![]() ![]() ![]() To support exploring, each player has three new sorts of meeples. Thus, these core rules variants are used in all of the other game play variants. Each of these unexplored areas is built out of face-down tiles which will only be revealed during play.Įach scenario has a different layout the more of the rules variants you use, the larger your board will be.Įxploring: The core new rule for Explorers & Pirates is exploring - which is how you reveal all of those face-down tiles. Setup: No matter which variant you're playing, you'll setup a board with a small island of revealed land to the left of the game board and two big unexplored areas of land to the right - one to top and one to the bottom. Though it does cost $50, there's a whole lot of terrific stuff within.Įxplorers and Pirates describes itself as coming with five "scenarios" probably a better explanation is that it comes with four new rule sets, which can be used in various combinations to enhance The Settlers of Catan. I'll also offer kudos for the value of this box. Historically, the Catan games have had great components, and that continues to be the case here, thanks to utterly superb usability work, and great quality and attractive components. It's fun, but nothing really knocks the theme out of the park. There's also spice and fish, which do contributes to the theming of the game. ![]() The pirate theming is a bit weaker, because the pirate lairs are mainly places to loot(!). Theming: This supplement is definitely about exploration, as there are various lands that you'll discover during gameplay. This box could be a mess, because there's so much different stuff for so many different sorts of games, but Mayfair really does an admirable job in helping you keep it all sorted. Not only does the game give you bags to contain all the bits for the various scenarios, but it also gives you cardboard labels to go into those bags - to make it really easy to always pull out the right stuff for any game. The other great usability element of Explorers & Pirates is (weirdly) its setup of bags. You also have very intuitive icons on components like the hexes, and the victory-point tracks do a great job of making it clear how many victory points you get for the various missions. First of all, you (of course) have the terrific "building cost" cards, which do a great job of showing you what to build with which resources - just like in the original Catan game. Usability: The Catan games have always been great for usability, and this one is no exception. 5 out of 5.īeauty: The painting on the hexes are attractive The graphic design of elements like the rules and the victory-point tracks are top quality and even the wooden meeples are cut into a lot of attractive and interesting shapes (though I never found the "settlers" that intuitive). Quality: The gloss cardboard is all extremely thick and sturdy, while the painted wooden pieces are similarly top quality. The Explorers & Pirates box is impressively jam-packed with bits, including: over a hundred new wooden bits 16(!) sheets of cardboard, containing mostly new hexes but also gold, mission (victory point) tracks, and new quick reference sheets and lots of bags to help organize everything. Catan: Explorers & Pirates by Klaus Teuber, is the newest expansion to The Settlers of Catan by Klaus Teuber. ![]()
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