inconsequential ruminations

Last night I ventured onto MSN and played Settlers Online. They have a free preview period until 10 August, so I thought I would give it a shot. Unfortunately, it’s Internet Explorer only, but sometimes you have to slum it.

The interface is very slick, in marked contrast to BSW. The initial game matching interface is the best I have seen in a game like this, as can they match you up to opponents automatically and quickly. There is no waiting around in a lobby having to advertise your game. The other excellent innovation is the trading interface. It is a little confusing at first, but it works well. You can make specific offers, or just offer a resource, looking to get counter-offers. I also like how when you are about to build they mark the intersections with a number showing the number of times out of 36 possible dice throws an intersection will score.

I would love to see some statistics from server logs. For instance it would be interesting to see the win rate of the starting player who puts down two settlements consecutively.

$30 a year seems a little pricey, but $5 a month is acceptable, as you will probably get bored after that. You might as well try the free trial.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 3rd, 2005 at 10:49 and is filed under boardgames.