That time I spent 45 minutes explaining how Catan works to someone who already played it

So I was at a game night last Friday with some new folks, and one guy says he's played Catan before. I start going through the rules about settlements and roads, and he just nods along. Ten minutes in he asks where the dice are. Turns out he played the mobile app version and thought the real game was totally different. Took another 35 minutes to re-explain everything the right way. Anyone else have a friend who learned a game from an app and then floundered with the physical board?

2 comments

2 Comments

samward8d ago

Hang on, I think you're being a little too hard on the app versions there. Monopoly's video game actually does include auctions and most of the rules, they just automate the dice rolling and money handling. The dude who tried to quick save probably just never read the digital rulebook. Same with Catan. The mobile port is pretty faithful, it just handles the trading and building for you. So it's more like people get used to the computer doing all the fiddly parts, then they sit down with the cardboard and realize they never learned the actual flow of a turn.

xenan648d ago

Wait, he played the mobile app and thought the actual board game was different? That's wild to me. I had a buddy once who learned Monopoly from the video game version where you can just click to move, and then at a real game night he tried to "quick save" by putting his phone on the table. Took him three rounds to realize you actually have to follow the rules about auctions and stuff. The app versions always strip out so many details and automate the boring parts... people don't realize how much they're missing until they're sitting there with real cards and dice. I can't imagine explaining Catan twice in one night though, that's brutal.