Cities and Knights of Catan - with Tom Vasel

[@Dorian47]

Been playing that game for about 15 years now every week, the best part of which combining Seafarers and Cities. Without the strategic opportunities Cities offers, my group would have dissolved long ago. When you combine all the expansions and play it with 6 people, that's when it really shines.

[@jacksonhoyt4840]

Are you still playing?

[@jokebyLASSE]

"If the humans win" lmao

[@wholesalettin175]

would you be redoing this video updating the quality and sound?

[@JamesBrowningII]

cities and knights is an awesome expansion to the game! It really helped me overcome my boredom with the game after playing vanilla Catan a lot. Great review!

[@avenuePad]

Cities and Knights is a lot of fun. It takes one or two games to really get the hang of all the added rules and features, but it's not overly complicated by any stretch. I still love the original Catan, even if it is lacking in strategy. There's just something fun and simple about it. It does, however, suck when the dice are not at all in your favour and there's nothing you can do. Cities and Knights takes care of that to some degree.

[@deltaangelfire]

I see alot of comments panning this, but I love the diversification this offers. In a four player game, each player can specialize in a different way and can still play a good game. No longer can players get edged out of necessary resources, since even if one is lacking, you can make up for it in another way. Politic cards help a player catch up from behind, Trade cards let you turn your hordes of sheep into useful resources, and Science Cards make up for low production numbers.

[@Juinor]

April, 2020....Corona Virus made me stay home and learn how to play this game.

[@newtguy]

November, 2020....Corona Virus made me stay home and learn how to play this game.

[@TheMikster95]

It's such a pain that the Israeli version has much better designed pieces but it doesn't include the flip chart :( Seriously considering buying both then mixing them to my personal taste

[@kenpeters9807]

Something everyone fails to mention. This is an excellent … EXCELLENT … two player game also.

[@benchitmarkit6221]

Can this be played with 2 players? Any rules to changes?

[@TheSnoopyclone]

Thanks for your review of this expansion. I've owned settlers and wanted an expansion. Based on what I've seen so far, it seems that seafarers is what I'm leaning more towards of. I also saw a different review of this expansion and was given the same impression, that it's more of a deeper game, which basically means you may not have many players who'd be interested.

[@Germancamel]

Traders and barbarians is amazing

[@Dorian47]

Still, it feels really good to win a game where everybody else is 3 points ahead of you for an hour and you make the necessary last 5 points in one epic turn.

[@dwherr]

Liked settlers, loved City's and knights, can't wait to add seafarers!

[@TsavMemorai]

This reminded me of the AVGN, and that's a good thing!

[@michaelalstrup3738]

I have the old version of Settles of Catan. When I looked at this exp I saw that there was a never version of Settles of Catan, but as far as I could see the only new thing was the graphics. Does anyone know if the old Settles of Catan is comp. with this exp? Thx :)

[@MrFinbarO]

Whenever I play Cities and Knights, I usually have the barbarian ship move twice as far through it's little course before invading. Not only does this bring the game down to about an hour and a half instead of 2 or 3, but it also gets rid of that feeling of helplessness you were talking about. Cities and knights is a great expansion, but I think Traders and Barbarians does it better.

[@GarlicPudding]

Another great review. I'm considering buying "Settlers" so this was a lot of help.

[@tipigi]

While I rarely play SoC without this expansion, I can see why some might not care for it. SoC is often considered to be THE gateway game. The game that got non-gamers to realize that there was more out there then Monopoly, Life and Sorry. This expansion may be difficult for those gateway gamers to grasp at first. For me, and for probably most serious gamers though, SoC without Cities and Knights feels very simple and basic. Another great review Tom!

[@OldMovieRob]

This does seem like fun, but I wonder if this would be ideal for kids to play due to the complexity.

[@Haldurson]

I had a friend years ago and Settlers was his favorite game, so I ended up playing it quite a bit, but I grew really tired of it. Ironically, after moving around a bit, I now find myself in a couple of groups of non-gamers, and when thinking of light games that would not intimidate them so much, that would not scare them away, this is what I thought of. Yes, it's a light game with not a lot to it. But it has a lot of interaction, and so this game that I grew bored with years ago, I'm now going to be trying to get people to play. But I'm not going to buy the Cities and Knights expansion any time soon.

[@jokebyLASSE]

No wonder you grew tired of it if you didn't play Cities and Knights. The base game is kinda boring.

[@Gamerboy7495]

True

[@Haldurson]

I've actually played Cities and Knights and didn't care for it much. It certainly made the game more complex, but it also increased the length of the gameplay, without adding enough to my enjoyment of it. Adding complexity doesn't equal making a game more fun. It might have, had it not increased the length of the game. Complexity doesn't necessarily make a game more fun -- in fact, I suggest that if you are predisposed against a game to begin with, making the game longer is not going to win you any fans.

[@jokebyLASSE]

Haldurson Maybe you didn't play it right. It adds a whole ton of new strategies into play.

[@Gerstein1]

@CelticKraut I've tried that a couple of times. It is incredibly fun!

[@kikinda2000]

Can you play this expansion pack without having the original Catan ? I want to buy only the expansion, but I want to know is it a standalone game or do I need some pieces from the original ? Thank You

[@miks8]

Can anyone share thoughts on how to best combine C&K with Seafarers?

[@briancavanaugh5651]

Yeah! I do one huge board, where there is one main island the size of a original 3-4 player Catan map. Then random 2-3 land hex islands. This set up is for 4 people. & we play up to 18 VPs

[@miks8]

Brian Cavanaugh thanks!

