CATAN: Junior™ is a kids version of CATAN published by Catan Studios, with a fun playing style that is easily grasped by younger players. It is designed for 2-4 players as young as 6, it is a perfect introduction to the CATAN series of games for kids and families. CATAN: Junior takes place on a group of Pirate Islands, including the mysterious Spooky Island which is the home of the Ghost Captain – watch out for him! Each pirate (player) uses the resources generated by the islands (wood, goats, molasses, cutlasses and gold) to build Pirate Lairs and Pirate Ships to travel between them. The goal is to be the first to get all your Pirate Lairs and Pirate ships in play!

Everything is super cool and fun. The Pirate Ships and Lairs are very cute with little details. The resource cards are pretty good and I like the pictures. My favorite resource card is the goat, it is cute and a bit realistic. My very favorite component is the Ghost Captain. He has lots and lots of detail and I love how you get to use him in the game.

Game Setup

Once you have all the pieces sorted out and everyone has their color coded Pirate Ships and Pirate Lairs you can start to play. It is pretty easy to set up a game of CATAN: Junior, and we are using little plastic bags to help keep everything separated in the box, so starting a game is even quicker.

Game Play

When I first started to play the rules seemed super complicated. But the more I played the more sense it made and then it was a lot more fun. On the first game, my Mom had to keep checking the rules to see what we had to do, after that I mostly remembered the rules and I was even able to teach my Nanna and Pa how to play!

Everyone seemed very surprised that I could remember all the complicated rules, but I am a Jr. Detective, so I don’t know why they thought I wouldn’t be able to!

CATAN: Junior is lots of fun to play. It is tricky to find the best places to build your Pirate Ships and Pirate Lairs. Getting the resources from just rolling the dice is the best! And it is super fun and easy. I also liked that you can trade for the different resources that you needs.

This is definitely a game that feels easier and more fun the more you get used to it and the more you play it.

Overall Impressions

I really like CATAN: Junior and I want to play it a lot. The box says it only takes 30 minutes, but I think it took us a bit longer, maybe we were thinking about where to build our Pirate Lairs for too long! Make sure you have enough time when you play. I have really enjoyed playing this game with my family and I am looking forward to teaching it to my friends.

CATAN: Junior get’s my my Detective Hawk Jr stamp of approval!

We Love

• Ghost Captain – he is a detailed model and it is really great if you get to be in control of him!
• Building Pirate Liars and Pirate Ships on the different islands.
• Getting resources from dice rolls and trading them – and especially the cute goat!

Could be better

• Lots of rules to learn, but they make the game more fun once you have learned them.
• Takes some more time than the box says.