CATAN Junior

Catan for people who cannot yet do the mental arithmetic on a three-for-one port.

The island becomes a ring of pirate hideouts, the resources become wood, goats, cutlasses, molasses and gold, and the robber becomes Ghost Captain, which is a considerable improvement on all counts. Built for six-year-olds and up, so the trading is simplified and nobody gets knocked out.

What it keeps is the thing that matters: the dice produce resources for whoever is adjacent, so children learn very quickly to look at where everybody else has built before deciding where they go. It is the same lesson the full game teaches, delivered in half an hour and without the negotiation that makes the original hard going for small players.

Perfect for: The household where one parent is quietly building a Catan opponent for later.

2-4 players | 30 minutes | Age 6+