Players: 2
Playing Time: 1-2 hours
Difficulty: 4 (of 10)
As with the rest of the Catan family, Starship Catan was originally printed in Germany by Kosmos.
The Components
Starship Catan comes in a small box which is surprisingly heavy due to its large selection of components:
- 2 starships
- starship components:
- 6 cannons
- 6 boosters
- 18 modules
- 4 colony ships
- 4 trade ships
- 10 resource markers
- 2 science markers
- 32 coins
- 70 sector cards
- 12 adventure cards
- 2 V.P. cards
- 2 dice
- rulebook & Prof. Easy guide
Spaceships & Components: The starships form the game boards and record-keeping devices for each player. They’re actually about twice as wide as the box, printed in two pieces which fit together with jigsaws. The starships, and all the rest of the spaceship components, are printed on very solid, textured card board in four colors.
The starships provide space for all the rest of the components (cannons, boosters, and ship modules) you might add to your ship. In addition, they hold your markers for the six different resources you use within the game to build items as well as representations of your current colony and trade ships. Finally, the starships also include legends denoting exactly what it costs to build each item in the game. Overall, the boards are a very well designed central focus for the game.
The cannons and boosters are simple add-ons to your ship. They're each printed two sides, with one pip on the front and two on the back, to denote two different levels of power. The cannons jigsaw onto the front of the ships, and the boosters onto the back, which is a very nice design, because it keeps the otherwise loose parts from going all over.
The modules denote various systems available on your ship. There are 6 level I modules for each player, then another 6 level II modules which are shared between the players on a first-come first-serve basis. Each module shows its cost on the back, with a short synopsis of what it does; there's a complete description on the front, along with attractive computerized artwork. The overall layout of these make it really easy to see what modules you built and which you haven't, and furthermore makes sure that you always have the right info at hand, for whether you're considering building or using a module.
The colony and tradeships are small rectangular cardboard pieces, each showing a picture of a space ship and either a "C" or a "T" to denote the type of ship. The letters cleanly match up to the planets they can be used upon.
The resource markers and the science markers are tiny square pieces of cardboard which show an "X" on one side and an arrow on another. They're used to show your current level of each resource by placement in the ship cargo bays. If you have "0" of a resource, you flip to the "X" side; if you have "1" to "4" you flip to the arrow and point it at the appropriate number of items in the bay.
Coins: The coins are printed on the same textured cardboard as most of the rest of the pieces. They come in two denominations, "1" and "5" which are easy to tell apart because of differentiations in color and size.
Cards: The cards in Starship Catan are all printed in four-color on sturdy cardstock with rounded corners.
The sector cards form the bulk of the deck. Each one depicts a planet, an outpost, or pirates. Most of the art is constantly reused, though a couple of the outposts are very nice to look at. Various icons cleanly delineate what can be done at the planet.
The adventure cards are quite graphically pleasing. They feature pictures of events or planets, along with related alien races. Text describes the adventure. Awarded fame or victory points are again clearly depicted with icons.
The two victory point cards match up fame, friendship, and victory point symbols to clearly show what each one is for.
Dice: The dice are wood, one painted yellow, the other blue, to match up with their uses (yellow relates to movement and the yellow boosters, while blue relates to combat and the blue cannons). The blue die also has numerals instead of pips to further differentiate them (which is important because the blue die runs 1-4 while the yellow die runs 1-3).
Rulebooks: Starship Catan hs two rulebooks, each printed four color on glossy paper, featuring plenty of pictures and examples. The main rulebook does a fine job of explaining the game, and was useful for reference as well. The Prof. Easy phamplet is meant to be a way to start playing the game without reading the rules at all. It's a nice inclusion, though not one I personally used.
Box & Tray: The box is a nice size; because of its compactness the game is very portable. The tray is about my only complaint in all the components of Starship Catan. It's too small to fit all the components, and thus you end up needing to let your 18 Starship modules float loosely in the box.
