Back in 2012, a Settlers of Catan variation was posted that was effectively a simplified, cooperative Roll and Write version of Catan. And while I had some concerns about some design elements, I was definitely interested in the idea.
The core idea was that it was a cooperative version of Catan where each player was trying to get to seven points. All resources went to the same general pool. And your timer/opponent was the bandit that would slowly destroy resource hexes.
The whole thing could be printed out on one piece of paper, board on one side and rules on the back. Minimalist line art, and you would use colored markers to draw in settlements, cities and roads. The only physical token was the bandit.
When I first saw this variation, I wasn’t even interested in print and play at the time. But I still liked the Idea of such a minimalist version of Catan. With that said, even at the time, I really saw it only as a variation that you would take if you were backpacking in the wilderness.
The variation simplifies Catan by having no development cards. That also means no largest army and sheep are heavily devalued when sheep are already the red-headed sheep of resources. There is also no longest road.
After having this variation with in the back of my head for over 10 years, I finally sat down and tried it out. Admittedly, I did it as a solitaire but with multiple player seats.
And, sadly, the most positive description that I can come up with for it was lackluster. The only way to get the prerequisite seven points for each player was settlements and cities. While very annoying, the bandit destroyed things slowly enough that I wasn’t in danger of losing the game.
The elements that make Catan truly a dynamic, like trading and getting random development cards, aren’t there. And, as much as I really do like Catan, I don’t need a Catan fix this badly.
I am honestly not sure what the state of print and play was in 2012. However, now, particularly with the Covid lockdown boom in print and play games, there are so many good options that you could stuff into your backpack before you head off into the woods. The need for this just isn’t there.
I feel bad knocking with this variation as much as I have. Because I definitely do like the idea of it. I like the idea of having a minimalist Catan that I could play next to a campfire in the middle of nowhere. Unfortunately, what I think it proves is that there comes a point in simplification where you lose the balance.
https://boardgamegeek.com/filepage/75454/settlers-of-catan-cooperative-b-and-w-p-and-p-vers
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