Benjamin Teuber and Kevin Hovdestad discuss developing a new CATAN card game with On the Road

Kevin, it’s great to chat. An exciting new launch for the brand arrives in CATAN – On the Road. For anyone new to this, how would you pitch it?
Kevin Hovdestad, Director, Brand Development, CATAN Studio: I’m so excited about CATAN – On The Road specifically because it’s the core CATAN experience, but in a faster, more portable form. You’re still collecting and trading resources to build your way to victory, but entirely using cards rather than a board. It’s easy to pick up and learn, quick to play, and a great experience not only for someone who already knows and loves CATAN, but for folks who maybe aren’t familiar with us yet.

What are some of the reasons for bringing CATAN into a card game like this?
Kevin: There are a lot of factors that affect how we think about where we want to go with the brand, but I think the big things that On The Road offer for us are a smaller form factor, a lower price point and a game with a shorter play time. If someone wants the premium CATAN experience, that already exists – if they want something they can play in 15 minutes, or fit in a cross-body bag, or give as an inexpensive gift, now there’s a beautiful, modern CATAN game that meets their needs.

And Benjamin, talk us through the design process behind On the Road?
Benjamin Teuber, Co-CEO & Game Designer, CATAN GmbH: We regularly revisit older designs to see what could be improved, especially when players share feedback over time. With Struggle for CATAN, one recurring comment was that the game felt a bit long. There were also a few rules we wanted to reevaluate to ensure they worked as intended. We began to explore refining the game and over time, this refined version became a whole new game rather than an overhaul.

There is one change I love the most… After a trade, the player who is not actively taking their turn gains an additional resource from the supply. This mechanism incentivises trading even more, which is especially cool for this game in which you have to react so fast. I love this rule so much because it matches the game so well.

It was also an idea that my dad and I played around with about one or two years before he passed. Sadly, my father didn’t get to see it completed, but for me, it’s very meaningful that a concept we once talked about now lives on in this game.

What elements of the original game were important to retain in this version of CATAN?
Benjamin: There are three essential feelings that every CATAN game must capture: harvesting, trading and building. If a design doesn’t contain all three, the game might still be fun, but it won’t truly feel like CATAN. These pillars are absolutely central, and of course they’re present here as well.

The new elements we wanted to explore came from two directions. First, the revised trading mechanism that rewards interaction. Second, the intentional scarcity of building options: at any given moment only a few building options are available. If I build something, the players coming after me may suddenly lose access to that card – a small but satisfying moment. There are also majority elements and other familiar CATAN ideas, but alongside them many fresh twists that make On the Road its own experience.

You’ve designed several CATAN launches over the years. Do you have any ‘north stars’ for designing a great CATAN title?
Benjamin: Every CATAN title must feel true to the brand. We have clear red lines and guiding principles about what CATAN stands for. There are many of them but I can try to explain it based on two examples.

A mechanical north star would be about trading. Trade creates win-win situations for both players who take part. Players who refuse to trade won’t win consistently – they might get lucky occasionally, but long-term you have to embrace trade as a core strategy. The creation of those win-win moments is one of the heartbeats of CATAN.

But we also have north stars when it comes to telling the story of the game. When we adapt external stories or concepts, they must align with these principles. A great example is A Game of Thrones – CATAN. At first glance, the world of Westeros seems defined by conflict rather than cooperation. But when we discovered the thematic angle ‘beyond the Gift’, where players build up their settlements while also cooperating to defend the Wall against the threat from beyond the wall. Suddenly the story matched CATAN perfectly. That twist allowed the narrative to fit our north stars, both competitively and thematically.

On that, what do you think gives CATAN the ‘elasticity’ to suit different formats, spin-offs and licences?
Benjamin: In my opinion CATAN taps into something deeply human and almost archaic. We are born as hunters and gatherers – we like collecting resources, we enjoy social interaction and we love the act of creating something. These instincts sit in our cultural DNA, all around the world.

CATAN captures all of this beautifully, which allows it to expand into a vast thematic universe. From historic adaptations, like Rise of the Inkas over modern settings like in New Energies, or far-future adventures like Starfarers – all of these games connect to those three core activities, and that makes for a great CATAN game.

And Kevin, is On the Road indicative of where you want the brand to go moving forward? Should we expect more fresh formats and new takes?
Kevin: Sneaky question!

Ha! I always include one!
Kevin: I don’t think there’s any one specific direction we’re looking to go – CATAN has a lot of design space and flexibility for us to explore. What I will say is that as the team continues to evolve, we’re talking a lot about what kinds of creative opportunities we can take with the brand, whether that’s in the design of the games themselves, the way we build the products, or what kinds of collaborations and partnerships we can take on. So, yes – let’s say you can expect more ‘fresh’ and ‘new’ from us.

Last question! What’s the most underrated CATAN launch? We’ll give it some love here!
Kevin: For me it still has to be CATAN – New Energies. The game had a pretty solid start when it launched in 2024, but I think it really nailed something special about the potential look and feel of a CATAN game. I found it incredibly easy to teach to any existing CATAN fan, a modest step up in terms of depth that players could appreciate and enjoy, thematically distinct in a way that was really enjoyable, and the strength of the alternate win condition/ending a really great distinction from the original game.

There’s certainly more to say about it, but I think for anyone who is thinking about the range of CATAN experiences they’re open to, this one deserves a second look!

Benjamin: For me, the most underrated CATAN title is Rise of the Inkas. It has this fascinating twist: When do you go from one golden age to the next? Each time you do it, you are a little weaker at first, but will then grow stronger. And each player has to go through the process multiple times to finally win! So the big question is, when do you do that exactly? The game contains a lot of tactical as well as strategic elements and I always enjoy playing it again, even after all these years.

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