First of all:
The Rivals for Catan is a pure game of cards! In my opinion, this is the "Game flair" but not diminish respect. The "big brother".
But what you should note: you need a relatively large table as the playmaking but takes up a lot of space (especially in the later phase of the game)!
For game in:
My girlfriend and I had played yesterday a first round and we like the game very well so far. The entry will take certainly a little longer, with people who already know The Settlers of Catan, will come into play much quicker, as some game mechanics have little or minimal change.
The guide is written to understand and also provides explanations of each card, which I always think is important!
The "interactive" guide on the internet we did not try, we got along well with the normal instructions.
The gameplay itself is well out of hand. You roll the dice for his commodity income as well as certain events, it is expanding its settlements, exchanged cards and raw materials, etc. Speaking of events: The event cards give the game a good momentum and so arise from time to time surprise moments. I like it!
However, a small downer is the rather limited ability to interact with the opponent or to influence its progress actively. Although I speak only from the basic set here. How to look at the three theme sets, I can not yet say. Perhaps there is but a different card, so you can wipe out the other players one. ;)
On the whole I would recommend this game! All those who are looking for a good build-up strategy game or just want to play Catan only two, here are determined to have fun!
The three quite extensive Theme Sets will promote the long-term fun even further and offer a lot of new strategies and opportunities, very good!
