Catan - Cities and Knights

Board games have become immensely popular a few decades ago, thanks to titles like Monopoly, which is still played to this day. However, once computers started to get more powerful and potent, games became a bit more advanced and left behind the concept of dice rolls, unless you count the D&D titles.

Catan - Cities and Knights is the video game adaptation of the popular board game, complete with dice rolls and all the excitement that gets a hold of you when it's your turn to roll. While the rules for winning the game are rather simple and straightforward, the actual gameplay is much more complex and volatile, since there are many actions you can take during the match.

Because the concept requires it, the game can only be played by two or more players, although you do have the option to compete against computer opponents as well, which can be just as fun. To start off with, your goal is to gather resources, build towns and increase the skills of your knights, which are your main source of both defense and offense whenever things get visceral.

The 'board' you play on is actually an island, where you and the other players must all compete against each other in order to build settlements and increase your resource count. The maps are formed out of various titles, each one of which provides your settlements with a specific resource every turn, including timber, ore, or wool. The cities themselves can produce gold, which can be used to build and purchase better structures.

Graphically, the game looks quite good, although the top-down perspective does not allow for too much detail. The tiles and the objects you get to build have been nicely modeled, on the other hand, even if they are a bit small and it may be rather difficult to find certain things at times. However, you quickly forget all about visuals as soon as the match starts, since things get pretty heated along the way.

In the end, Catan – Cities and Knights was designed to be played together with friends, since its value significantly increases when you are sharing the experience with someone you know. By doing so, you can also easily ignore its flaws and the many gameplay mistakes.