Logiquest Catan Logic Puzzle is the third of four puzzle style experiences from Mixlore. We recently got hands on with Zip City and Shadow Glyphs, and now is the time for the Catan Logic Puzzle! In this puzzle, trade routes need to be formed, across various map configurations. Knights will clash with robbers, sheep line up with sheep, but you won’t be left without clay for once. However, is this the logic puzzle for you? Let’s find out!
Like with Zip City, Catan Logic Puzzle sees the player working their way through 40 puzzle cards, approximately increasing in difficulty. Each puzzle card is numbered, depicting the puzzle pieces that need to be selected from the pool. The selected puzzle pieces are split into two groups, with some starting out on the puzzle board in fixed locations. These fixed pieces are often a river or desert piece to work around, the settlements to link up and potentially pesky robbers to avoid, this puzzle and much more games are available at mega888 original, go and check their website to play online.
This creates the puzzle, with the settlements and cities needing to be linked up. The remaining pieces that were indicated on the card are the only puzzle pieces the player can then use to solve the puzzle. The placement rules for the puzzle pieces is what adds the challenge. With the classic Catan resources on the pieces, touching pieces must match resource type. Also if there are any robbers on the board, the normal resources cannot touch them – they’d steal the goods from the trade routes otherwise! Five of the puzzle pieces feature knights. Unlike the normal resources the knights must be adjacent to robbers.
The game steps players in with only a river to circumvent for a few puzzles. The robbers are then included alongside knights to change the puzzle up and before long the iconic central Catan desert is put into play. The cards follow a rough colour system of easy blue cards through to expert red cards, though it’s more than possible to get stumped at cards of any level for short periods of time.
Unlike with Zip City there aren’t any clues, which means there’s no halfway house when you would like to check or get that helpful hint. There’s simply the answer to say right or wrong, or completely give the puzzle away. However, there is no time limit to pressure players, nor a number of times that the player can place and/or move pieces. Therefore, players are free to place some puzzle pieces, stop and think about the rest and via trial and error crack the puzzles, one card at a time. It would have been nice for hints to be included, perhaps giving the placement of a single puzzle piece. Regardless, when the puzzle is complete the player can flip the card over to check for certain if they got it right.
Each puzzle card features a small bit of text. Giving an extremely rough plot of why the puzzle is occurring, describing the need for the settlements to trade and such. This is forgettable despite being a nice inclusion. These link puzzles but during play there is nothing that makes that link feel important. The layout of the cards though is to be commended, with clear and obvious instructions of the puzzle setup and the remaining route puzzle pieces available to the player.
That clear strong component quality extends to the rest of the components, including the Catan embossed hexagon storage box, which all the components are stored in between plays – as you can effectively throw out the box once opened. The lid of the storage box is flipped over to become the puzzle mat where the pieces are placed. Another neat detail is that the design on the lid features occasional hexagons that have a filled in design rather than an empty one. Initially, it seemed like a superficial design flair but it certainly helped the readability of the board for setup purposes.
Catan Logic Puzzle is another interesting set of challenges for a puzzle fan to work through. It’s a completely different style to that of the previous titles, Shadow Glyphs and Zip City, being more traditional in feel and slightly less flashy in design. Rather unsurprisingly there’s no real link to Catan; other than the mention of settlers/trading, the iconography of the different resources and at a bit of a stretch linking settlements and cities together. This doesn’t detract from the puzzles themselves, though it does seem like the iconic branding has just been pasted on to get the game attention. Still, if you enjoy solo puzzles to crack then Catan Logic Puzzle offers enjoyment from yet another Logiquest title!
(Editor’s Note: Logiquest Catan Logic Puzzle was provided to us by Asmodee for the review. The game is currently available from local board game stores! Find your local store here.)
