Wim Le Page @wimlepage

Catan used to be one of my favorite games in the early 2000s. However, due to the plethora of new titles with more advanced and intriguing mechanisms and themes, Catan has somewhat lost my interest and does not hit the table that much anymore. Nevertheless, the role this game has played in the hobby and in my personal experience cannot be understated.

More recently however I also noticed another thing. In the ever-evolving world of board games, trends come and go. Two notable trends that have gained popularity in the board game community are, the now on its return trend of “roll and write” games and the currently resurging “duel game” format. Interestingly, these concepts were experimented with long before in non other than the Catan universe…

The Thematic Roll and Write Grandfather: Catan Dice Game (2007)?

While roll and write games have existed for decades (with Yahtzee being a classic example from 1956), the modern board gaming trend for this genre gained significant momentum in the late 2010s. Qwixx, released in 2012, laid important groundwork for the genre’s resurgence but remained in the same abstract territory as Yahtzee, as does the later Clever (2018). The surge in popularity of more thematic roll and write games however, was marked by several innovative titles that breathed new life into the genre. Welcome To… (2018) is often credited as one of the games that truly popularized the modern roll and write trend, alongside Railroad Ink (2018) and Cartographers (2019).

From 2018 onwards, there was a noticeable increase in both the quantity and variety of roll and write games being released, cementing it as a major trend in the hobby and paving the way for more complex titles such as Fleet: The Dice Game (2018) and Hadrian’s Wall (2021).

While the roll and write trend has certainly cooled down since its peak around 2018–2020, it’s not entirely over. The genre has evolved and matured, with designers continuing to innovate and create new experiences based on the core concept. Recent 2022 releases like Next Station: London and its follow-ups, as well as Twilight Inscription and Three Sisters, show that there’s still interest in the genre, albeit with a extra focus on unique twists or hybrid mechanics, shifting the from pure roll and writes to more diverse “write and” games, incorporating elements like card drafting or tile placement alongside the writing aspect.

But before the late 2010s rise of thematic roll or flip and write games, Catan had already ventured into this territory with the release of the Catan Dice Game in 2007. This game took the mechanics of the original Catan and distilled them into a compact, dice-rolling experience. Players rolled dice to gather resources, build roads, settlements, and cities, all while trying to outscore their opponents. While it didn’t reach the same iconic status as the original Catan, it was well-received for its simplicity and ease of play. This early entry into the roll and write genre in 2007, makes Catan Dice Game noteworthy, as it predated the thematic roll and write trend by more than a decade. As such I would consider Catan Dice Game as the true grandfather of modern thematic roll and writes.

The Duel Game Grandmother: Catan Card Game (1997)

Fast forward to the current day still rising trend of converting popular board games into two player “duel” versions, and you’ll find that Catan was ahead of the curve here as well.

The groundwork of the modern trend also took place in the late 2010s with the release of 7 Wonders Duel (2015) and Codenames: Duet (2014).

But only recently dit this trend regain traction with Fox in the Forest: Duet (2020), Splendor Duel (2022), Dorfromantik: Duel (2023) and most recently The Quacks of Quedlinburg: The Duel (2024), King of Tokyo: Duel (2024) and soon te be released Everdell: Duo (2024) and Azul Duel (2024). These games offer gameplay specifically designed for two players, restarting the trend of duel adaptations in the board game world.

But while the very popular 7 Wonders Duel debuted in 2015, we go back a nearly three decades to 1997, the year in which Catan Card Game (later rebranded as Rivals for Catan and later Catan: Duel) was introduced.

Catan Card Game offers a two-player experience that retained some familiar elements of Catan the boardgame but added a lot more strategic depth. This card game allowed players to build their own principality, engage in trade, and compete for dominance, all within a head-to-head format.

While the Catan Card Game may not have directly inspired the current trend, it undoubtedly demonstrated the viability and appeal of adapting popular board games into two-player formats. Its relative success therefore paved the way for future duel adaptations. As such, I bestow upon Catan Card Game the title of “grandmother of dueling adaptations.”

Did Catan do it first?

Many hardcore gamers view Catan as a relic of board gaming’s past. Even I’ve just mentioned my waning interest in the base game and its many standalone variants, and equally the newest variation, Catan: New Energies (2024), fails to excite me (but I still might want to try it). However, realizing that Klaus Teuber, Catan’s creator, was experimenting with mechanisms and variations now considered new trends has renewed my respect for his contributions. It’s dawned on me that, thanks to Catan, I was already dueling and roll-and-writing two decades ago, long before these became popular (new?) trends in modern board gaming.