And by the way, a person stands IN a line, not ON a line. To be standing ON a line infers the concept that there is a marking denoting a physical line on the ground, when there is not (normally). To be standing IN a line infers that there is merely a collection of people organized in an intrinsic numerical order... whi...ch is a primary definition of "line" in this context.

If there is no intrinsic numerical order, a person is standing IN a group, not ON a group.

And by the way, a person stands IN a line, not ON a line. To be standing ON a line infers the concept that there is a marking denoting a physical line on the ground, when there is not (normally). To be standing IN a line infers that there is merely a collection of people organized in an intrinsic numerical order... whi...ch is a primary definition of "line" in this context.

If there is no intrinsic numerical order, a person is standing IN a group, not ON a group.

The game is there. Once you get going (and especially if you already know the rules of the game), it's faithful to the board game. Although the trading interface oddly baffling.

But one of the things that video games can do so well, is help the player learn the game while playing. I think they really failed at this. The mechanics of the real life board game are not simple or intuitive and unfortunately, this aspect of the Catan iPhone game is captured flawlessly. I didn't try the tutorial, cause I already know how to play the game, but I'm pretty good with computers, and I found the controls difficult, and if I'd never played the board game, I would have quit and erased it. It's making me work too hard.

Plus, you have to memorize the costs of each upgrade! There's no way I found to call up this cheat sheet (in the board game, every player is given one of these on a card) while in the trading interface, or any way to bring it up at all except for when it's your turn. Just makes the game a bit frustrating.

Of course, multiplayer features would be a great addition, but if this game has any chance of taking off it's going to have to be easier to play!

The game is there. Once you get going (and especially if you already know the rules of the game), it's faithful to the board game. Although the trading interface oddly baffling.

But one of the things that video games can do so well, is help the player learn the game while playing. I think they really failed at this. The mechanics of the real life board game are not simple or intuitive and unfortunately, this aspect of the Catan iPhone game is captured flawlessly. I didn't try the tutorial, cause I already know how to play the game, but I'm pretty good with computers, and I found the controls difficult, and if I'd never played the board game, I would have quit and erased it. It's making me work too hard.

Plus, you have to memorize the costs of each upgrade! There's no way I found to call up this cheat sheet (in the board game, every player is given one of these on a card) while in the trading interface, or any way to bring it up at all except for when it's your turn. Just makes the game a bit frustrating.

Of course, multiplayer features would be a great addition, but if this game has any chance of taking off it's going to have to be easier to play!

The hot seat only multiplayer is kind of disappointing, not sure if I will get the app version.

The hot seat only multiplayer is kind of disappointing, not sure if I will get the app version.