Settlers of Catan Game

I remember the first time I saw the odd hexagonal tiles that made up a Settlers of Catan board. I immediately thought it was going to be some totally geek-out roleplay or at least something requiring three or more twenty-sided dice.

However, as my buddy set up the board and slapped on some numbered tokens on each tile, he explained this relatively simple game. For those who don't know anything about this game, it was the brainchild of German game-maker, Klaus Teuber (who now also happens to be one of my heroes!). There are five different resources in the game: wood, sheep, ore, brick and wheat - each tile represents one of these.

You build settlements and cities (hence SETTLERS of Catan), similar in concept to Monopoly houses and hotels, the latter outstripping the former, on intersections between the tiles with numbered tokens on them. Two dice are rolled each turn and whoever has a settlement or city built next to a hex with the number rolled gets to collect the resource of that type - one resource for a settlement, two for a city.

Simple enough, right? If all you're doing is collecting resources and building stuff out of them...where is the fun? Well, I asked myself that the first time I played, not understanding the subtle dynamic that makes the game tick: player-to-player trade.

During, say, my turn, I can offer to trade any of my resources for someone else's. Again, this seems dull and boring - however, what you begin to learn is that this is no simple game of collection and building; Settlers of Catan is a ruthless game of underhanded manipulation and exploitation of your friends. Sounds appetizing? I think so! The goal of the game is collect ten "victory points" (also, the final value can be adjusted depending on players' preference). Each settlement is worth one point and cities two and there are a few other ways to accumulate said points.

Building roads to connect your expansions can, if built longer than five consecutively, earn you two victory points...etc etc...

However, one of the most subtle but subversive tactics in the game is to invest in what are called "development cards." For a nominal fee of resources, players can purchase these cards which may end up giving free victory points, awarding free resources or, best yet, being able to suck the resources out of other players - both through legal theft and underhanded extortion. All of the sudden, this doesn't seem like such a simple, nice old game anymore.

After I played about my fifth game of Settlers of Catan I was complete enthralled and obsessed. I went online and bought the game and its 5-6 player expansion set (the original game is built to support up to four players). I got my family into the game and we all play now - and let me tell you, never have I seen tempers flare or brilliant tactics unfold like I have at the "Settlers of Catan table" (namely, the dining room table).

What really blew my mind is how so few people knew about Settlers! I mean, sure, it's a foreign-designed game translated into English, but that doesn't mean it is unheard of. However, this soon changed when I went to college. At least where I ended up, so many people knew of this beautiful and unique game - I play it all the time without having to constantly explain the rules...it's a beautiful thing.

Overall, I would give Settlers of Catan my highest rating. It is simply one of the most brilliant games ever, and it is not overly complicated. It takes a little time to set up only because you want to have a balanced board. Other than that, Settlers of Catan is easily one of the best and most user-friendly (though I cannot say that the users will necessarily be friendly to each other!) classic boards games available.