Rivals for Catan vs Catan the Card Game

So what exactly is the difference between the two of these games? Is Rivals just the card game with the expansions mixed in, or is there something more substantial than that. Is there any point in buying Rivals if I already own (and love) Catan the Card Game?

A thread for me!

I've played Catan Card Game more than any other game outside of CCGs. Almost all of that is the base game. I own all the expansions, but I always thought they didn't quite work, as there was insufficient incentive to stray from the base cards.

I decided to buy Rivals mainly because my daughter and I play Candamir, and I wanted to introduce my beloved game with art direction and characters that matched Candamir.

There are a lot of subtle differences that I won't detail here. The biggest change for me against Rivals is the change in card replacement (Rivals: fill up to hand limit if applicable, then there is always the option to swap a card), which I find makes the game awkward and nullifies the hand management aspect a bit (especially coupled with the Town Hall ability moving to a green card).

But far and away the biggest change is in the expansion decks. The base set is now an "incomplete" set that the expansions complement, with the key that there are no red cards in the base set, and you *need* to go into the expansion decks severely to win (for some expansions, almost too much so [e.g., Age of Exploration]). The expansions are done waay better than in Catan Card Game, and Rivals is an easy recommendation if expansions are important to you. That said, I still think the original Catan Card Game base set has a ton of replayability and is the best manifestation of the game by far.

I don't know what the difference is, but anyone who wants to buy the original Catan Card Game, I'll sell it for $7 plus parcel-post shipping.

dragonstout wrote: I don't know what the difference is, but anyone who wants to buy the original Catan Card Game, I'll sell it for $7 plus parcel-post shipping.

Someone do this before I do and prove to everyone what an idiot I am.