Overall the components of Starship Catan are well-designed and colorful, feature gorgeous art, and are very utilitarian; they make the game not just fun to play, but easy too. However that's reflected in the price point, which is slightly high for a two-player game. Even given the price point, I'd still rate the Style of the game as somewhat above average: "4" out of "5".
The Game Play
As per the standards of the Catan family, Starship Catan is a game of resource production and building. However, it also adds new elements of exploration and trading. In the end the winner is the one who has explored the best, founded the most colonies, best befriended the alien races, and advanced his technology the fastest.
Setup: Starting out, each player is given a starship with two boosters (for moving faster) and one cannon (for fighting pirates). The ship also includes six Level I ship modules, which give various beneficial game effects, though only one is built at start. A colony ship and a trade ship sit in the starship's hangar. Finally there are six bays which can each include between 0 and 2 of six different resources: ore, fuel, food, carbon, trade good, and science. (It's somewhat unclear if science is really intended to be a resource or something special, but in any case the cargo bays and the science lab work just the same). The science lab starts out with 1 science, the trade good cargo bay starts out with two trade goods, and the rest of the cargo bays are empty.
Sitting directly in front of the player is his first colony, which is worth his first victory point. It will produce one resource when a "1" is rolled. Also nearby is the player's starting 25 Astros (the currency unit).
A 12-card adventure deck sits nearby. The first 3 adventure cards are flipped up. Also between the two players are 40 Sector cards, divided into 4 piles of 10. 30 extra Sector Cards sit nearby. (Both the adventure cards and the 30 extra sector cards are divided into sets of "1"s, "2"s, "3"s, and "4"s. All the cards of one number are shuffled together, then the four piles are stacked on top of each other. This cleverly allows for both randomness and increasing challenges.)
Also scattered about the playing surface are: extra cannons, boosters, colony ships and trade ships for puchase; a bank full of Astros; and a set of six Level II modules, which players will have to compete to buy.
Order of Play: Each turn the following order of play is followed by each player in turn:
- Production
- Flight
- Trading & Building
Production: Each colony planet, as well two special ship modules, produces resources. All the cards and components very clearly depict which type of colony they are, what they produce, and on what die roll:
Green Planets: Food
Blue Planets: Carbon
Red Planets: Ore
Mottled Planets: Trade Goods
Orange Planets: Fuel
Science Module: Science
Production Module: Trade Goods
At the start of each turn, the player rolls the yellow production die, which is numbered one to three twice. After rolling both players then look over their colonies and ship modules for a matching number. They may then choose one of their matching colonies or ship modules to produce its resource. The resource is then placed in the appropriate cargo bay, to a maximum of two resources in any bay (a maximum which can be increased with ship modules, as discussed in Building, below).
Flight: Afterward the phasing player takes the yellow die he just rolled and places it next to his boosters. He will then get an amount of movement equal to the number of pips on his die + the number of pips on his boosters. This can be as low as 3 at start (1 roll + 2 booster pips) or as high as 9 at end (3 roll + 6 booster pips). Once he has determined his speed, a player then determines which sector to explore from the four in between the two players.
Once he has decided to explore a sector, the player will then flip the cards from it one at a time. Each card depicts a planet, an outpost, or pirates. At a planet or an outpost a player may decide to take an action from the list below. Players only get two actions a turn at start (which can also be increased with a ship module). A flight ends when: the maximum speed is reached; or the maximum number of actions is reached; or the player decides to stop. (You'll recall there are 10 planets in each sector, so a player will never fly through all of them.)
Buy or Sell Resources. Many planets allow the purchase or sale of resources, for between 1 and 5 Astros each. For an action a player may buy or sell as much as he wants, to the maximum of his cargo bay space. (Buying a specific resource at a "1" or "2" planet, then selling at a "4" or "5" is a prime way to make money in this game, and quite important.)
Buy or Sell Science Points. Kopernikus II allows the purchase or sale of Science Points for 3 Astros each as an action.
