What to play when you get bored of Catan?

If you enjoy spending time with your friends or family playing board games, but you've played Catan hundreds of times and want to add a new flavor to your board game nights, we have several games that could be the answer to your prayers.

If you're reading this blog, you probably don't need to explain what "Catan" is. Undoubtedly, this game is responsible for countless board game fans joining the hobby. However, with time, you get tired of playing the same game and you want something new and maybe a little more strategic, or one that is less based on the luck of the dice.

First of all, the game "Catan" can be updated with one of several expansions. Several major expansions have been released for this game, the most famous of which are "Seafarers" and "Cities and Knights" . Both of these expansions were released soon after the game's inception in 1995. "Seafarers" expands the game without drastically changing the gameplay, but by introducing a couple of innovations and several scenarios. On the other hand, "Cities and Knights" makes the game deeper and more strategic.

However, these are not the only expansions in the game. In 2007, or almost ten years after the publication of the previous expansions, "Merchants and Barbarians" was released, which includes several scenarios of varying difficulty for the base game, each with its own spin. There are also other big expansions - Pirates and Explorers and Treasures, Dragons and Adventurers. These extensions have not yet been translated into Latvian.

The game comes with different versions of the base game that can be played separately, such as the historical games of the Catana series - "Germany", "Ancient Egypt", "Rise of the Incas", "Battle for Rome", "American Settlers" and many others. Catan also has versions of Game of Thrones, Star Trek, and more.

A new variant of the game "Catan: Dawn of Humankind" is planned to be released this year, which will be a renewed and polished version of the 2002 game "The Settlers of the Stone Age". The developers claim that the game will not only have a modern look, but also new mechanics, elements and strategy options.

Another option to spice up your gaming experience is to pick another similar game that won't be much more difficult than the previous one. These games can have similar mechanics or completely different.

Many people already know such excellent board games as "7 Wonders" , "Stone Age" , "Ticket to Ride" , "Carcassonne" , "Splendor" and others, which have already become classics of modern board games. However, there are other new and somewhat lesser known alternatives competing in this same category.

If you are looking for something completely fresh, then "Living Forest" will be an excellent choice. The game was released only last year, received the prestigious "Kennerspiel des Jahres" this year, and this week added to the Brain Games assortment.

Living Forest is a castle building game where players can challenge their luck. Players simultaneously open animal cards from their decks, which give different bonuses. However, you have to decide for yourself at what point to stop, because if too many hermits are opened, then instead of two actions, only one can be performed.

A game with fantastic illustrations and three different paths to victory. Compared to Catan, this will be a slightly more challenging game, but not much more difficult in terms of rules.

In recent years , "Quedlinburg Blisters" have become a very popular family game. In 2018, this game won the prestigious "Kennerspiel des Jahres" award as the best expert game of the year. This was a bit of a surprise, because the game itself is more for the family than the expert category. Players take on the role of a charlatan while brewing a magic potion. During the game, players pull ingredients from their bag in an attempt to score as many points as possible, but be careful, because if you pull too many snowberries, the potion will explode in your face!

After each round, players have the opportunity to purchase new ingredients with better effects. In addition, the game has several variants that change the importance of each component depending on the game, so the parties will be different and the strategies will be different.

One of the most beautiful series of games in recent years is "Azul" . If "Quedlingburg's blisters" received the expert award in 2018, then "Azul" won the family games award, or "Spiel des Jahres". In addition, four games of this series have already been released in the last five years.

Azul is a game with extremely beautiful tiles that must be arranged in a specific pattern. The game is abstract, yet strategic and with simple basic rules.

The classic "Azul" game is currently ranked at a very high 67th place on the "BoardGameGeek" homepage.

If the topic is not important to you, then it is definitely worth considering the game "Clever" , which is a " roll & write" type game. Just like Catan, Clever revolves around rolling dice, but with three times as many.

Clever players roll the dice, pick the results and mark them on their page in an attempt to rack up bonuses. Each of the dice awards points in different ways, so the choices won't always be easy.

Players may not be attracted to the visual design of this German game at first glance, but those who have tried it will find that the game is much more interesting than it looks.

If you are not familiar with the classic Latvian "sole", then you will also be able to easily understand the exciting game "Pikoko" , in which the players themselves do not see their own cards, but see what is in the hands, or in this case the peacock's tail, of other players. Players play with their neighbors' cards, trying to achieve a favorable result.

Before each round, players try to guess how many sticks each will get, and there is a chance to earn extra points if you are absolutely sure of your bet.

"Pikoko" is a truly unique and visually very attractive board game.

Are you tired of always losing because a friend is better at board games than you? There is a solution - use your friend to your advantage instead of playing against them! In recent years, cooperative games, in which all players fight together against the game, have gained great popularity.

One of the most popular games in this genre is Pandemic , which is a team game where we try to fight viruses that are spreading around the world together. Qatar has a unique role for the player that minimally changes their game strategy, but only together can we save the world.

But if you've had enough of viruses and pandemics in real life, you can also choose another game like World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King , a Pandemic game where players travel to Northrend to stop The Lich King himself, the ruler of misery . The game keeps the same cooperative element, but adds dice, different challenges, miniatures and more.

Help the banshee queen Sylvanas Windrunner take revenge on Prince Arthas , play as the powerful sorceress Jaina Proudmoore , the unbeatable shaman Thrall , or choose one of the other characters included in the game. In addition, the first buyers will receive as a gift the special promo character Brann Bronzebeard , who is also well known to all Hearthstone players.

Perhaps the game "Catan" is starting to seem too simple to you and you want to dive deeper into the vast world of board games. One of the best Next Step games is Winged .

This game needs no further comments - released in 2019 alone, it has received countless awards and has already sold more than a million copies worldwide. Also in the Baltics, the first shipment of localized versions of this game disappeared from the shelves of Brain Games in just a couple of months.

Each of the players tries to attract the birds in one of the three places of life, each bird has a special food requirement or the price needed to play that bird. Each of the winged friends comes with an effect that allows you to plan different strategies.

The game pack includes 180 bird cards, which means that each game will be completely different and will present new strategic dilemmas.

No matter what you want to play on your board game night, you'll be able to find the right games for you in the Brain Games range. We look forward to seeing you in our stores!