Session Impressions: Catan Junior (aka Pirate Catan)

In our recent podcast for Catan Junior, we discover that I can’t really do a pirate accent.  It sounds easy, sure!  Anyone can spit out a “Piece of Eight!  Aaar!!”, but now that you’re acting grizzled and surly for a sentence, it will occur to you that ‘Pirate’ isn’t really an accent. It’s a way of talking.  It’s a speech pattern, with clear defined lingo.  A good pirate accent has another accent sprinkled ontop of its grog-swigging surliness.  This I discovered as I floundered between ‘Russian Space Pirate’ and tipped a bit into ‘Lucky Charms Pirate’.  I wish I could have had more takes to do that right, but we aim for spontaneity, not realism.  Aaarg.

So how is Catan Junior?  The consensus of the group is that we like it, with Brian Tully’s lone dissension of “I’ll never play it again, unless you force me to.  Cruelly.”  So, yes, it’s fun, but I suppose you should be careful who you buy this game for, and who you pull this game out to play with.  We spend a good chunk of the podcast talking about the branding of this game, since the game is a fun way to play a simple game of Catan without getting mired into too many details.  Had this game not been tied to the Catan brand, it wouldn’t need to call itself a game for kiddies, since there’s no reason why adults can’t enjoy it.  It just happens to be simple enough for kids in Junior High ton enjoy as well.

Of course, the devil be in the details.  Beware, scallawags!  If ye dinnae be a clan of sopping landlubbers, and think ye man enough to hornswaggle Ol’ Davie, then straighten yer monkey jacket, ready yer cockswain and click on this link.  But be ye warned!  Ye set sail for Spoooky Island!