While it doesn't have as many crossover editions and bizarre rule reimaginings as Monopoly, Settlers of Catan is one of the classic board games. First published in Germany in 1995, the game has players take the roles of settlers as they harvest resources, build up their settlements, and negotiate resource trades with each other. Settlers of Catan has had crossovers with properties like Star Trek and Game of Thrones, but one fan is giving us a look at what a Pokemon crossover might look like.
On the board games Reddit, a user named "Cambino1" has posted several images of a custom-made Settlers of Catan game that incorporates the Pokemon franchise into the game. Looking at the various elements of the game in the post's gallery, it appears that some of this crossover's biggest inspirations are the GBA Pokemon games and the Pokemon trading card game. The various lands where players can gather resources now use graphics of locations from the GBA games, such as Mt. Chimney from the 3rd Generation. As for the resources, we instead get five different elements from the Pokemon trading card game, and each element is represented by a trading card, such as the mushroom Pokemon Amoonguss representing grass-types.
There are plenty of other cool details with the board and cards themselves. Instead of building settlements and cities, players are building Gyms and Pokemon Centers, and they connect them together with Routes, instead of roads. The villainous Team Rocket replace the original game's robber and start the game in the power plant from Fire Red / Leaf Green. The various types of cards all use official Pokemon art representing things like Brock, a bike, and a Snorlax. To tie in with one of Pokemon's biggest features, Cambino1 also added a few cards themed around having Pokemon battles. There's no word on if there will ever be a real version of a Pokemon-themed Settlers of Catan, but stranger things have certainly happened.
