Reviews of Colonist.io - Catan Inspired

By: Colonist App

List of user reviews and ratings for Colonist.io - Catan Inspired

Total ratings

4.50 (Rating count: 4,009)

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Review summary

Players praise the game’s concept and polished UI, but repeatedly flag concerns about fairness (biased RNG and bots), stability problems (crashes, load/payments), and a costly monetization model. Additional annoyance comes from UI changes that hurt usability across devices. Overall, the app is attractive to fans, but reliability and monetization are the major recurring drawbacks.

Pros

Polished, well-designed UI and overall game design.
Strong appeal for Catan fans; many players call it a favorite and genuinely enjoyable when not hampered by issues.
Positive reception to recent UI updates that improve the interface and feel of the app.

Cons

Perceived non-random dice RNG bias and apparent rigging of rolls, affecting fairness.
Bots/AI behavior felt unfair, with patterns suggesting collusion or advantage against players.
Frequent performance and stability problems, including crashes, loading issues, and payment initialization failures.
Expensive subscription model and paywall limiting access to features/content.
UI/UX regressions and device-specific issues (e.g., removal of horizontal mode, cluttered 1v1 UI, layout differences between iPad and other platforms).

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User Reviews

Recent rating average: 2.10

All time rating average: 4.50

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60% (68)

