Review: Catan: New Energies

Not everyone will appreciate a side of existential threat with their board game, but that is exactly what you get with Catan: New Energies. It drags the beloved classic Catan into the modern day with fossil fuels and renewable energy, an inventive climate crisis mechanic, and a clever illustration of the consequences if we fail to work toward a greener world. This stand-alone board game for two to four players doesn’t require the original, though experienced players will grasp it more easily.

While the message is clear, the makers did not forget about flow or fun. The addictive hook of Catan, the deals, the room for multiple strategies, and the variation in playthroughs are all present and correct. It is familiar enough to entice old fans and fresh enough to demand a look for newcomers. New Energies also succeeds in making its point, and our first game provoked a long and interesting conversation with my kids about why climate change is happening and why some folks are not on board with fighting it.

New Age Catan

If you are unfamiliar, The Settlers of Catan was first published in 1995. The game takes place on a fictional medieval island with hexagonal tiles placed randomly, ensuring plenty of replay value. Players must build roads, towns, and cities by spending resources like lumber and grain. Resources are collected and traded after dice rolls to determine which tiles pay out each turn. A robber mechanic spices things up when anyone rolls a seven, and some additional achievements and cards provide victory points. The winner is the first person to amass 10 victory points.

Five editions and various expansions were released over the years, and the game was rebranded as simply Catan for the 20th-anniversary edition in 2015. It has sold more than 45 million copies in all its various forms. Catan: New Energies is a stand-alone game rather than an expansion, and it was first conceived over a decade ago, then shelved until creator Klaus Teuber and his sons decided to resurrect it during lockdown.

All the basic mechanics are still there: the randomly generated map of hexagonal tiles, the resource harvesting and trading, and the race for 10 victory points. But there are several additions and a modern-day makeover. Energy is a new resource, and you harvest it by building power plants; towns can support one, and cities up to three. The energy you generate can be spent on resources, including the new science cards needed to build power plants.

Fossil fuel power plants cost one science card, while renewable plants cost three, and cards are scarce at the beginning of the game. The catch is that building fossil fuel plants accelerates the risk of climate disasters and increases what’s called your local footprint. Each player must draw brown event tokens from a bag at the beginning of their turn, and these add up to trigger climate events. Most have a negative impact, such as hazards that block cities from earning resources for a turn, and they tend to punish the player with the highest local footprint.

Photograph: Simon Hill