Description
Catan Junior (Slovenian edition: Naseljenci otoka Catan - Junior) is the children's version of the famous game Catan, which won the Norwegian Årets Spill award for best children's game in 2014. Instead of settlements and roads you build pirate lairs and ships, with help from Coco the parrot. The first player to build all seven lairs wins.
How to play Catan Junior
At the start of your turn you roll the die. Every island with that number gives a resource to each lair next to it: cutlasses, goats, wood, gold or molasses. Then you build: a ship costs goats and wood, a lair costs a cutlass, molasses, a goat and wood. You build in alternation, first a ship, then a lair, and you cannot move past other players' pieces.
If you roll a six, you move the Ghost Captain to another island and take two resources of that island. As long as the captain is there, the island produces nothing. At the market you can swap one resource for another once per turn, and with the supply you can trade two of the same kind for one. Coco tiles bring resources, free building or a move of the captain, and whoever has the most of them gets a lair on Spooky Island.
Why you will like it
- Children learn collecting resources, trading and building, which are the heart of Catan.
- One die and simple building costs on each player's own tile.
- You get resources even when it is not your turn.
- For older children there is an extra rule for trading between players.
Who is Catan Junior for
The game is for two to four players aged 6 and up, and a game takes about 30 minutes. The rules are simple, and players like it best with four. The game board has a special side for playing with two. It suits families with children and works well as an introduction to Catan.
What you might not like
The die roll decides who gets resources, so luck plays an important role. It may not be the best fit for those looking for a game decided by planning alone.
What is in the box
- double-sided game board
- resource tiles of five kinds
- Coco tiles
- Ghost Captain figure
- pirate lairs and ships in four colours (7 and 8 each)
- building cost tiles
- die
- rules
