Probability was on my side.

 

Not a two, not a four: eight times out of nine, the result of my die roll would carry me over the pit of snakes ahead of me. Still, that one in nine possibility was all I could think about. Every brilliant choice and every perfect trade I had made in the last two hours could be lost, crushed under a mountain of debt. Reluctantly, I let the dice fall.

 

Two dots stare up at me. Across the board, my brother glances back, a smug smile emerging on his face. Around the table, my friends celebrate my misfortune, glad to have one less opponent and thankful that it had not been them who had just lost all of the money that they had just earned.

 

 

 

In this recent memory, I found myself playing Monopoly with my friends and my brother. While the results of the game and the sudden twist of fate did sting, I couldn’t help but think of my past with these types of games—maybe Beloved and its idea that nothing is really dead and buried influenced me a bit. It just didn’t seem like Monopoly was my game; all that I could remember was upset after upset, hundreds of seemingly flawless investment decisions gone to waste.

 

But into my mind popped another game from my past: Settlers of Catan. I remember hours upon hours that my friends and I spent playing this game in elementary and early middle school, aiming to monopolize resources and to construct the largest road on a pointed path to victory. While Monopoly involves selecting properties to invest in, Catan includes expanding towards different resource types and a much wider array of possibilities.

 

So why was I sitting there playing Monopoly? I may prefer Catan out of the two, but there are more than a few people that are all for the original Monopoly and its agelessness. After reading some opinions, I’ve decided that I’d like to take a look into both sides of this argument. Objectively, which game is truly better?

 

How is each game played?

 

I’m sure that many of you have heard of or played these games in the past, but it’s important to quickly review what each of these games entail before delving into the comparisons. Out of the two games, Monopoly is likely the better known of the two. After eighty plus years, the game of Monopoly is still a staple in many households and at family and friend gatherings, and countless different versions have been made stemming off the original game. However, many people online still agree that the original version is the highlight of the Monopoly collection. 

 

Essentially, the process of Monopoly is to roll a die to move around a game board, traversing through various street property types, railroads, and utilities. At each property, players can choose whether they would like to invest in it if it has not already been bought, or they can collect rent if it has been bought. By investing in properties of the same type and using money wisely, monopolies can be created, aiding in each player’s goal of forcing every other player into bankruptcy.

 

Now what about Catan? Some people may say that this game is just like Monopoly, but I think that these people are overlooking some very important differences. While the goal is still to monopolize property types that are now in the form of different resources, the game of Catan is much more complex. With resources that are gathered, players can build their empire in different ways with the required resources and they win when their regime has gathered enough victory points.

 

 

How does gameplay compare?

 

We’ve reviewed the basics of both Monopoly and Catan, so now it’s time to dive into the comparisons. Specifically, I want to take a look at two areas: the strategy involved and the rules of gameplay.

 

Since both games are so dependent on rolling a set of dice, luck is a greater factor in both than strategy, right? When someone first starts off in either of these games, it can definitely feel like luck is what determines the winner. However, after playing a few more times, that same person can learn the intricacies of the games and realize that while luck is a factor, an effective strategy can often negate any advantages that the luck of the roll can provide.

 

 

Still, luck seems to be a much greater factor in Monopoly relative to Catan. In Monopoly, the roll of the dice is what determines who is the first player to land on a coveted property. Players can shift their fates by determining what to buy and especially by bargaining and trading with other players, but at its core, Monopoly can be a hard game to win if a player does not land on any good properties after rolling the dice.

 

In Catan on the other hand, the roll of the dice determines what resources a player gains on that turn. Players can consider the probability of each sum of dice corresponding to each resource, and they can use this information to make an informed decision on how to expand their empire. In this way, the strategy in Catan is more under the control of each player, making for a much more thought provoking game.

 

I know that some of you might be searching for a game you can both enjoy and win. While Monopoly has the fairly basic goal of having money for the longest amount of time, Catan can be won in many different ways, as victory is reached by amassing points in many different ways: for example, each settlement can add points, but having the longest road or the largest army can win points as well. The wide array of possibilities to win in Catan further adds to its strategic nature, and makes for a much more complex board game. If you’re looking for a game without extensive thinking, Monopoly is definitely the more relaxing of the two.

 

The complexity and strategy of Catan are what draw me to it, but for others, this can be a major turnoff. On the other hand, Monopoly has a relative simplicity that can make it much more enjoyable for a wider age group of people. Even more, Monopoly’s flexibility of rules, such as playing with all card draw money payments going into the free parking, further increases the accessibility of the game, helping make it as popular and long-lived as it has been.

 

What benefits are associated with each game?

 

Yes, these board games can make a few hours pass by. But are those a few hours lost? According to many, the answer could not be more transparent. Both of these games can be enjoyable, and they can also teach several key economic lessons that younger children and teens can apply later in their lives. 

 

Unfortunately, you cannot use Monopoly money to buy those new shoes that you’ve wanted. However, playing Monopoly can help you develop investment decision making skills and it can teach you about concepts such as rent and mortgages. Similarly, Catan teaches that same type of economic decision making, emphasizing the prioritization of certain resources and their scarcity within the game. Both games also involve bargaining and trading, which can be used to develop communication skills that may actually help you with business purchases or trades in the real world.

 

 

So which is really better?

 

In my opinion, I still prefer Catan out of the two games. However, the question of which game is truly better is much more of a function of the situation. If you are looking for an easy game to kick back with, Monopoly is what you’re looking for. If you’re looking for a challenging and thought provoking selection, Catan is your board game. Regardless of which game you lean to, the couple of hours you’ll spend playing these games will be worth the economic opportunity cost.

 

Works Cited

https://www.slant.co/versus/7644/7652/~catan_vs_monopoly

https://www.wired.com/2011/06/hooray-settlers-of-catan-is-not-the-new-monopoly/

https://metro.co.uk/2017/09/04/10-versions-of-monopoly-you-never-knew-existed-6843445/

https://brilliantmaps.com/monopoly/

https://www.catan.com/

 

Images

http://www.econtech.com/newsletter/march2012/march2012a4.php

https://www.amazon.com/Monopoly-Classic-Replacement-Board-Hasbro/dp/B00DOZ2IBM

https://www.catan.com/files/pageimages/dye_catan_150407_0564.jpg

https://www.thoughtco.com/thmb/lvjed7xsmt0LaJWwoYxg-GadMNc=/768×0/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/TwoDice-58bddad45f9b58af5c4aa0d4.jpg

https://i.etsystatic.com/9399847/r/il/cdace4/1720227387/il_570xN.1720227387_cvtz.jpg