The Settlers of Catan board game master page. A complete guide. Review, how to play, editorial, useful links, similar games, FAQ, interesting facts and so much more. Settlers of Catan is the classic engine building euro that helped usher in the modern age of board gaming.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
- Game Info
- Photo Gallery
- Overview
- Review
- How To Play
- Similar Games
- Interesting Facts
- Useful Links
- FAQ
- Editorial Articles
- Videos
- People Also Enjoyed
- Submit Something
SETTLERS OF CATAN GAME INFO
| RELEASE: | 1995 |
| PLAYERS: | 3 – 4 Players |
| DURATION: | 60 – 120 Minutes |
| AGE: | 10+ |
| GENRE: | Engine Building |
| DESIGNER: | Klaus Teuber |
| ARTIST: | Volkan Baga, Tanja Donner, Pete Fenlon, Jason Hawkins, Michaela Kienle, Harald Lieske, Michael Menzel, Marion Pott, Matt Schwabel, Franz Vohwinkel, Stephen Graham Walsh |
| PUBLISHER: | Catan Studios |
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SETTLERS OF CATAN PHOTO GALLERY
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SETTLERS OF CATAN OVERVIEW
The women and men of your expedition build the first two settlements. Fortunately, the yet uninhabited land is rich in natural resources. You build roads and new settlements that eventually become cities. Will you succeed in gaining supremacy on Catan? Barter trade dominates the scene. Some resources you have in abundance, other resources are scarce. Ore for wool, brick for lumber – you trade according to what is needed for your current building projects. Proceed strategically! If you found your settlements in the right places and skillfully trade your resources, then the odds will be in your favor. But your opponents are smart too.
To begin the game, we build the game board using hexagonal terrain tiles. Catan is born – a beautiful island with mountains, pastures, hills, fields, and forests, surrounded by the sea.
Each of us places two small houses on spaces where three terrain hexes meet. They are our starting settlements.
And so it begins. I roll two dice. An “11”! Each terrain hex is marked with a die roll number. Each player who owns a settlement adjacent to a terrain hex marked with the number rolled receives a resource produced by this hex. Hills produce brick, forests produce lumber, mountains produce ore, fields produce grain, and pastures produce wool.
We use these resources to expand across Catan: we build roads and new settlements, or we upgrade our existing settlements to cities. For example, a road costs 1 brick and 1 lumber. If we do not have the necessary resources, we can acquire them by trading with our opponents.
Each settlement is worth 1 victory point and each city is worth 2 victory points. If you expand cleverly, you may be the first player to reach 10 victory points and thus win the game!
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SETTLERS OF CATAN REVIEW
8 out of 10
Settlers of Catan helped usher in the new era of board gaming that has been happening the last twenty-five year and deserves accolades for that. The strategy involved in a game is near perfect and it did more than we ever know. People have been known to play this game hundreds of times without even breaking a sweat. This makes the list of games to start your collection with and is a must buy.
Read Our Settlers of Catan Review
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SETTLERS OF CATAN HOW TO PLAY
You need to grow your empire. Each game is completely different because all the resource tiles and numbers on them are changed and randomized each game. These control everything. You need to build settlements and cities to gain resources that are going to let you build even more and ultimately lead to victory points for the win. Every turn starts with the roll of two dice and that number corresponds to one of five resource types on the board. If you have a presence on that tile (or tiles) you get that resource.
How to Play Settlers of Catan Step-By-Step
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SETTLERS OF CATAN SIMILAR GAMES
We thought about everything from gameplay to theme, intensity level to overall motivations, the quality and more to determine what are the five most similar board games to Settlers of Catan. The quick recap of the list is below with the link to the descriptions and full article below it.
- Alhambra
- Carcassonne
- Ticket To Ride
- Bohnanza
- Puerto Rico
Full Games Like Settlers of Catan Article
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SETTLERS OF CATAN INTERESTING FACTS
Settlers of Catan was designed by Klaus Teuber, a well known German game designer who was a 2003 Origins Awards Hall of Fame inductee. He is held is very high esteem because Catan was so revolutionary.
Settlers of Catan is one of the most popular games in the world. It has sold more than 22m copies in more than 30 languages. If you look at 1995 to 2020, that is roughly 2500 copies per day, every day, for 25 years.
Settlers of Catan won the prestigious Spiel des Jahres in 1995. It is the most prestigious board game award there is, like the best picture Oscar for movies. It began in 1979 and has been awarded to some iconic games.
Since 1998 there has been a very elaborate world championship system for Catan. You can compete in local qualifiers which will get you a seat in your country’s championship which gets you to the main stage. More information here.
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SETTLERS OF CATAN USEFUL LINKS
If it is a topic that has not yet been covered, you can most likely find more information here on your topic of choice. From official Settlers of Catan useful links to very unofficial ones.
- Settlers of Catan Vs. (game showdowns)
- List of the Best Settlers of Catan Expansions
- The Settlers of Catan Official Webpage
- Buy Settlers of Catan on Amazon
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SETTLERS OF CATAN FAQ
How many people can play Settlers of Catan?
The base game allows for 3 – 4 players though people complain that with 4 players the board gets too cramped. There is an expansion that allows 5 or 6 players. For those who think the regular is too much for 4 players should play on the larger expansion board.
What are the player colors in Settlers of Catan?
In the base game, the colors are: Red, Blue, White and Orange. In the 5 -6 player expansion, the additional colors are: Green and Brown.
Who plays first in Settlers of Catan?
The book says the oldest person as a default, but you should rotate.
Does my initial placement have to touch three tiles in Settlers of Catan?
No. You could open by placing on one of the water port tiles (touching only two tiles) just fine.
Can I play a development card before the dice roll in Settlers of Catan?
Only the Knight card, but yes, they can be played either before or after the dice roll. Other development cards all have to be played after the dice roll.
Can you play more than one development card in a turn in Settlers of Catan?
No. Max one per turn.
Can I buy as many Road, Settlements and Cities as I want in Settlers of Catan?
During your turn you can buy as many improvements as you can afford, you are not limited to one. What you are limited to is the number of pieces you have. You cannot build five cities because you only have four total.
Can you move the robber back to the desert in Settlers of Catan?
No, once the robber is out of the desert they cannot go back. You are free to move it to a blank space if you don’t want to be mean, but that is about it.
How do you take the longest road card from another player in Settlers of Catan?
Once someone has one of the bonus cards, it is theirs until they are beaten, not tied. If a player gets the longest road at 5 roads, it is their’s until another player gets to 6 roads. The ownership changes instantly and automatically at that point.
How many points do I need to win a game of Settlers of Catan?
For the main game, 10 points. In expansions and variants, this can change and is usually higher. This happens immediately, even if it is not on your turn. Once a player passes the point threshold, the games ends and that player is the winner.
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