A few weeks ago there was a post in Reddit about the new Catan 25th Anniversary sets and a question about the differences between the English version and the other languages. Also in Board Game Geek, they have the English set in a seperate listing to the other languages (Dutch, French, German, Polish, Russian and Spanish).
The reason for this is that while all are 25th Anniversary sets, the English version by Asmodee does feature different contents to the versions by Kosmos, 999 Games, Devir etc. So to help clarify these differences I have created this visual guide and contents list.
Contents - Asmodee Catan 25th Anniversary Set
This set is a 6 player base set that features wooden parts painted with a metallic fleck paint. It also includes the Helpers of Catan scenario and game sleeves for all cards. (click image to see larger image)
- 30 x Terrain Hexes
- 6 x Sea Frames
- 4 x Small Sea Frames
- 6 x Building Cost Cards
- 30 x Settlements (5 per player)
- 90 x Roads (15 per player)
- 24 x Cities (4 per player)
- 18 x Number Tokens (4 player)
- 28 x Number Tokens (6 player)
- 2 x Card Trays
- 2 x Dice
- 2 x Special Cards (Longest Road, Largest Army)
- 120 x Resource Cards
- 34 x Development Cards
- 1 x Robber
- 11 x Harbour Tokens
- 2 x Packs of Card Sleeves
- 6 x Plastic Bags for tokens
- 1 x Catan Rule Book and Almanac
Contents - 999 Games/Kosmos/Devir 25th Anniversary Set
This set is a 4 player base set that features the standard Euro plastic parts. It also includes the Seafarers expansion. A key feature is it also includes two scenario maps - Hawaii and Iberian Peninsula. The Hawaii scenario includes the Fish components. Additionally there are some fun card "sea chests" for holding each set of colours (click image to see larger image).
BASE GAME:
- 19 x Terrain Hexes
- 6 x Border Frames
- 18 x Hex Number Tokens (4 player)
- 4 x Building Cost Cards
- 20 x Settlements (5 per player)
- 60 x Roads (15 per player)
- 16 x Cities (4 per player)
- 2 x Card Trays
- 2 x Dice
- 2 x Special Cards (Longest Road, Largest Army)
- 95 x Resource Cards
- 25 x Development Cards
- 1 x Robber
- 4 x Sea Chest Figure Holders
- 1 x Almanac
- 1 x Catan Rule Book
SEAFARERS
- 11 x Terrain Hexes
- 19 x Sea Hexes
- 6 x Additional Border Frames
- 10 x Hex Number Tokens
- 10 x Harbour Tokens
- 57 x Catan Chips
- 5 x Wonder Cards
- 60 x Ships (15 x 4 colours)
- 1 x Sea Robber Figure
- 1 x Seafarers Rule Book
SCENARIOS
- 28 x Fish Markers
(14 x 1 fish, 8 x 2 fish, 6 x 3 fish) - 4 x Fish Market cards
- 4 x Fishing Boats in 4 colours
- 1 x Double sided Game Board ("Iberian Peninsula" & Hawaii maps)
My Thoughts on the Two Versions
While I prefer the wooden pieces in the English version and it is great it allows for six players, if I was only allowed one set I think I would pick the International set as I feel it it has more content and expanded playing options. This said, if I was planning on buying extensions in English, the English version would more than meet my needs and I would happily buy this too. Both versions are good value when compared to the components bought individually.
Personally I would have preferred Cities & Knights to be included in all these sets as I rarely play the base game. I like how the 10th anniversary set came with both the base game and C&K options.
Ultimately I think both versions are a great release. Value wise i think they stand up as reasonable given the total cost for the standard set with the various extras is more than the retail price of this new anniversary set.
(EDIT 13 Jan 2022*) The metal flake colours in the English set will be an odd match if blending with standard expansions due to the metal flake colours. For most people this will not matter as they simply look at the core colour and shades do not matter. The English set is more expensive than the Euro versions, however the higher cost for the English version is probably a reflection on the higher cost of keeping the wooden components. Long may this continue though as wood does make the game seem higher quality.
I have decided to collect the various languages of this set as I do think it is interesting, and even collecible. I have 6 versions on display at present (English, French, Dutch, German, Chinese & Spanish). I will now be trying hard to find the Russian and Polish versions to complete the language set.
* After reading feedback on these comments I have removed the statement that these colours are unique and may cause confusion when merged with standard expansions. I accept the colours are reasonably close and it is only my own high degree of fussiness that would mean I would swap these to be a closer match.
