Catan Universe

Catan Universe

26 ratings
How To Play For Free
By Galeforce Flatulence
Catan Universe is advertised as "Free-To-Play" - But is it really? Here is a quick how-to guide on playing Catan for free!
   
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How to Play for Free

You cant enjoy this game for free - it's that simple.


Do you want to play one of the expansion packs such as Cities and Knights, or Seafarers? You have to pay for each expansion pack.

Are you happy to just play the different scenarios in the original version? That's great, you can pay for that too.

Do you want to play multiplayer? You have to pay for that too.

Do you like cool avatars & costumes? Surprise - you have to pay for those too.

This game allows you to use a token called a "Sun" to play single player for free, on the most basic version of the original game with no expansion packs, once every 12 hours. But what if i want to play more than once every 12 hours you say - no problem! Just buy more "Suns"! That's right - this game is all about the micro-transactions. You buy in-game currency with real money, then use that currency to buy expansions, scenarios, multiplayer mode, outfits, avatars etc.


So why is Catan advertised as 'Free to Play"?

Because of a cheeky loop-hole, the developer can advertise a game as "Free" but still sell in-game currency for real money - and Steam don't make a cut when you buy the in-game currency like they would if this game was sold with expansions as DLC like most games. This way, by making the game practically unplayable you are forced to buy the in-game currency to unlock the full version, all without the Catan developers having to share their profit with Steam.

You don't mind paying for expansions because you buy games on Steam anyway, and you would happily have paid for Catan anyway (you probably own the board game anyway, right?) so its no big deal...except the cheeky pricks who made that game are basically just ripping off Steam who were good enough to host them. Now isn't that a bit rough?

That's all there is to know about Playing for Free. You can't play it for free (reasonably), and by paying for it via micro-transaction you are robbing Steam of their fair share.
8 Comments
Rabbit Dolphin 29 Oct, 2024 @ 2:51am 
poor steam getting ripped off donate today
Frankly Raw Toast 26 Mar, 2023 @ 3:28pm 
Completely agree with your guide on how to play for free. I was hoping this would be something like the Carcassonne steam game based on the board game but you are very right!! And that makes me sad. Play Carcassonne! It calculates everything for you, you don't need to buy the expansion, but if you do, only one of your friends has to and you all can enjoy the expansions. But really, it isn't necessary until you get bored of the base game, which is a lot of fun. I am looking for more people to play Carcassonne with, hit me up if you want to play that (I have the expansions) and we can not play this pay wall shite. You know the the funny thing is, I'd be willing to shell out a fair bit of money for the base game and the expansions of Settlers of Catan, but I am not going to pay to play more than once a day. Thanks @USM developer of this game for commenting and saying essentially that there are a bunch of people satisfied and that you don't need to change a thing. Your system sucks.
lilyane.lyee 23 Feb, 2022 @ 9:21am 
how to register chat?
ross.ozarka 14 Jan, 2022 @ 1:50am 
this is less of a guide and more of a rant
Caliba62 1 Nov, 2021 @ 12:01am 
I'd rather buy a digital version of the old "Catan - Die erste Insel" game - the variety of game modes was simply mind boggling, but it's impossible to find one it seems...
USM [CM]  [developer] 14 Oct, 2021 @ 1:21am 
Hi Jordz,

please let me adress some errors in your assumptions.

1. This is not a loophole, Steam does not offer a Freemium category which maybe might be more fitting for our game.

2. Steam does take its share from every in-App purchase, being it an in-game currency or other in-app purchases

3. Catan Universe does not feature any annoying 3rd party ads or sells off your data to anyone. The only revenue stream for us is "one-time in-App purchases". “One-time purchases” mean you buy an expansion once and can play it as often as you want. On top of that, you can use the expansions you bought here or on your phone as well after you logged in there with your CU account. This is actually the only reason we use the in-game currency.

A lot of Catanians enjoy the possibilities we gave them with our true cross-platform game.
Xiuhtecoatl 9 Oct, 2021 @ 7:56am 
You could just play with AI, you know. Multiplayer isn´t even that fun (lots of ragequit, takes a lot of time, ppl insulting lol). Also, you can play again in a row on a internet browser. You ran out of sun again? use a diferent browser. You still want to play? Well you better go out, read a book, or something cause 3 games in a row is a lot lol.
Jerkules 23 Aug, 2021 @ 7:44am 
ANSWERl You don't! :diplomacy: