The players of the Catan Online World meet in the Tavern. They open the Game Manager via mouse click on the game table in the center of the room. This helps them find fellow players for all the games offered in the Catan Online World.

A small icon indicates the game type. Next to it, the name of the game is displayed, followed by the selected game options (see below), in brackets, and the names of the players underneath. As usual, the display can be filtered by means of various settings. On the one hand, there are game related filters available for that purpose:

Game Specific – By using the button on the upper right (in the example: “All Games”), the selection can be set to a game group and a particular game. If this filter is chosen afterwards, only games belonging to the selection will be displayed.

Global – All games are displayed when using this filter, no matter in which city the game was set up.

City-Internal – This is the counterpart to “Global.” Only games that were set up by players coming from the same city as oneself are displayed.

In addition to this, there are filters that are related to the game status. You can select more than one of these filters. The following filters are available:

Open – Displays games that have been set up but were not started yet. Those games have a light green bar color.

Running – Games that were already started. One can join these games as a spectator. However, only games for which the players didn’t select the option “Invisible” are listed here. More about this later. Running games are represented by a yellow bar.

Interrupted – These games are symbolized by a dark green bar. In such games, a player is missing for continuation of the game. In case the other players agree, you can join the game and continue it.

A new game is set up with “Open.” But before the game is displayed in the Game Manager, you have the possibility to specify diverse options for the game if they exist for the game selected. Options can be changed even after setting up the game, as long as the game hasn’t been started yet. No changes are possible afterwards. The following options are available (does not apply for Catan – The Card Game):

Drawseat – The seating plan is randomly determined.  Otherwise, the sequence applies in which the players entered the game.

Host – Only the player who sets up the game can change the options.

Start – With this option, the starting player can be appointed. Otherwise, the starting player is determined randomly.

Invisible – When this option is active, the players are not listed in the Game Manager after starting. That way, spectators cannot join in at a later moment. This option thus allows the players to be by themselves.

Players – This option allows setting a fixed number of players if desired. The game can be started only when a sufficient number of players have joined. Also, players in excess of the fixed number cannot join the game. This option is switched off in the default settings.

ImmediateRobber – This option is important for Cities & Knights and is related to an old variation of the rule. Normally, and when this option is deactivated, the Robber is moved only after the first barbarian attack; that’s the official rule. With this option, however, the Robber is immediately active.

FriendlyRobber – For the Basic Game and the Scenarios without Cities & Knights, there is another game option called “friendly Robber” that derives from the expansion “Traders & Barbarians.” According to this rule, the Robber may only be placed on terrains next to which there is no settlement belonging to a player with less than 3 Victory Points. Consequently, the Robber cannot be used to steal a resource from a player who has less than 3 Victory Points.

Noscoring – The game is not given a score (neither in the chart nor for the awarding of resources). This option can be used to play games for learning or testing purposes, and the game can be abandoned without any consequences.

After setting the options, the game appears in the Game Manager, and other players can join in. After all game positions are occupied, all players must confirm the start by clicking on the Start button, and the game can begin.

Resumption

If there should be a network problem at some point, and a player leaves the game, this won’t be a problem.  The game is paused, and the player can come back. If one of the players drops out for other reasons, for instance because he/she has an important appointment and the game lasted longer than expected, then a different player can join in. In this case, the remaining players can look for substitutes via the Global-SPV Channel.

Completely abandoned games (e.g. after server restart) can only be accessed by players whose names are listed in the game record of the game manager in the Tavern and who, therefore, originally participated in the game. This rule applies until at least one of the original players has returned to the game, in order to be able to look for substitute players if necessary. If none of the original players returns, the game will be removed as always.   

Important: If the substitute loses, the game is counted towards the original player in this position, but if the substitute wins, it is counted towards him/her. Since one has no bearing on the outcome of the game, one should never thoughtlessly leave the game to someone else and prematurely abandon it.

Please note: Out of consideration for other players, one should, as a matter of principle, always try to finish a game, even if sometimes things are not going so well and there is little chance to win. In that case, it is a matter of decency to finish the game no matter what. Having fun when playing is important, and one’s fellow players shouldn’t be deprived of it by prematurely dropping out.

Watching

A game that has been declared as “open” by its participants (the option “Invisible” is switched off) can be displayed via the filter “Running Games” after it has started. Any other Avatar can now join this game via the “Watch” function as a spectator. Inside the game, he/she appears in the Avatar bar and is looking “over the shoulder” of one of the players. Of course, he/she cannot look into that player’s cards. He/she just sees the information that is visible to the other players.

Special Features for Catan – The Card Game

The Card Game is an independent program, for which the Catan Online World client only provides the game connection and administrates the results. For technical reasons, the functions of the Catan Online World are thus not available for the Card Game.

a) Watching is not possible.

b) There are no special options.

c) Avatars are not displayed in the Card Game.

d) Only the original players can resume the game. No substitutes can be inserted. For that purpose, both players have to set up a new game of the same type and join it. Then they are asked if they want to continue the old game, in case there is a valid saved game. A saved game is established in each round, after rolling the dice. Actions posterior to the dice roll are forfeited if the game is interrupted.

Please also note the technical information for Catan – The Card Game.