I have lost many a Sunday afternoon to Settlers. Do you know why I purchased Settlers? Because each of my friends has purchased our own set... we do not want to find ourselves at each others house and wanting to play but not have a board to set up. We have taken turns hosting and every time it has been fun.
It is a game of strategy, in my opinion a slightly more complicated/sophisticated version of Monopoly (although my friends vehemently disagree). Instead of building houses and hotels you build towns and cities, instead of collecting rent, you collect resources, and instead of chance cards you have victory cards... but somehow it seems more fun. There is an element of Chess- because you do have to build roads to tie your cities together, and to do that you have to have foresight and plan ahead.
This is a game of champions- and voted best Table Game by folks who vote on those things- be warned that once you start playing it may become addictive. Be prepared to be suckered into the sport for years to come.
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Product description
Product Description
How fast can you match? That's the key to BLINK. Shape, count, or color - any way you can match it, do it fast to get rid of your cards. You need a sharp eye and a fast hand to win this lightning-fast game! Play all your cards to win Rapid-fire matching action Great travel game, too Includes 60 symbol cards and instructions for regular and quick play.
Amazon.com
The Settlers of Catan from Mayfair Games is an award-winning strategy game where players collect resources and use them to build roads, settlements and cities on their way to victory. The board itself is variable, making each game a little different from the next. Each round of The Settlers of Catan is intended to keep three or four players ages 10 and above engaged for up to 90 minutes.
 The game map changes every time for an endless variety of play. View larger. |
 Settlers of Catan engages both children and adults, garnering best-seller status in both Germany and the US. View larger. |
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The game rules and almanac booklet sets out four pages of guidelines for getting started. Don't worry, the rules are straightforward and the four pages include plenty of illustrations. There's a starting map that shows a well-balanced set-up for beginners to follow and directions that allow more advanced players to lay out the map of the island at random. You'll have to pop the die-cut components of the game out of their cardboard holders before you play your first game.
The almanac portion of the booklet is laid out alphabetically, so while playing you can find answers to specific questions quickly. Useful entries remind you exactly what role pieces like the robber play, how actions like maritime trade work, and how to set up the board or finish the game.
Exploring and Developing Catan
The board consists of 19 terrain hexes surrounded by the ocean. Each type of terrain produces a different type of resource: brick, wool, ore, grain or lumber. There's also a desert hex that produces no resources. As the game progresses, players use resources to build roads along the edges of these hexes and settlements or cities on the intersections where three hexes meet. Each player begins the game with two settlements and two roads.
Each player's roll of the dice causes certain hexes to produce resources, which you collect if you have a settlement on one of them. On your turn, you'll use various combinations of the resources you've acquired to build new roads and settlements, upgrade settlements to cities, or purchase development cards. The ability to trade resources with other players adds a new level of strategy and ensures that the game includes lots of interaction between players. You can also trade without worrying about other players using an unfavorable maritime trade rate. Elements including a robber piece that lets you steal from other players and a variety of development cards add intrigue to the game.
The objective of The Settlers of Catan is to be the first one who collects 10 victory points. Each settlement is worth one victory point and each city is worth two victory points. You can also earn victory points by holding the "Longest Road" card, the "Largest Army" card, or special victory point development cards.
Best-Selling Game of the Year
It's easy to see why The Settlers of Catan has been recognized as a best-selling Game of the Year in both Germany and the U. S. We found this game to be fun and engaging for both children and adults, and the variable nature of the playing field really made us want to play again and again. When we started pausing to contemplate our opponents' strategy and factoring the probability of different dice rolls into our moves, the game sometimes took longer than expected, but we were so engrossed we didn't even notice until it was all over.
Due to the widespread popularity of the original game, several expansion sets (sold separately) are available that allow you to explore new aspects of the game or add more players. The only downside to this game is that you need to have either three or four players to play, so it's great that expansion sets are available that will allow you to add players.
What's in the Box
Six sea frame pieces, 19 terrain hexes, nine harbor pieces, 18 circular number tokens, 126 game cards, 16 cities, 20 settlements, 60 roads, two dice, a robber and a rules and almanac booklet.
Customer Questions & Answers
Customer reviews
Top reviews from the United States
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Reviewed in the United States on December 15, 2015
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Reviewed in the United States on November 6, 2014
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Reviewed in the United States on January 15, 2015
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Top reviews from other countries
Lila London
Family Favourite
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 6, 2017Verified Purchase
Helen
Brilliant, ever changing game
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 30, 2012Verified Purchase
Crmer
this game is fantastic, it seems complicated but once you start its ...
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 14, 2015Verified Purchase
Caroline G
Great game
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 28, 2013Verified Purchase
Kate
Excellent game
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 22, 2013Verified Purchase
