Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Catan part 2

In an earlier blog I mentioned that, while I used to think that Catan had a near-perfect luck/skill balance, more recently is has appeared too luck-based.

I think I know the reason why.

When I first started playing Catan, I, and the other players I played with, were obviously beginners. Now we are much better, more experienced players. We make fewer mistakes and the skill element is a lot higher. Therefore any small changes in luck have a much greater effect on the game. This is why the game now appears more luck-dependent - because the luck has a greater effect now we are more skillful players.

1 comment:

Chris Juby said...

Ah, that does make sense!

I guess it happens with most games: as skill increases they reciprocally reduce either to luck (anything with dice) or to formulae (e.g. noughts and crosses, chess) depending on the mechanics.

Sad! Although I still love Catan.