There are people out there who will collect almost anything. While cards, coins, and stamps are among the most popular collector's items, they are not the only ones. Games have recently become such a commodity, and many people fight for collectors edition consoles and controllers that show graphics of their favorite characters. Board games are not left out of this loop, either. Collector board games have become extremely popular in recent years, and many of them have been regional exclusive, meaning they are shipped across the world in all kinds of different languages.
Catan, sometimes called The Settlers of Catan, is a game where players war over property and resources (think primitive monopoly). Due to how simple the game is, it is easy to make duplicates of it, which can appeal to niche audiences. This has helped to open up a collector's market for rare Catan games, like The Catan Card Game, The Catan Dice Game and Catan Junior, which are relatively easy to find. Some, however, become region exclusives, such as the Japanese only Settlers of Catan: Rockman Edition.
Settlers of Catan: Rockman Edition is a Mega Man themed of this classic board game (Rockman being the Blue Bomber's original Japanese name). First released in 2005, there were two versions of this game released in Japan, Settlers of Catan: Rockman Edition and its portable version, which was magnetic. Because these games were not sold outside of Japan, they are found in no other language. People all around the world buy these games due to their scarcity and their unique look, rather than to play them (similar to collectors cards and figures.)
The original Catan debuted in Germany in 1995 and quickly became a family game night staple worldwide. The board is set up as a small island with different biomes being arranged as hexagons. Players race to gather resources in these hexagons that help them build their roads and settlements, which in turn allows them to gather more resources to build more roads and settlements. There are five types of resources: sheep, wood, brick, ore, and wheat are combined to create roads and settlements. Settlements give players a victory point, and upgraded cities give players two victory points. While most of the game is competitive, trading between players is allowed and even encouraged, until one player gets 10 points and wins.
The core game of Settlers of Catan: Rockman Edition is the same as the original Catan. The objective is still to earn 10 points, but each element is given a more Mega Man feel to it. The Resource Cards (now called Battle Chips) have been changed from sheep, wood, brick, ore and wheat to water, wood, fire, normal and electricity. These simple name changes give this game a much more futuristic feeling than its original version.
While the gameplay has stayed mostly the same, there are many differences to the lore of the game. The original Catan has players settling on an uninhabited island, while Rockman Edition has players fighting for control over network nodes with battle robots.
It is heartwarming to see when two properties can come together and create a game that is the best of both worlds. Catan fans and Mega Man fans can both enjoy this cheeky little game, and with Settlers of Catan: Rockman Edition being a Japanese exclusive, it is no wonder collectors editions of board games are becoming so popular.