In my review of Catan: Console Edition, I did mention that I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with Catan.

As one of the very first Eurogames I was exposed to, Catan is pretty special to me in many ways. It was mostly responsible for taking me beyond the luck based play that most mainstream board games were based on at the time – and introduced me to titles where players could feel invested every step of the way, without fear of elimination (hello Monopoly!).

The problem is that, in the decades since Catan was released, many thousands of games have been released, with countless refinements to gameplay mechanics – though Catan proved to be a great gateway title back in the 90s, there are so many other games that can perform that function now, in a much more satisfying way.

In any case, Catan isn’t without its charm and, with the right group, can still prove to be a lot of fun – particularly the trading element of the game.

My issues with the Console Edition stem from the AI and the pace; in the case of the former, I often find the AI to relentlessly target me or ignore logical trades – meaning that whole turns can pass without being able to do anything.

Though that can also happen in the real tabletop game, it’s often less of an issue than it is here, especially when you factor in table talk with actual people.

Secondly, the pace: there’s something really off about how slow paced everything is; from the roll of dice to seemingly simple decisions being made by the AI, the game drags on interminably and unnecessarily.

That is unfortunately an issue that this DLC exacerbates massively.

The Helpers sees cards made available to players, which can be used for special bonuses that, in theory, should help reduce those turns where players are stuck doing nothing.

Each starts on their Day side; when used, players can choose to swap them with another Helper card or flip the card they have to the Night side.

When used a second time – on the Night side – the card must be swapped with another face up Helper.

This should hugely improve the game for players who often end up frustrated with it as I do, but the AI again makes things difficult, taking even longer to make decisions – and the cards themselves seem to take an age for the game to process.

Until you’re familiar with every card’s ability, be prepared to be often baffled about what’s going on with the cards used by other players too.

The cards don’t tend to stay onscreen for long enough to read them, but – paradoxically – do seem to hang around just long enough to drag the game out. There doesn’t seem to be an easy way to skip them either.

No doubt Dovetail Games will patch the DLC a bit to refine it once they start getting feedback, but at present it doesn’t bode well for upcoming expansion, Cities & Knights – which will bring a whole new layer of complexity to the game.

At this stage, given how it handles the base game alone, I’m really concerned that the AI will massively struggle.

So perhaps it’s wise to hold fire now on the Season Pass that this DLC is part of; if you’re looking for a way to extend your Catan experience and you’re already familiar with The Helpers, this might be what you’re looking for, however.