Traditional board games work surprisingly well in virtual reality (VR) like Tabletop Simulator for example. Another good example is Experiment 7’s VR adaption of strategy game Catan, originally launching Catan VR for Oculus Rift and Samsung Gear VR last year. Today, the studio has revealed Catan VR will be coming to PlayStation VR tomorrow.
The original Catan is one of those legendary board games most fans of this form of entertainment should’ve tried at least once. With over 30 million copies sold, tactics are at the heart of its gameplay, no matter if you’re playing the physical version or the VR one.
Designed for up to four players, Catan VR is about taking on the role of a settler, needing to establish colonies on the islands of Catan whilst acquiring resources to build infrastructure and roads and engaging in trade with other players, all with aim of growing large enough to get the ten victory points needed to win. Depending on your settlements location you’ll gain different resources which can then be used to build useful items, or you can trade with players for required resources. However, there is a myriad of things going on so be careful not to get robbed.
While Catan VR is ideally suited to online multiplayer between friends, Experiment 7 has also included a single-player mode with different AI players to help hone those skills. “We worked directly with Klaus Teuber and his team of incredible game designers to develop AI players that both provide challenging tactical opponents at every difficulty level, but also express the canonical personalities that have made other versions of Catan so compelling,” says Experiment 7 Founder, Geoffrey Zatkin on PS Blog. “For example, if you want to fine-tune your strategy with a more relaxed opponent, Mary Anne is a friendly player who just wants to build roads and have a good time. On the other hand, Jin will provide an aggressive challenge that will help you hone your skills for higher end play.”
On every other system Catan VR is on the title supports cross-play functionality for maximum player reach and diversity. It’s unclear if the PlayStation VR version will also include this. VRFocus will find out and report back with further updates.