Comparison

Catan Assistant vs Pointsman

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Catan Assistant

Learn the rules of a popular board game quickly and easily. This app uses voice narration and 3D animations to explain gameplay without requiring you to read the manual. Get your friends together and start playing in minutes.

Highlights
  • Animated rule explanations
  • Voice narration
  • 3D animations
  • No reading required
  • Quick setup
Features
Read full description

So, you have a copy of the CATAN board game, and want to get playing right away. But, you have no time or desire to read rules–let alone explain them to your friends? How about this: Just get all the rules explained to with this app! Gather your friends, unpack the game, and start playing without anyone reading the rules. Note: This app is not a game. It is an assistant for the well-known board game products from the CATAN world. Functions: *** Animated explanations *** Using voice narration and 3D animations, it explains the rules to you comfortably and without reading the rules so you can start playing right away! ***** If you have questions, suggestions for improvement, and feature requests–we look forward to hearing from you! Email us at: info@catanstudio.com *****

About

Pointsman

Automatically score your "Ticket To Ride" games using your iPhone's camera. This app tallies routes, bonuses, and tickets, presenting a shareable score ticket. It supports several game versions and offers manual score correction.

Highlights
  • Automatic game scoring
  • Camera-based train recognition
  • Tally of routes, bonuses, and tickets
  • Shareable score ticket
  • Manual score editing
  • Supports multiple game versions
Features
Read full description

Tired of counting trains? Let the Pointsman score your games of Ticket To Ride automatically using nothing more than your iPhone's camera! The Pointsman is 100% free with absolutely no ads. If you find yourself enjoying the Pointsman and want to support it, please consider leaving a tip via the app. You can use the Pointsman during normal gameplay to confirm player scores, or just leave the scoring till the end and maximize your enjoyment! The Pointsman will tally up all player routes, route scores, station placements, longest train routes and other game specific bonuses, plus all destination tickets. Everything is presented on a beautiful “score ticket” you can share as a memento of your game. Pointsman uses ARKit, CoreML and custom machine learning to recognize trains on the game board; training the models to make this possible is specific to each set. As such, the Pointsman currently only works on the following versions of the game: Ticket To Ride (USA) Ticket To Ride: USA 1910 Expansion Ticket To Ride: Europe Ticket To Ride: Europa 1912 Expansion Ticket To Ride: Rails and Sails, The Great Lakes Coming Soon: Ticket To Ride: Rails and Sails, The World Known Issues: 1. The Pointsman is not trained to recognize the transparent promotional train sets 2. The Pointsman is not trained to recognize the turquoise variant of the blue trains For best results, stand in squarely in front of the game board and hold your device at approximately a 45 degree angle to the game board. To confirm that the score is accurate, you can perform the following two checks: 1. For each player the number of unused trains is printed on the score ticket, just confirm the number matches the actual number of unused trains. 2. Every connection for each player is listed on the score ticket, you can manually confirm each connection is accurate. If the Pointsman does make a mistake, simply tap on the player's score to access the score editing interface to make the necessary corrections. Want to try it out but don't have a finished game handy? Just go to http://chimerasw.com/pointsman/ and use the Pointsman on the image there! Please note that the Pointsman is not affiliated with Days of Wonder or Ticket to Ride in any manner whatsoever. I am just a fan that finds counting trains to be quite tedious. If you are reading this then you probably do as well!

Screenshots

Catan Assistant4 screens
Pointsman4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Pointsman at 76% against Catan Assistant's 23%. Pointsman also leads on rating (4.4 vs 2.2) and update cadence (weekly vs every 3 months). Catan Assistant's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 3). On price, ratings volume, ads and device support there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Pointsman sells 3 one-off in-app purchases. Catan Assistant asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Pointsman holds the better App Store score, 4.4 against 2.2. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 112 and 65 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 23% of Catan Assistant's written reviews are positive against 76% of Pointsman's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Catan Assistant ships an update every 3 months, Pointsman weekly. The most recent releases landed on October 14, 2026 and September 29, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Catan Assistant versus Pointsman: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterCatan AssistantPointsman
PriceFreeFree
Rating2.2 (112 ratings)4.4 (65 ratings) — better
Positive reviews22.8% of reviews75.7% of reviews — better
Number of ratings112 — better65
Update frequencyEvery 3 monthsWeekly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS12.012.0
Further details — not scored
Size110 MB45 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperFranckh-Kosmos Verlags GmbH & Co. KGChimera Software, LLC

Customer experience

Catan Assistant

All ratings112 ratings
Positive25.9%
Neutral4.5%
Negative69.6%
Written reviews171 reviews
Positive22.8%
Neutral5.8%
Negative71.3%

Pointsman

All ratings65 ratings
Positive89.2%
Neutral1.5%
Negative9.2%
Written reviews37 reviews
Positive75.7%
Neutral5.4%
Negative18.9%

Bugs and requests

Catan Assistant

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Crashes on startup
  • Corrupted tutorial files
  • Broken graphics and missing pieces
  • Search function not working

Requested features

4 requests
  • Add Catan game and expansions
  • Improve graphics and animations
  • Provide instructions in more languages
  • Include dice roller and map generator

Pointsman

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

Catan Assistant

No in-app purchases

3 purchases

Pointsman

One-time3
  • Generous Tip$0.99
  • Massive Tip$2.99
  • Amazing Tip$5.99

Questions

Is Catan Assistant free?
Catan Assistant is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Pointsman free?
Pointsman is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Catan Assistant or Pointsman?
Pointsman is rated higher. Catan Assistant averages 2.2 out of 5 from 112 ratings, while Pointsman averages 4.4 from 65 ratings.
Do Catan Assistant or Pointsman have ads?
Neither Catan Assistant nor Pointsman shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Catan Assistant or Pointsman?
Catan Assistant ships an update every 3 months, and Pointsman weekly. Most recently, Catan Assistant was updated on October 14, 2026 and Pointsman on September 29, 2026.

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