Maybe this is old news to you, but for any Settler who missed it, our favorite board game has been rebranded to Colonist!

Yup. It's free. It's accessible to anyone with internet connection. And you don't have to download or register for anything in order to play, unless you want to use the expansion packs available for purchase with various Premium packages.

For those of you who haven't heard of Catan (aka "The Settlers of Catan", or simply just "Settlers"), it is a multiplayer board game in which players act as settlers on the island of Catan by trading and acquiring resources -- wood, wheat, stone, sheep, and brick -- to build roads, buildings, and cities. Each new development earns the player a Victory Point, and the first player to reach a set number of Victory Points wins. There is slightly more to it than this, but these are the basics.

Since we've been under the stay-at-home order, many of us have been missing the heat of the game and the quality time spent with our friends, so when I learned about Colonist, I really hopped to it. I'm already embarrassed to admit the number of times I've played in the mere week that I've known about it.

Colonist operates under the same rules as Catan -- earn Victory Points by trading resources and building settlements. You have a bird's-eye view of the board on your screen with a vertical function bar on the right hand side where you can keep track of everyone's trades. You also have a small chat room available to communicate with players, but I prefer to create a private game and play against my friends while chatting over Facetime.

Of course, nothing can beat a good hearted, face-to-face board game, but Colonist is a pretty close second, especially while we're stuck at home for a little while longer.

So guys, go to colonist.io and knock 'em dead. IT'S. SO. FUN.