Catan often serves as a bridge into more “serious” board games, but it’s become so overplayed that “serious” board game fanatics tend to resent it. I don’t have an issue with its popularity, though: I have issues with the board.

Parts slide around everywhere. They’re way too easy to knock around. It’s wood blocks on cardboard tiles in a loose cardboard frame. On top of that, the illustrations feel like set design from a good community theater production. 

I saw a chance to design a better board by following the Double Diamond design model. I researched issues with the game, then sketched early concepts. I transitioned to CAD, optimized materials, prototyped, and manufactured it. I arrived upon a three-layered board held together by magnets. With a solid base layer, a middle layer slotted for ports and tiles, and a top level slotted for settlements/roads, I sandwich the structural tiles in place to prevent knocking pieces around. Furthermore, by making the board out of acrylic, I forced a modern aesthetic that I matched in card design. It’s a product to make the user experience of Catan less frustrating, and a version I genuinely prefer to play.

FINAL PRODUCT