There are tons of reviews out there by now but nothing really really recent. Figured it couldn't hurt to add my version of what I thought since I'm late in the game on Catan.

For the longest time I've been hearing about this "gateway game". A few of my friends had it but I always chose to play other games. Figured it couldn't be that good of a game seeing as how dice were involved. Well a few months ago, I finally gave in and tried it out. Love the game. There are some serious flaws in it that I dislike but I can get over them.

After the three months, I've put in many sessions, played online and just purchased it on Amazon thanks to their $19.99 deal

The Rules:
The rules are extremely simple. I won't get into the specifics as i'm sure nearly everybody knows how to play. Explaining the rules was a breeze to all. Easy to learn, and maybe a game or two to get the hang of it. Then a few more on top of that to get a good strategy going.

The Gameplay/Mechanics.
The Gameplay is so simple, you just place your pieces on the board for where you want to start. Roll the dice and go from there.

There are two things I kind of dislike about the game. Number one being the aforementioned dice. It really puts a drag on the game when the cards you get are all decided on the luck of the roll. You can easily go the first five or six rounds without getting a card. When its a tight game at the end, it pretty much comes down to who can get the resources they need to build.

The second thing I dislike is the ganging up strategy. If the other participants on the game want to prevent somebody from winning, they could gang up on that person right from the start. Say I've won three games in a row, then people will see to it I don't win a fourth. They'll block you and constantly place robbers on you if they want to play that way.

But if you can look past both of those negatives, its actually a pretty fun game to play. You honestly don't have to put much thought into the game and the game moves quicker than most Euros i've played. In a 3-4 player game, you could probably finish in 30 minutes or so depending on how long everybody takes to think and do the trading.

The trading is a fun aspect of the game. You're trying to benefit yourself but need to help others out too if you're trying to get a trade to work. There really isn't even a foolproof strategy. A lot of it depends on what tiles are placed near what numbers. My goal is to always try and build cities as fast as I can but others have caught on and do the same thing. Plus if the necessary resources are taken up at the start, then I have to change it up. You can try and get development cards, get the longest road, build the largest armies, you have to find that good balance to get you the victory. There are a lot of variables to take into account on top of the luck of the dice. And sometimes if you're not getting the dice, you might have to make that trade or change up the strategy to see if you can sneak a victory out which is always possible.

Final Thoughts:
I now know why they call this the gateway game. The simplicity of it gets people to really start to familiarize themselves with those other Euro games.

Its a quick play that doesn't take hours on end like others Ive tried.

After the first try, I was hooked. Played it again and again. Tried the online versions for practice and it helped quite a bit. For $19.99 on amazon right now, that's a steal. Many of the B&M stores around here charge $40 for it.

This is a great addition to any collection. I'm glad I finally caved in and tried it out.