If you know anything about the board gaming industry you will have most likely heard about Catan. It is probably one of the most well known Board games of all time. So popular that there are over 30 different Catan games if you include expansions, extensions, and standalone versions. Catan – Explorers and Pirates is an expansion for the original game so will only work with the original and not the 3d version or any of the on the go versions. This expansion is a much needed improvement to the first game and adds lots of new exciting features. Do you feel the base game is too small or felt restricting? If so, sail across the seas to battle and exploration on this incredible addition to the ever growing Catan empire.
Changes:
Explorers and Pirates adds two new islands, boats, spices, fish, pirate lairs, crew, coins, and a pirate ship.
– New islands: There are now three islands instead of just one. The starting island is smaller than the normal island in the original game and where you begin your civilization along with all your other competitors, it is also fully revealed. The other two islands , the moon and sun, are shrouded in mist and can only be revealed by adventurers on boats.
– Boats: You have three boats at your disposal and they move across the ocean to the other island, they can carry a crew in order to trade with natives or fight pirate lairs, fish in order to deliver back to the harbor, and settlers which allow you to drop a settlement on other islands without needing roads.
– Coins: When you don’t get resources from someone’s roll you get a coin instead, two coins can be traded in for any resource, but this can only be done twice on your turn. This is a very welcome feature because it means you always get something from a dice roll and can plan goes more strategically but because of this it reduces need for trading and therefore reduces the overall player interaction.
– Pirate Ship: This is a replacement for the robber and is put on an ocean tile and taxes players when they move through it.
– New tiles: There are a few new tiles in this expansion, such as an ocean tile and fish tile, which break up the islands and allow for fishing, a pirate lair tile, which has to be conquered before settlement, and a village tile, where you trade crew for spices.
Components Quality: 5
The components are amazing! The ingenuity of the boat is incredible, it is made just the right size so that it can hold exactly what it is meant to as shown in the pictures below.
They are all very good quality components and fit very well together. However some of the tile hexes do slightly warp over time and usage making it not fit together flush anymore. Furthermore, due to the overwhelming popularity of the game there are a lot of fakes being sold which have different colouring and design, they also don’t fit properly together. Because of this it is best if you only buy them from a trusted retailer such as Zatu so that you are assured of its quality. Below are pictures of the differences that a fake makes to the game.
Player Interaction: 3
There still remains a fair bit of player interaction when you need to team up to defeat a pirate lair, or someone takes a fish before you can, or someone builds here you were planning to build. These interactions are all still there but trading, which was such a prevalent part of the base game isn’t as used due to the introduction of coins as stated before.
Complexity: 4
The expansion is definitely more complicated than the first game and has lots of different things to remember, but there are scenarios which introduce you to all of the new features slowly and in bite sized pieces in order for you to understand. This is very useful if you are only going to play it with a set group of people like your immediate family or a board game group. However if you introduce it to someone as a one off, it is a lot to take in and will leave some players very confused and longing for the simpler original.
Replayability: 5
Catan is already incredibly replayable due to the randomness of the board. This takes it to a whole new level because the sun and moon islands contain fish and ocean tiles which change their entire shape and potentially split them into even smaller islands. This makes every playthrough feel unique and forces you into a strategy that you didn’t even consider last game but is necessary to your victory this game.
Artwork: 5
The artwork, like the original game, is amazing and everything fits together to make one world. However, as stated before if you accidentally buy a fake it will break the immersion due to the different art styles as shown earlier.
Final Thoughts:
Whether this game is right for you depends on what you want to get out of it. If you already have the base game and want to introduce more variety in strategy and exploration then this is absolutely the game for you. If you enjoy the trade aspect of the base game then I would consider other expansions because this one does reduce trading to the point that I sometimes forget it exists. All of the new additions fit well and are different to one another while still feeling part of the same cohesive world, and feels fun and rewarding to explore. If you enjoy the first game you will enjoy this game and I wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone wishing to delve into the seas of Catan .
