Description

CATAN Junior transports families with children aged 6 and up to a world quite different from the traditional Catan we know. Instead of "settlers," players assume the roles of pirates who build hideouts, known as pirates' lairs, across the islands and set sail to discover new places to construct more pirates' lairs.

CATAN experts will easily recognize many essential elements from the base game in CATAN Junior, although they have been given different names to fit the theme. Pirates' lairs are built adjacent to islands, and when the island's numbers are rolled, players receive resource tiles. These tiles depict gold, goats, wood, molasses, and cutlasses.

Resource tiles are used to build ships and additional pirates' lairs or to purchase development cards (referred to as "Coco tiles"), which are played immediately after acquisition. To build a new ship, players need wood and goat wool. To construct a pirates' lair, players need wood, goat wool, a cutlass, and molasses.

The robber, a familiar figure from the CATAN base game, appears in CATAN Junior as the "Ghost Captain." While the Ghost Captain blocks resource production on the islands he occupies, he is not as malicious as the base game's robber and does not steal anything.

CATAN Junior's die-cut resource tiles are convenient for children, as they can be placed in front of the players rather than held in their hands like cards in the adult version of CATAN. The game can also be played with just two players.

Although CATAN Junior incorporates simplified rules to accommodate 6-year-olds, it remains unmistakably a CATAN game. CATAN Junior is not merely a children's game but a genuine family game, designed to be enjoyed by both adults and young children.