer limited to the Middle Ages' feudal era as in the original Catan Card Game. In the Introductory Game, the early years of the world of Catan are portrayed, while each Theme Game occurs in progressively later eras, known as "The Era of Gold," "The Era of Turmoil," and "The Era of Progress."