Age: 10 and up
Number of players: 2 to 4
What’s great about it: A more portable version of a classic game, this traveler Catan is a great buy, even if you’ve never played the larger version. This portable board allows you to settle the isle of Catan just like the larger version, but the board has built-in drawers to store roads, settlements, and cities, and the board it self has holes where you can plug in the game pieces. This makes it easy to travel with, and a breeze to play when you’re on the go whether by plane, train, or automobile.
According to one reviewer: “This traveler edition is AMAZING. My friend bought me an early copy from GenCon. For perspective, I’ve played all versions of Catan and expansions. My favorite is Cities and Knights, so I was unsure about how much play I’d get out of this version, given that I haven’t played ‘regular’ Catan in a while. The biggest pro about this traveler edition is ease of set-up – it takes literally 30 seconds to be ready to play, as opposed to 5-10 minutes for setting up the full version. The drawers hold the mini card-caddies with cards and all of the playing pieces, so all you have to do is unfold the case, randomly place your board tiles (there are 6 pieces, each reversible, making for many board variation possibilities), place the robber, and you’re done – off and ready to play.”