[@briancavanaugh5651]

no problem! Peppermint

[@موسى_7]

6:50 do you think the barbarians come from space or something?! Are they monsters? Anthropomorphic ducks?

[@CelticKraut]

I put all the expansions together. Loves the craziness.

[@jrlorenzen]

@trez337 my buds and i are big into board gmaes and weve played a 7 hour game of monopoly

[@cixelsyD1988]

I just bought Cities and Knights and can't wait. I always felt like the biggest disappointments in the original was A) Development cards were extremely boring, B) Good strategy couldn't stop poor dice rolls. Now with so much more interaction I feel there's a chance for people who don't have rolls go in their favor, even if the probability says they should. We'll see if this works. Our games took like 2 hours with the original, with the expn it sounds like it could be a 3-4 hour affair.

[@Spindax]

@kikinda2000 You absolutely need the original game, Cities and Knights is unplayable without it.

[@taffyrooster]

Great vid but really needs better video quality

[@joshuagoslingcatchpole2693]

2020?

[@cevans784]

im sooo confused by it, lol. but im tryin

[@biscuitcommander3988]

hey tom. just checking up on the hairline. how she doing?

[@kuterv]

complicated, lol. even with all xpacs this game is fairly easy

[@incognito666z]

this just looks like a new game. are there no expansion that dosent meake half the things of the original game useless?

[@zxKAOS1]

Eh. Hamburger vs cheeseburger

[@walt776]

I tried cities and knights a while back. Didn't like it. Too much complexity and it has a very high learning curve next to the original. You're right: There may be people out there who like this sort of game. It's just not me. (For the record, my favorite Catan variant is Settlers of the Stone Age.)

[@Barl3000]

I think Cities and knights changes the core game too much, it is almost like a whole new game. And honestly if I wanted this deeper strategy I have tons of other games that can give me that, if you play settlers for its simplicity then this expansion is not for you. But if you want a deeper strategy and more game elements from the core game than this is for you. Personally I prefer the core game and Seafarers.

[@schwamieboy1]

Dude invest in a camera from this century...

[@thedicetower]

I did, but I wasn't able to send it back in time 12 years.

[@jackskellingtonsora]

I definitely think Settlers is boring. Not a fan.

[@Dorian47]

My group and I have been playing Settlers with Seafarers and Cities&Knights plus expansions for 6 players every sunday for about 15 years now. My only grudge with it is the luck factor. More often than not the dice decide how long a game will take (because of lots of 7s and barbarians) or who wins (because of lots of 3s and 11s instead of 5,6,8, or 9).

[@sarahbell180]

Dorian47 You could try simulating dive rolls but in a more deterministic manner by using Dominos each player has of the same, to which you can play.

[@موسى_7]

A lack of luck would make it too competitive and addictive like Chess or video-games.

[@porkchopsisgood]

@jrlorenzen I hate to say it, but you probably played a 7-hour game of Monopoly because you weren't using the proper rules. House rules make the game last ridiculously long..typically a two-player game of Monopoly should take less than 90 minutes.

[@beeeatsme]

Couldn't agree more with Tom's comments. Barbarians seem to attack to often. Game seems to take waaay too long. The rules for the knights themselves even seem a bit fiddly to me. I love having more of the cards to mix things up, but this game rewards experienced players too much I think. If you're new and start getting cities destroyed you basically have no means to catch up and have to wait 2 excruciating hours for someone else's inevitable victory.

[@halinar1]

@philerskine Yeah, too bad the new expansions don't work with the old editions of the first Settlers.

[@McNoat]

I haven't played Cities and Knight for a while. I don't like it and I can't even really remember why... I prefere to play it without any expansions or with Seafahrer, in my opinion the best expansion out there.

[@JediNinjaX1]

I have only played the basic Catan game and I think its great.. My first impression of the Cities expansion is that its complicated and it makes the game really long; just imagine if one or two players are newcomers to the exapnsion.. If I had to buy an expansion its going to be seafareers..

[@rc7771]

It's entirely possible to have a game of Monopoly that long, especially if noone is trading with each other and there aren't any actual monopolies on the board. That turns into a game of attrition and they take forever.

[@theanalogkid7]

I play 4-5 player games of C&K, and they never go longer than 1h 30m. It's so much more fun than the regular game, and with Seafarers, it's just awesome. I absolutely love this game. If you're going to be playing Settlers, you've gotta have this expansion.

[@Hernantolio]

I would change the rules almost completely... This is like, you have knights and... that's all, they do barely nothing :D

[@hobojon23]

@palm248 probably your choice of both. choose 2 of the original, and 2 of one of the new resources

[@racerx124]

This is way better than reading the instructions, thanks!

[@corny155]

Been playing Catan seafarers for 2 years now. Just got cities and knight the last week or so. I think the reviewer is overplaying the barbarians in this review. In a typical game the barbarians raid 4-5 times. And it’s pretty easy to be prepared for them. I find with this expansion there a lot less building happening on the board, and the board tends to get less crowded. My last win had 4 cities one settlement and a metropolis on the board. Overall, we like it...and as a whole don’t want to play the vanilla game anymore. Games are longer...shortest game so far was 1.5’s

[@murillok913]

Keep on playing bucko. You’ll with get moggd by barbs. U also most likely make strong ore sheep wheat. Try making 2 of those scarce and see how it goes.

[@pumpernickelherbert]

240p we meet-(gets shot in the head)

[@celloboy28]

love it!

[@warrentame]

it looks cool