Settlers of Catan

Settlers of Catan is an award winning strategy game. Created by the now legendary Klaus Teuber, it is played by practically every household in Germany.

We love it.

Award Winning Game
- 'German Game of the Year' in 1995
- 'US Board Game of the Year' in 1996

Object of the game in a nutshell

The object of the game is to accumulate 10 victory points.

Victory points are attained by creating settlements, cities, achieving the longest army  and the longest road.

Settlers of Catan Game play

The instructions for Settlers of Catan are lengthy and take a while to understand. But it's well worth the effort.

Here we summarise the game play in the simplest of terms.

The board consists of hexagonal tiles with a picture of either grass, wheat, bricks, rock, ocean, or desert. All the tiles are laid out on a table so that they fit together, with the ocean pieces surrounding the land. The tiles allow the board to be variable, which means that every time you set it up, the tiles will be in totally different places, allowing for a unique playing environment every time (what a great idea).

A number counter is placed on top of each land hexagon. These number counter correspond to the numbers you can throw with the dice ie. the number 2 through to 12 (except the number 7 - which is special, more on this later*). So each hexagon has its own specific number.

Players start off with two settlements and two roads which they may place on anywhere on the board. It's critical to choose carefully where to build, as where you are determines what resources you earn. If you build next to rocks, bricks and wheat - this is what you can potentially earn.

You earn resources when the dice is thrown and if the number is the same as the number on an adjacent hexagon to your settlement, you get that resource. For example, if someone throws an eight, and your settlement is next to a hexagon with the number 8 on it, you get that particular resource (remembering that each hexagon has its own resource).

You accumulate resources in order to build and buy. You can also trade resources with other players if you're not earning the resources you want.

Settlements = 1 victory point
Cities = 2 victory points - and give you the right to receive twice the amount of resources of a settlement
Longest Road = 2 victory points
Largest Army = 2 victory points

The first to 10 victory points is the winner.

This is the gist of the game in a nutshell. There's other things like Development Cards which you can buy - they give you special privileges or even victory points. *There's also the Robber - an evil character who can take away your ability to earn resources - who moves around anytime the number 7 is thrown.

Why Settlers of Catan is fun

• It involves some brain power to outplay your opponents, and it can get quite competitive
• People will try different strategies and you can tell what they are doing
• You always think you can win Settlers, even if you haven't in the past
• The act of trading resources can be quite enjoyable as the demands people can make can be outrageous or laughable
• Because of the variable board, you get a fresh board to challenge you each time you play
• It's an involved game which allows you to spend solid amounts of time with friends - eg. similar to how Monopoly is a commitment to sit down and play for a couple of hours, the same with Settlers. A game like this is highly suited for weekend getaways with friends. We went skiing and took this with us and played it in our cabin one evening. It was a hoot!
• We know it's fun, because you want to play again and again!

What's in the Settlers of Catan box?

37 x hexagonal tiles
20 x settlement pieces (5 x 4 different colours)
16 x city pieces (4 x 4 different colours)
60 x road pieces
95 x resource cards
25 x development cards
4 x building cost cards
2 x special bonus cards
18 x die cut counters
2 x six-sided dice
1 x wooden pawn

The nice thing about Settlers is that it uses wooden pieces. Settlements are little painted wooden houses, Cities are slightly larger wooden pieces. Roads are thin matchstick type pieces.

Handy Settlers of Catan Hints

a) Choose the placement of your settlements wisely

At the start of the game, take into consideration that you need bricks and wood to build roads. Later on you will need wheat and ore.

b) Take into account the counter numbers

The probability of throwing a 12 or a 2 is the least. Placing your settlements next to hexagons with the number 6 or 8 is best.

b) Choose your strategy

There are various ways of winning the game, and you need to choose which is the best way, based on where your settlements are placed.
　

Settlers of Catan followup editions

Settlers is so popular that the makers have made different extension packs, and other versions. Read more about the other versions of settlers>>
　

Ratings

Ease of understanding the instructions: 6/10

Belly laughs: 6/10  (This is not really a game that you play to get a laugh. It's a strategy game)

Fun for everyone: 8/10

As a strategy game: 10/10

Download Settlers of Catan instructions (PDF)

People who like Settlers of Catan also like:

Risk

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