Stocksheep 9 wrote: ↑11 October 2022, 10:49
Catan 4p relies significantly more on luck than Catan 3p, where planning ahead and strategic choices actually make sense rather than blow up in your face.
This is not an opinion but a simple fact of the game. More people equals more chance to get blocked in before a player can help it equals less strategy and more luck of the dice.
3p is also a lot more versatile, in the sense that you can try out different techniques with a more balanced measure of succes. ie: city and development card game, harbor game or a more rounded approach. With 3p you can take an educated guess which tiles and alternative tiles will remain available (strategy) whereas with 4p it is a complete jungle (gamble, luck).
There are nuances, but that is the general sense of things. It is not a matter of opinion in that regard. It is a matter of preference (prefer strategy over luck is 3p, prefer luck over strategy is 4p).
These are my two cents (current rank 2 so I have had my share of experience).
Thanks for your considered response. It is nice to hear from a player who has clearly had success in the 3p arena, so you know the nuances of the game.
However, I believe that you are looking at the concept of game ‘strategy’ too narrowly, to the extent that your definition of ‘luck’ is compromised.
Catan strategy is more than just ‘planning ahead’ - you also need to deal on multiple fronts with other players trying to scupper those plans. And the further those plans start to bear fruit, the more they will get in your way. Dealing with getting blocked in and competing for space is all part of the game. You need to be able to adapt to this, shift focus and trade effectively to get the edge over your opponents. With 3 good players after you who can see what you are trying to do, this can quickly become a tricky minefield.
What you describe as ‘strategic choices blowing up in your face’ is part of the challenge, and the main reason I keep coming back to the game after many years of online and tournament play. Things are rarely certain in (4-player) Catan, but that isn’t down to luck - it’s because the game is innately interactive. Catan doesn’t follow the rules of many dry Eurogames that encourage you to build an engine and sit back to reap the rewards. You have to work for it, and know how to handle ‘tower defence’ situations.
3-player games are more likely to allow you to follow a plan because you have so much space to develop into that you can plough ahead, often without even needing to bother with trading. For starters, that cuts out an entire strategic element. You then embark on a race to the available good spots (whereas in a 4p game, these will all usually have been taken), and that is essentially luck - the dice will determine who expands and builds fastest.
As a 3p game develops, any 2 players that have a conflict of interest (spaces or dev cards) will repeatedly target their rival to slow each other down, leading in most cases to the third player winning the race. It doesn’t really matter what strategy you’ve adopted - if the dice are with you and the other two fight, you’ll win.
The versatility you describe for strategy is not only possible, but much better balanced in a 4-player game. All those strategies you mention can win, but you have the extra layer of depth and competition I outlined above. You can also very much predict where your opponents will place during setup - it’s just more difficult. And that makes it MORE strategic, not less.
Given our disagreement over definition of luck vs strategy, I don’t accept your point in the final paragraph. I would say that if you want a proper challenge with more to think about, you have to play with 4. If you want to play on family mode, stick with 3.
And do we really want an Arena stuck in family mode?
My experience - 25+ years, at least 10,000 games, 5x Catan World Championship rep. for the UK.