Found a Colony. Some planets are clearly marked with "C"s. If you have a colony ship, and come across a colony planet, you can found a colony as an action. You remove the colony ship from your hangar, and place the colony in front of you. This will produce resources on future turns.
Found a Trading Post. Some planets are clearly marked with "T"s. If you have a trade ship, and come across a trade planet, you can found a trade post as an action. You remove the trade ship from your hangar, and place the trade post in front of you. Each trade post allows the purchase or sale of a specific resource for "3". This makes it possible to get resources you need during the building phase, which is quite important. Trading posts also give a player friendship points, which are helpful for achieving the "friendship victory point" (whomever has the most, as long as they have 3 or more, gets it).
Complete an Adventure. Four planets (Pallas, Hades, Picasso, and Poseidon) are marked as adventure planets. These relate to the adventure cards in the game. At any time, there will be three adventure cards in play. Each requires a player to visit one of these adventure planets, sometimes bringing specific goods. As an action a player may complete an adventure when he reaches an adventure planet. This always offers a reward--in resources, fame, or even victory points.
Face Pirates. Whenever you come across a pirate card in a sector, you must face them. You'll have an option to pay them off, for between 3 and 5 Astros. If you choose not to, you must fight. You roll the blue combat die and add your number of combat pips. Your opponent then rolls the blue combat die, and adds the pirate value on the card (from 2 to 7).
If your total is less than the pirates, you lose. At best your flight ends immediately. At worst they may also damage your ship.
if your total is equal to or greater than the pirates, you defeat them. You'll gain resources or Astros as well as a fame point. These fame points (along with some that may be won in adventures) count toward the "fame victory point". Whomever has the most fame, and more than three, gets this +1 VP.
Finishing The Flight. Cards can be removed from a sector for a number of reasons: a player takes a colony; a player takes a trade post; or a player takes a pirate card. These cards are replaced to bring the sector back up to 10 cards, and the sector is then shuffled. The same cards remain, but they'll be in a different order for the next journey through that part of space.
Trading & Building: During this phase players may Trade or Build as they see fit. Tradng means using one's trading posts to buy (or sell) resources or alternatively using the Trade Module to buy resources from an opponent.
Building means using those resources to build various ship parts. In each case, a player exchanges resources in his Cargo Bays in appropriate amounts to build the ship part.
Colony and trade ships allows for the creation of additional colonies and trade posts. There's only room for a total of two of these ships in the hangar:
Colony Ship: 1 ore, 1 fuel, 1 grain
Trade Ship: 1 ore, 1 fuel, 1 trade good
Each ship has space for three boosters and three cannons. Initially a player will buy them all at level 1, then he'll start upgrading them to level 2 (for a maximum value of 6 total each):
Level 1 Booster: 2 fuel
Level 2 Booster: 2 fuel, 1 science
Level 1 Cannon: 2 carbon
Level 2 Cannon: 2 carbon, 1 science
Finally a player can choose to build any of the Level 1 ship modules he has, or if he already has a specific ship module, he can upgrade it to level 2:
Level 1 Ship Module: 1 ore, 1 carbon, 1 food
Level 2 Ship Module: 1 ore, 1 carbon, 2 food
The ship modules each offer benefits in the game, with that benefit improving at level 2:
Command Module: Take 3 (I) or 4 (II) actions in a flight.
Logistics Module: Store 3 (I) or 4 (II) goods in each cargo bay.
Production Module: Get trade goods on 1 (I) or 2 (II) die rolls.
Science Module: Get science points on 1 (I) or 2 (II) die rolls.
Sensor Module: Look at 2 (I) or 3 (II) cards before flying through a sector.
Trade Module: Buy 1 (I) or 2 (II) resources from opponent.
Each level 2 module is also worth 1 Victory Point.
