Tried BGG's top 10 strategy games and realized Catan just doesn't stack up anymore

I finally sat down last weekend and played through Terra Mystica, Brass Birmingham, and Gaia Project with my group. After 5 years of thinking Catan was the gold standard for strategy, I can't go back. The difference is the lack of random dice rolls deciding everything. In Catan, you can play smart and still lose because the numbers don't hit. Those other games reward actual planning. Anyone else find their taste shifting hard after trying heavier euro games?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_sean1mo ago

Yeah that dice thing is exactly what broke the spell for me. I'd suggest giving Power Grid a shot next, it's a good bridge game that still has player interaction but no dice.

parkerkim1mo agoMost Upvoted

Man I gotta disagree here. Power Grid is fine but it's got its own problems with all that math and spreadsheeting which can kill the fun for a lot of people just as fast as dice can. The dice thing in that other game isnt the end of the world, randomness can actually keep things tense and fun if you lean into it. Plus Power Grid can drag on forever depending on the group, not everyone wants to do that kind of number crunching after work. I think the dice hate is a little overblown sometimes.