I never played the previous 2 player card game version of Catan, but from what I read - this is a fair improvement. The cost is currently $20, and when you open the box you might be thinking "I just paid how much for this???" But the real value is in the incredible depth of the game rather than in the inclusion of several trinkets.Oh and an important note: In the rule book they keep talking about the shield icon or some such. My version has a knight icon instead. So after a few frustrating minutes, and the possibility of having to contact Mayfair, we realized the new piece just had a different icon! Update the rule book guys!I won't get too in depth into the rules. Basically the game is a card based strategy game. You take a starting set and lay out your territory. Then you select some cards for your hand. You then take turns rolling two die, one for a resource and one for an event. You have events such as plentiful harvest (players gain resources), bandit attack, draw event card, and celebration. Each has a unique function. The 1 - 6 die determines which resource(s) the players acquire.Next the active player uses resources or cards from their hand (typically costing resources). One can either build additions to the kingdom, or play action cards or lay out building or character cards. The action cards typically give the player an immediate bonus (a few can be used before rolling dice or before selecting cards for their hand or drawing region cards and so on). Green cards typically give a permanent bonus and are played on the town or city upgrade spaces. The final two actions are drawing cards up to three (or more if you have bonuses allowing more) and then exchanging one card with another random card from one of the draw piles.The game has a lot of complexity and a little luck. I would say the luck factor is much lower than people estimate. With smart planning, a character can acquire resources they need or exchange for those they need. There are a few strategies for winning, but the game is won when a person acquires seven victory points and ends their turn. Newcomers might find it easier to build up towns and cities for the inherent victory points. I found gaining trade the most fun and interesting method.Included are three small expansions. They all add an interesting dynamic to the base game despite just having a handful of cards each.It's an interesting and immensely fun two player card game with a lot of variety. I highly recommend it for fans of Catan and Dominion. It's easy to learn the basics, but has enough depth that it appeals to players even after several games. The box states 45 - 60 minutes, but I find that most games run about 30 minutes once the rules are well understood. But the length of each game varies and players will play at their own comfortable pace. My only one drawback if there is one is that the square cards are tough to shuffle.Highly recommended!My boyfriend and I love board games and card games so I decided to buy this since we both love Catan. I will say this game looks a lot more complicated than it actually is so don't let that turn you off! Once you read the instructions and start playing it's very simple to understand and very fun! This is a great 1v1 game that even has different game themes and even expansion packs! I highly recommendThis game is great. An easy intro into tabletop strategy games and in the case of this version of it, it's also relatively compact. I would generally advise to get the standard version, simply because of the multiplayer aspect, but in my case, for now, a 2 player version was enough.Be prepared to give this game 1-2 hrs of your time when you sit down to play it. Might be a turnoff for some, but imo that's a huge selling point.Ever want to play Settlers of Catan but you only have one other person to play with?If yes, then buy this game.The Rivals for Catan takes the basic elements of Settlers (roads, settlements, cities) and some of the expansions (trade ships, barbarians, heroes, city improvements) and creates an almost entirely different game. There is no board, just several cards, a standard die, an event die, and two tokens.Without going into the gameplay much, I'll say that the goals and mechanics are similar to Settlers: collect resources, expand your colony, and claim a certain amount of victory points to win. Also, as in Settlers, the competition in Rivals is often indirect. It's more of a race to get victory points than a one-on-one battle, though one of the themes gets a bit nasty (more on that later). However, many of the games I've played have kept the opponents neck-and-neck, so the tension of Settlers is still prevalent.Strengths-The basic game comes with three themes (Gold, Turmoil, and Progress). These are supplements to what is called the Basic Set. Each theme brings its own unique cards to the game and one's strategy must change depending on what theme is chosen. While they don't carry as much nuance as a Settlers expansion might, they certainly prevent the game from getting old. You can even combine all three themes for what is called Dual of the Princes. Mayfair Games sells more themes separately, too.-There are a variety of strategies you can take, regardless of theme decks. You can build a resource-efficient colony with grade trade ships, focus on strong heroes, or just expand as widely as possible before your opponent does, since you share the same pool of settlements and cities.-Many of the cards have special abilities that are a lot of fun to employ. Once you get to the second half of the game or so, your abilities have dramatically increased, adding even more variety to how you approach victory.-Games can range from 15-45 minutes, so it's shorter than typical Settlers.Weaknesses-You can't trade. Well, you can, but there's almost no point. Mayfair removed it from the rules when they revamped the game. Since trading is about 30% of the gameplay in Settlers, it feels like something is missing in Rivals. The bartering, begging, alliances, and betrayals aren't here.-Unless you're familiar with Settlers, I wouldn't recommend you play this game. The rule book will explain everything but I think the game would feel overwhelming. The game was essentially designed for people that already play Settlers.-While very portable, the game takes up a lot of space. There are several draw stacks and a lot of cards get played, so you might need more than a two-by-two foot table.-You may need to develop some house rules. It's hard to explain unless you've played a couple times, but there are a couple mechanics that can make the game very uneven.Overall: a wonderful Catan fix for two players and a very fun game.Obsessed with this fantastic two player game. I won't go into details about game play as this is better sourced from the game makers but what i will say is that the three variations of the game keep it fresh and interesting. You start with learning the base game and then build in the other variations which are included to add interest and challenge. You do need a decent sized flat playing space to lay out the cards and it is a little tricky at first to understand how to play but dedicated players will reap the rewards. I prefer it to the large multiplayer version. The basic game can take as little as 30 minutes, the included themes can give you a couple hours play.I have played the version with more than 2 players and I must say that this one is the best to board games to play with either your partner/wise/girlfriend/friend/enemy. From the start, you need to follow the rules step by step and give it a thorough read both of you. It's can get really fun and competitive to play, try thinking out of the box and be a risk taker and you are guaranteed extra fun !it's worth to buy and it's value for money times 3x ! Highly recommended !This game is like no other and takes a little time to learn the rules and purpose of the game. However after two games the rules begin to make sense and the game becomes fun. We have only played the basic game so far, but this is all we want to date. However we look forward to adding the three extra levels within the pack provided. Once you have learned the rules an begun to sort out a strategy each game should only last about an hour.I have made a card template for the central section so that the shared card stacks can be quickly and easily located.I purchased this game because I was disappointed that I couldn't play the original game as 2 player.I have previously got other 2 player versions of games and have found them to be good fun, so I was hoping for the same.Rivals of Catan did not disappoint. Whilst some of the game play is different, it is just as challenging as the original!Just remember to use a big enough table to expand you area!I would highly recommend this product.Me and my partner much preferred the original Catan and won’t be playing this 2 player card version again.