Winning the Game: The game plays out slowly, with each player flying through sectors, buying and selling goods, colonizing planets, building trade outposts, and completing adventures. At the same time he's improving his ship and rebuilding trade and colonies ships he used up. His ultimate goal is to reach 10 Victory Points, drawn from the following options:
Colonies: 1 VP each
Some Adventures: 1 VP each
Level 2 Modules: 1 VP each
Most Fame: 1 VP
Most Friendship: 1 VP
Relationships to Other Games
Starship Catan is technically a two-player adaptation of Klaus Teuber's The Starfarers of Catan, which is itself a farflung variant of The Settlers of Catan. However, that really doesn't express the uniqueness of this game.
Starship Catan definitely takes the core ideas of its predecessor: resources, building, colonies, trade posts, alien friendship, fame, ships with boosters and cannons, etc. However, it uses all those items in new and innovative ways which work well as a two-player game. I'd be as tempted to label them as two games set in the same background as adaptations of each other.
Starship Catan also does a good job of playing toward the strengths of its medium: playing cards. The use of planets hidden amongst sectors of space is something that works well in a card-based game and not in a board-based game.
Overall, Starship Catan is how a two-player adaptation of a multiplayer game should work.
The Game Design
Starship Catan is quite simply a fun game. Here's some of the stuff I liked:
A Sense of Role & Background: Because you're building up your own starship, you really have a sense of playing a role in this game--and can roleplay it if you so desire, as my coplaytester did when she gleefully blew up pirates, and when she called me a coward for paying them off. The aliens and the adventures and even the static sectors of space also offer a nice sense of background (though I got a little better feel for the aliens in cousin game, The Starfarers of Catan).
Difficulty Well Contained: This game is, frankly, intimidating. It looks complex and in the first turn or two you can feel lost. However in actuality it does a very good job of containing that complexity. Your choices at any moment are well-constrained by resources, by needs, and by what your opponent is doing. Once you actually start playing, it's very easy to play the game.
Multiple Paths to Victory: The game very purposefully pushes multiple paths to victory. Because of starting colonies, one player is more likely to build up boosters and the other cannons--ultimately meaning that one player is more likely to go after pirates than the other. Beyond this there are lots of different strategies players can take: going all out for colonies, building up an economic empire, rushing forward on ship modules, etc. Each has its own benefits and deficits.
Interesting Trade Mechanisms: Trade really doesn't tend to work in two-player games, and that can be an issue for a Catan game because in the multiplayer games trade is quite important. (In fact, trade not working well was one of my complaints about the two-player Settlers of Catan card game.) Starship Catan overcomes this by mechanizing trade: players can trade with various planets and force other players to trade resources for Astros.
Randomness Minimized: Randomness has sometimes been a complaint in Catan games, because not having your resources produce can put you way behind. Starship Catan keeps the random element, but minimizes it by only having 3 production numbers, and only having each roll produce once--not for every planet a player controls. Bad rolls can affect your planning, but not put you out of the game.
Here's my few complaints:
Intimidating: As already discussed the game can be intimidating for a first time player due to the large number of choices offered to them.
Adventures Deck Too Small There are only 12 adventure cards, and it's likely you'll go through almost all of them every game, which can reduce the replayability of the game overall--because you feel like you're always playing the same story. However to account for this, Klaus Teuber has made some free missions available on the web. There's two so far, with the third ("Die Diplomatie Station") currently being translated. Each one has a deck of 12 new adventure cards and a few other new pieces as appropriate. I wish these were being published as a supplement, rather than just printed on the web, so that you could have nice pieces, but having them is nicer than not in any case.
A Bit Long: Our playtest game lasted a bit over two hours, which I find a bit lengthy for a two-player game. I'm told that gets down to one hour for experienced players, but don't entirely believe it. Mark that as a potential issue.
Overall Starship Catan is a two-player game that works quite well and is fun. It gets a "4" out of "5" for Substance.
Conclusion
If you enjoyed the background and the space opera feel of The Starfarers of Catan, you'll like this game too. And, if you're looking for a two-player game from the Catan family, this would be my first choice.
