Catan Anytime: Microsoft Releases Social Version of Catan

Article by George Norman (Cybersecurity Editor)

on 29 Jul 2014

Microsoft, as part of the Rethink IE campaign, rolled out a preview of Catan Anytime. What is Catan Anytime you ask? It is the social version of the very popular board game “The Settlers of Catan.”

You can play Catan Anytime for free in any modern browser. As expected, Microsoft recommends you play the game using its own Internet Explorer web browser.

The Settlers of Catan is an immensely popular strategy game that sold more than 20 million copies.

It is available as a board game, it is available as an online game, it is available as a mobile app, it is available as an application for Windows and Mac, and, as of this week, it is also available as a Rethink IE experiment called Catan Anytime.

You can enjoy Catan Anytime in your browser, on any device, anywhere.

“Internet Explorer truly believes in the open and interoperable web, and therefore we focused on delivering a game that simply works on the web without bias of what device, OS or browser players’ choose to use. Together we created a game that is light and renders easily on devices ranging from smartphones to PCs and anything in between,” explained Justin Garrett, Group Product Manager, Internet Explorer.

The preview release of Catan Anytime is part of a collaboration between Microsoft’s Internet Explorer team and the creators of Catan, Mayfair Games and Bontom Games.

Catan Anytime preview release – Main Features
  • Try a turn to check out the gameplay or register and play the game in your browser.
  • You can invite your friends via email or Facebook.
  • Three players are need to start the game.
  • Turn-based asynchronous gameplay.
  • Auto-trade and auto-roll features.
  • Click a button to produce resources (this replaces the dice roll).
  • Choose to get notifications.
  • In-built chat and access to Skype and Twitter.
“This preview release features the latest HTML5 web standards and real-time in-game social interaction,” explained Justin Garrett. “As part of the ongoing collaboration, we will be releasing the complete Catan ruleset: Development cards, Achievements, and Ports at GamesCon in August. This brings Catan Anytime to full parity in game rules with the board game. We hope that the parity in rules, combined with the unique capabilities of asynchronous gaming and auto trading will attract Catan fans old and new alike!”



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