Better Settlers for Android
im having trouble making sense of the layouts given.. everytime its refreshed the colors that certain numbers had are switched? i was assuming the colors meant what resource the hex was but after playing around with the app i do not understand the colors at all.. makes it difficult to recreate with the actual catan pieces.
Simple to use, yet does exactly what it's needed for. I wouldn't mind nicer graphics, but that's me being nit picky. 5*
Makes games way more intense. It helps prevent having one player who is never in contention which seems to happen a lot otherwise.
One downside, however, is that it doesn't work as well for the newer version of Settlers, where harbors are fixed to corners, so it is not possible to setup border as the app suggests.
This app has really helped improve my normal games of Catan with my friends. However, I recently bought Star Trek Catan and wanted to use this app to help setup those boards. It worked for the tiles on the map once I figured out the equivalent resources between games and color coded them appropriately to match the app. However, the color coded trade ports in the app don't match those in ST Catan. Without that I am not sure if the games are as balanced as they could be. Otherwise great app!
Would hate to play Catan without this now
Can't select number of dots, app also crashes when I shuffle probabilities on traditional. Otherwise good
I wish you could select Cities and Knights balanced layouts, as well as taking the base board ports into account.
I use this every time I play settlers. Having the initial settlement suggestions is also very useful for newer players. The interface could be better, but it gets the job done.
The algorithm used places all resources and numbers to be exactly balanced, which eliminates games where your opponent has all the brick and you either have to beg/plead/grovel or find a port. But those kinds of games are what make Catan great. I guess I was hoping for something to prevent truly broken boards, though admittedly describing exactly what that means is no easy task.
We play regularly with another couple and use this app all the time. It evens out the board and we have great games as a result. Nobody ever runs away with it all because of a bad board.
I couldn't find the instructions or figure out how to play. Sounds like a great app, but an instruction screen would be very welcome for new players.
Im always building boards when we play and getting the numbers 'fair' is always a problem. This little miracle helps immensely.
Prior to uninstalling this piece of garbage, I just want to warn people that it's just a game board. It gave me no options for gameplay and was utterly confusing to operate. DONT INSTALL THIS !
As the title describes, we use multiple generators and this is the most popular among my friends. Not only does it set a very fair board that allows even the furthest behind player to catch up and win, but it also comes with analytical placements to help new players learn strategic value. Best application I've used so far and I hope there is a way I can donate so developers like this can prosper!
Maked setting up a breeze! This FREE app is everything you could ask for and more! While minor tweaks and adjustments can make this extraordinary such as more details to the hexes and brief explanations for setup to help beginners get started.
Would hate to play Catan without this now
Good, but I wish there was a setting to keep the outline of the board the same every time, and only mix around the tiles inside the board. This way we don't have to always change the border ports around so much.
Gah - I must have the 4th edition. Please please please add an option for the static ports that come with the 4th edition of the board game out for 7 years now...
I don't find the layouts from Better Settlers any better than the ones I set up, actually they are worse. The maps are badly laid out and makes it easy for one person to win before the others can get enough resources to get started. I keep getting boards with either two 6s adjacent or two 8s. If I shuffle it, it will just put two other numbers next to each other.
I love how this app assists the players to locate the best intersections to place the initial two settlements and the rational. If you play the board game then thus app will enhance your playing experience
There's another app I have called Catan Assist that uses an algorithm that stops resources from being next to each other and makes similar probabilities. You can also make the docks and harbors placed as far from the resources as possible. How similar does that sound to the algorithm used here?
Great app for a balanced board, but needs to outline other needed tiles. For fog island layout you don't know what other tiles are needed for the draw pile. Would like a listing of required tiles. Just discovered while writing the review that tapping the "fog" tile displays what it could be. So for complete board layout I would have to tap a large number of tiles. What a pain. Please give a list option of the fog tiles. Same for other hidden tile layouts.
I have a s6 edge and the game seems 2 work but it's not allowing me 2 play. it's ridiculous. I think catan is great bUT this game sucks
This app is great except for the fact that seafarers can only be randomized with 4 players and up. I payed to unlock every scenerio and when I click on one it says "3-4 players" and "5-6 players". How is this acceptable? A 3 player game setup is much different than 4 player and the balance of the game is completely changed if you try to play 3 players on a 4 player board. The official rules come with a 3 and 4 person setup for each scenerio, so why wouldn't this app? Especially after having to pay to unlock
Effective, straightforward and pretty. What more could you ask for?
Generates a completely new board in all the ways possible, from the ports,hexes, and the numbers. You can also do Seafarers .
Quick, intuitive interface that allows for a faster and more fair board layout. Perfect if you use 3D times and can't shuffle them.
This app is NOT an electronic version of the game. It is a supplement to help design fair layouts for the physical board game. The simple interface makes it clear and easy to understand. Layouts for the base game (3-6 players) are free. Basic seafarers is free, but extra scenarios are .99 each or 2.99 for them all. Other expansions are not yet supported. Minor additional features are nice: different selection algorithms, reshuffle numbers, reshuffle harbors, a roll stats tracker and a placement selector.
Don't know what the graphics mean, although I've played the game a few times (and been frustrated when everyone else grabs all the best corners first during setup). It's not clear why there's no key or help at all for how to use this ap.
Does everything as advertised. Could use a little color adjustment for colorblind players.
My only complaint is that the generated ports do not match up to the settlers ports on the game board. One or two connections are always wrong during set up. Please fix!
Awesome app, rolltracker could use a total roll counter
The algorithm is perfect for a balanced board and I don't have to figure out what tiles and numbers I need when setting up a non-standard board.
Easy board set ups and suggested places to put cities and why. It's It's a little ugly but it's free
Everything I could want in a Catan app!
Love this app! The better settlers algorithm is a really good way to setup a game that is balanced.
This will be a great help to setting up the board. I only wish I would've found it sooner. It's good to be able to adjust the board size and add in Seafarers, but what about the rest of the expansions? I would love to see some better layouts for the Traders and Barbarians different boards. Those rivers, you know! I look forward to seeing what is to come with this app!
Our games are neck and neck by the last few turns no one finished with less than 8 points
by M####:
Good bar two issues. I think this needs updating to work with the newer versions of the board game where the port layout has less flexibility. Currently it's not possible to implement the layouts proposed by the app. (except for the standard algorithm, but if you're using that you don't need the app anyway). Second issue is on the settlement ranking comments. It suggested every location was 'Wealthy high probabilities' for resources, I would expect that topic comment to change as you go through the list. The other criteria comments do change accordingly