Settlers of Catan has been quite the phenomenon in its native Germany. Invented by Klaus Teuber, the board game has enjoyed great success with its deep and thoughtful gameplay. However, it came as quite a shock when Japanese software giants Capcom decided to make a conversion of the game their debut on Nokia's N-Gage. Many people expected the Japanese softco to bring one of its popular arcade or home console hits to the platform and there was a fair amount of disappointment when Catan was announced. However, the promise of online play over the N-Gage arena managed to silence some of those doubters and for many this became a sought after title.

Catan itself is a tabletop board game played on a series of 19 hexagonal tiles. Players begin by placing two settlements each on the points of these tiles; each card has a terrain type featured on it that dictates what resources will be generated. These resources range from Ore and Wool to Grain and Lumber, which are used for building roads, upgrading settlements to become cities or trading and buying special event cards. Each player takes a turn to roll two six sided dice and the number rolled indicates which numbered tile pays up. The exception is when a player rolls a 7, in which case a Robber icon is placed on a tile and you get to take a resource from an opponent.

Essentially this is as complicated as the game gets; you cannot attack an opponent directly but you can place roads that will limit their development. It's unfortunate that Catan has a woeful tutorial mode, as unless you are a veteran player of the board game you are going to be initially very confused, as I was. It took me several attempts at the game before I had gotten the hang of what exactly I had to do. Add to that the fact that the AI has no difficulty settings, and the first few hours spent with Catan involve a lot of frustration. That said, it is worth persevering with, especially if strategy is your cup of tea. If you ever enjoyed board games such as Monopoly, then Catan could be just the game for you.

The game is nicely presented, with bright, crisp graphics and Japanese artwork for the portraits of your opponents. The game board is well suited well to the N-Gage screen and the game itself is ideal for a mobile device, with each tile being easy to distinguish. During the turns, your opponents will make obligatory comments regarding their positions and success or failure of their dice rolls, adding a certain charm to the game. Sound effects are limited to the usual bleeps, rolls and money sounds you would expect and nice inoffensive tunes play in the background. However, like a lot of N-Gage titles, the tunes are played on a constant loop, so after a while you will find yourself turning down that music volume. All in all it's a nice little game and eventually becomes quite addictive. Catan's only real let down is the total absence of the promised online multiplayer.

While one to four players has been retained over Bluetooth connection, it is fairly obvious that finding three other N-Gage players with copies of the game will be a problem. The game works nicely over Bluetooth and the added interaction with real players certainly adds to the fun of the title. What is baffling is why the online functions (other than uploading your scores) were dropped, as the game actually screams Arena. If this game had four player modes over the N-Gage Arena, I firmly believe it would be a must have title. Board game to console conversions like Monopoly and Risk have never been that successful, simply because they can never replace the joy of playing with real people and I'm afraid that Catan also suffers from this problem.

I believe this was a truly wasted opportunity, as Catan could have been so much more. As the game stands, it is a thought provoking, solid strategy game that fans of the tabletop version will be more than happy with. The AI players are more than competent and will present a fair challenge, and also the title is one of the nicest looking on the N-Gage. Newcomers to Catan however will find the game infuriatingly difficult to get into and most players may find the lack of direct combat more than a little off putting.

Catan is by no means a bad game, but it's limited to being a good one, purely because of the lack of online play - and that is truly a shame, especially given the original's limited appeal. With online play the game could have found a whole new audience and become a real phenomenon, but instead it will only be for the existing fans and those that are just curious. Catan's saving grace is that it is being released at a budget price, but then it needs to be, as the N-Gage software library has vastly improved and good is simply not good enough any more!

Reviewed by Ashley Martin for AceGamez (All Rights Reserved).