CATAN Histories: Merchants of Europe

This is an excellent game, and I love the introduction of cash (gold coins) to purchase resources. It is a bit more complex than the original settlers, and requires more time, both for setup and play. Time from open to playing first 'short game' is about 30-40 minutes, depending on how experienced the players are. I also love the fact that when you build a trading post in an empty city site, it has you randomly grab a coin with the dice roll on it, vs being pre-populated. There is definitely more strategy in this one, and more intricate game play, along with a need to plan routes, etc., to maximize access for yourself, make access difficult for others, and extract as much gold as possible. Due to all of this, each turn can take much longer than regular Settlers.The one things that bugged me a bit is that I had to provide my own bags for pieces - otherwise, all the pieces are mixed when you put them away, except for the roads/paths.

I found MoE to be a brilliant take on the Catan series, tackling an interesting period in Europe when commerce was booming across the continent. There are two maps included, one quick play and one standard. Both provide a lot of entertainment and challenge, don't think of quick play as a watered down "light" version of the game. Players familiar with Catan will find a lot of similar pieces and concepts here, one key difference being that in addition to creating borders, roads (or trade routes) can also generate revenue and thus further contribute to your trade empire. This also isn't simply about survival, but creating the smartest trade infrastructure to not only expand into new cities, but to take advantage of your rivals' trade routes and cities as well. Definitely worth picking up, just keep in mind that unlike the original Catan that can be expanded to 6 players, this one is solely for 3-4 players.

It's Settlers of Catan with some different mechanics. A lot of the same ideas are here, but are implemented different. The robber can steal the number off the hexagon. Instead of winning with victory points, you win by establishing your trading posts, connecting with roads, and delivering goods to your opponents. It's different, fun, and good, but it's not great.It's different and good, but it's definitely not better. If we're playing with new gamers, we'd rather play the original Catan. If we're playing with friends who haven't played Catan in a while, we'll probably just play the normal Catan. Us as a family who plays Catan often, we found it fun to have things switched up.I like this, but for most people I would suggest the regular Settlers of Catan. This is a good game, but it's very much a niche game that will only appeal to a certain subset of people.

Fun game! Different spin from Settlers of Catan, but I love the strategy and teamwork that this game entails. It does take a bit of time to get use to the differences, but it is well worth it. I love how the game stands alone with the board mostly intact. Game was delivered in fast timing and all the pieces were included.

Nice variant of Catan with the setting of Europe. The tiles are not intended to be randomized, which does reduce the replay ability, but is consistent with this scenario variation. There are added resources which increase the complexity. An experienced Catan group would be preferred and I would not recommend this for beginners. The components are good quality and the production value is solid. Overall, I rated this game 3 stars because with my group always prefers to play other variants of Catan. Although this scenario theme is nice addition to any Catan collection, it wasn’t a good fit for my gaming group.

Definitely different from regular Catan, which makes it a wonderful challenge. We bought this to take with us on a trip to Zion, so we could play once we were all pooped from hiking, and it kept us very well entertained.

Got this for my hubby and tried it out just last week. Reading through the rules it sounds overly complicated, but once you start playing it comes pretty naturally. If you have played Catan before it will probably be easier than if you haven't.

This adds a whole new level to settlers of catan and is so fun! set up takes a bit, but watch a youtube video and it will help you get going faster!