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WARNING:
CHOKING HAZARD -- Small parts. Not for children under 3 yrs. |
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WARNING:
CHOKING HAZARD -- Small parts. Not for children under 3 yrs. |
Product Details
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The game includes a rules booklet, a game almanac (with examples and advanced rules), cardboard hexagonal tiles, a plastic game sheet, small wooden markers (for settlements, cities, and roads), playing cards, and wooden dice. Settlers of Catan takes only 15 minutes to learn, and the game can be played in a simple version for beginners or in a more complex version for experienced players. --Marcie Bovetz
![]() Catan is an imaginary unexplored island, and players are explorers and settlers. | ![]() Settlers of Catan incorporates many different board game elements, to deliver a rich experience of creating, trading, and developing territories in a new land. |
It's a game about building and trade. Each player builds settlements that can produce some of the 5 resources - Ore, Wheat, Wool, Wood, and Bricks - which can then be used to build roads and more settlements to expand your kingdom or upgrade your settlements to cities to increase their production. The thing that really makes the game is that there is always a hot commodities market, with players trading to trade resources they don't need in exchange for those that are more useful for their game strategy; each resource is useful in different combinations for building different things.
This is a pretty simple game that even younger kids should be able to handle. Anybody who can play Monopoly can play this game, and believe me, they'll have a much better time with the Settlers of Catan (you can even buy an expansion to handle up to 6 players).
A lot of people I know are somewhat daunted by this game because even though it's very straightforward, it's a bit different from your average American game. I speculate that the reason for this is that the Germans have a thriving mass game market, with a number of competing companies, while the US mass board game market is essentially monopolized by a single company, Hasbro. So while we are busy playing various Monopoly knock-offs, the Germans have benefitted from tremendous development. In terms of family entertainment, the rather small amount of effort it will take to embrace the Settlers of Catan will be well spent. And if you like it, it's just the tip of the iceberg. There are literally hundreds of extrememly high-quality family games coming out of Germany and Europe these days (although admittedly Settlers of Catan is among the best).
But it can get competitive, which may lead to one player being targeted in order for others to advance. Thus I have two suggestions to add to all the other reviews: One may want to put restrictions on the placement of the Robber, for example, the Robber cannot return to the previous hex (or he cannot return within 3 moves). And, when a 7 is rolled, the roller must take a card from someone OTHER THAN the player on whose hex he places the Robber. According to the game rule, when a 7 is rolled, the Robber must be moved. The player on whose hex the Robber stands gets no resources from the hex, AND he will also have to yield one card to the player who rolls the 7. If the Robber gets moved exclusively between two tiles (say two players decided it is in their best interest to put the squeeze on the third player), the person owning those tiles will get seriously handicapped. Even though it is only a game and mostly adults play it, when a couple of players gang up on another player, it definately adds a bit of unpleasant taste to this otherwise fun and sociable game. Surely in real life people do get screwed, but why do so in a game, with friends, in an evening meant to be fun?
All in all, though, this is a fun game with lots of depth. One can explore and discover all sorts of strategies game after game.