Date	Author	Comment
2026-08-26	Jo*****	$15 a month to play a game I love. What are we doing. I’m still going to play, but I will truly get upset at myself being forced to watch a 30 second ad every 6-12 minutes. For someone who only plays 1v1, it gets insanely ridiculous. Very happy I chose to love a game that does this to someone who played 500-1500 1v1 games a season, and now only plays 100 at most. Thanks Colonist, seriously. Let me pay $40 as a one-time purchase, I would. Insane. Just a joke.
$15 a month to play a game I love. What are we doing. I’m still going to play, but I will truly get upset at myself being forced to watch a 30 second ad every 6-12 minutes. For someone who only plays 1v1, it gets insanely ridiculous. Very happy I chose to love a game that does this to someone who played 500-1500 1v1 games a season, and now only plays 100 at most. Thanks Colonist, seriously. Let me pay $40 as a one-time purchase, I would. Insane. Just a joke.
2026-08-25	co*****	Catan has always been a game of strategy with a bit of luck needed to win the game. It’s one thing to be unlucky here and there. It’s another thing to be unlucky for 15+ games in a row and you start to question these supposedly “random” dice rolls heavily favoring your opponent every single game. This spree suddenly started very very recently after the developers started pushing more expensive subscription plans. I understand! If I’m not going to hand over any money, then I’ll see my way out.
Catan has always been a game of strategy with a bit of luck needed to win the game. It’s one thing to be unlucky here and there. It’s another thing to be unlucky for 15+ games in a row and you start to question these supposedly “random” dice rolls heavily favoring your opponent every single game. This spree suddenly started very very recently after the developers started pushing more expensive subscription plans. I understand! If I’m not going to hand over any money, then I’ll see my way out.
2026-08-24	Tu*****	This game is almost a ragebait version of Catan. The rolls don’t follow probability. If you are new, the dice will roll low probability numbers randomly and does not follow the actual probability distribution, making it more of a luck game than a strategy game. The original board game dice does not roll 12 3 and 11 constantly. This is a very frustrating game.
This game is almost a ragebait version of Catan. The rolls don’t follow probability. If you are new, the dice will roll low probability numbers randomly and does not follow the actual probability distribution, making it more of a luck game than a strategy game. The original board game dice does not roll 12 3 and 11 constantly. This is a very frustrating game.
2026-08-21	So*****	Algorithm is broken. A very noticeable pattern of rolls and cards drawn from opponent. Rolls of the number the robber is on happens almost immediately after it is placed (nearly every time). Could have 7 brick but your opponent will pull the 1 ore you need for a city. 3 3s will be rolled to start a game but your 8 won’t be rolled for another 7 turns (but it will be rolled 2-4 times once the robber is moved on that exact spot). Then you pull a development card and get everything BUT a knight when you need it most. As soon as you play a knight, a 7 will be rolled by your opponent. Not very fun when the pattern is so obvious and definitely not random.
Algorithm is broken. A very noticeable pattern of rolls and cards drawn from opponent. Rolls of the number the robber is on happens almost immediately after it is placed (nearly every time). Could have 7 brick but your opponent will pull the 1 ore you need for a city. 3 3s will be rolled to start a game but your 8 won’t be rolled for another 7 turns (but it will be rolled 2-4 times once the robber is moved on that exact spot). Then you pull a development card and get everything BUT a knight when you need it most. As soon as you play a knight, a 7 will be rolled by your opponent. Not very fun when the pattern is so obvious and definitely not random.
2026-08-20	Pe*****	Rigged
Rigged
2026-08-19	to*****	This game is like a casino. It gives you enough to want more then rips it all away. I’ve tried to learn and watch games and watch their youtube videos to get better. They reset every season and sometimes reset your ranked scores and I can never get near what my top ever was. I swear the dice are rigged to make sure you do not progress consistently. Also players are super mean honestly. People will gang up on you for no reason. Poor culture and ethics, expensive, and not very inclusive. The game makers could do way better.
This game is like a casino. It gives you enough to want more then rips it all away. I’ve tried to learn and watch games and watch their youtube videos to get better. They reset every season and sometimes reset your ranked scores and I can never get near what my top ever was. I swear the dice are rigged to make sure you do not progress consistently. Also players are super mean honestly. People will gang up on you for no reason. Poor culture and ethics, expensive, and not very inclusive. The game makers could do way better.
2026-08-17	Re*****	UI is very clean and arguably better than original Catan. There is a constant sound bug on iOS where the game is completely mute. No known workaround and I've tried everything, makes it irritating to play after a while.
UI is very clean and arguably better than original Catan. There is a constant sound bug on iOS where the game is completely mute. No known workaround and I've tried everything, makes it irritating to play after a while.
2026-08-15	Ti*****	It is a pretty good game I like that you can play against bots and change the difficulty of the bots, but then also play against real people. There is a few things that I don’t like and a few bugs but generally a really good game at the end of the day.
It is a pretty good game I like that you can play against bots and change the difficulty of the bots, but then also play against real people. There is a few things that I don’t like and a few bugs but generally a really good game at the end of the day.
2026-08-11	Sc*****	Operationally it works fine but the dice algorithm is awful. No way in a game should a 7 roll 23 times considering that would never ever happen in a real game. Also, when I do put the robber on someone after having it on me for several turns, immediately my opponent rolls a 7 and it goes right back on me. This has happened up to 4 times in a game several times. Lastly, if a player disconnects from a game, they are replaced with bots that roll every number they need and rob you of exactly what they leave. Lastly, in the first 5 points NOBODY trades. This is unlike real catan when 90% of the trading is done.
Operationally it works fine but the dice algorithm is awful. No way in a game should a 7 roll 23 times considering that would never ever happen in a real game. Also, when I do put the robber on someone after having it on me for several turns, immediately my opponent rolls a 7 and it goes right back on me. This has happened up to 4 times in a game several times. Lastly, if a player disconnects from a game, they are replaced with bots that roll every number they need and rob you of exactly what they leave. Lastly, in the first 5 points NOBODY trades. This is unlike real catan when 90% of the trading is done.
2026-08-10	ca*****	This game has some of the worst “random” dice I’ve ever seen I’ve played too many games where the dice just consistently hits one number the whole game. It makes the game unfun and not fair when you do everything you need to win and end up losing too fixed dice rolls.
This game has some of the worst “random” dice I’ve ever seen I’ve played too many games where the dice just consistently hits one number the whole game. It makes the game unfun and not fair when you do everything you need to win and end up losing too fixed dice rolls.