The Compelling Realism of Catan

When my husband and I were planning a wedding, we created a small gift registry with items like serving spoons, dish towels, measuring cups, and…Catan.

This German board game (also known as Settlers of Catan) is one of the most well-designed games I have ever played.

Catan Box and Board
Each player works to erect their own civilization, and although the house-shaped “settlements” are reminiscent of Monopoly, this game is everything that Monopoly is not. One article even went so far as to call Catan the “Monopoly Killer” . There is good reason.

For one, the game usually lasts about 45 minutes with two players and a little over an hour if more players are added. The days of setting up a board game in the basement and playing it with siblings over consecutive days are long gone for me. Catan gives enough time to strategize, build, and develop, without becoming an insufferably long game of attrition.

Another unique feature is that each roll of the dice presents an opportunity for each player to collect resources.

This keeps everyone engaged even if it is not their turn. I tend to avoid games where each player’s turn takes approximately a year and nothing can be done in the meantime except hum the “Jeopardy” tune.

Timing aside, the crowning achievement of this game is its masterful balance. Strategy, diplomacy, and chance are carefully balanced to reward skilled planning and pleading while still allowing for the whims of fortune.

The robber token causes the rich to be uneasy. There is vast opportunity for individual creativity in strategy, and yet all of this within a set of rules that are intuitive and simple to grasp.

Gameplay

The game board consists of 18 hexagonal tiles (hexes) that depict various resources (brick, lumber, ore, grain and wool). The 19th tile is a barren desert and produces nothing.

The island constructed with the hexes is surrounded by seawater and ringed with several sea ports. Number tokens are arranged on each of the hexes except for the desert tile. The number token indicates what must be rolled on the dice in order to collect that resource. These 18 tokens range from “2” to “12”. There is no “7” token and only one “2” and “12” token, but all of the other numbers are represented twice. The size of the numeral (and the dots displayed beneath it) indicates the probability of rolling that number on the dice. (More dots and a larger numeral indicate a higher probability.)

The settlements and cities are placed at the intersection of the hexagonal tiles so that one city will touch more than one tile. If a player has a settlement or a city that touches a corner of the resource that was selected by the dice, that player gets to collect that resource.

The game begins with two opening rounds where each player places one settlement and one road per round. Once the initial settlements are founded, the players collect the resources that border their settlements and the civilization building begins! Choosing the initial placement of settlements opens the door for a variety of strategies. I often place one of my settlements on a port so that I can take advantage of trading cards, and yet there are drawbacks to building near the edge of the board away from most of the resources.

Catan Card Closeup
Catan Card Closeup 2
Each player's turn begins with rolling the dice to determine which tiles will produce resources. Once the number is shown on the dice, all of the players with cities or settlements that border the productive hexes will collect a corresponding resource card.

Rolling a number "7" activates the robber. At the beginning of the game, the robber lives in the desert. When a player rolls a "7", any player holding more than 7 resource cards must return half of them to the bank. The player who rolled the "7" then moves the robber to any other hex. Any hex that the robber occupies is unproductive and bordering settlements and cities will not be able to collect any resources from that hex.

Once the dice has been rolled to determine the production of resources, the player may then choose to trade certain resource cards with other players. This is where diplomacy comes in. In order to gather coveted resources, you must plead just enough without looking too desperate and incurring suspicion about your expansion plans. The other players have no obligation to trade, and if you fail to make it worth their while, the game continues without trading. This adds a human aspect to the game, but typically the wheeling and dealing is short-lived and does not drag on too long or distract from the other strategies of the game.

It is also possible to trade with the bank instead of with the other players! On your turn, you may exchange 4 identical resource cards to the bank for 1 resource card of your choice. This is obviously a wildly unfavorable exchange rate and a better option is to own a port. Ports are located on the edge of the board near the sea and are obtained by building a settlement on the port location. Some of the ports are general (3 identical resource cards of any type for 1 resource card of choice), while some are specific (2 ore resource cards for 1 card of choice).

Catan Board and Card Stack
The last stage in each player's turn is the option to build. The building cost cards issued to each player show the resource cost for a variety of expansion options. Players can turn in resources in order to build roads and settlements, upgrade settlements to cities, or buy development cards. The development cards offer various advantages such as collecting knights to receive victory points for the largest army or the "year of plenty" card which earns you two extra resources.

Settlements and cities are worth 1 and 2 victory points respectively. There are also victory points awarded to the player with the longest contiguous road and the largest army. Some of the development cards are also worth victory points on their own. The game is won by the first person to achieve 10 victory points.

Catan Cards and Board

Charming and True to Life

Have I mentioned that the game pieces are lovely? Perhaps I am drawn to the unique geometric layout, or perhaps it is the wooden pieces and the artwork on the resource tiles, either way, the aesthetic appeal of this game adds to its charm. However, if you play Catan, I think you will be won over primarily by its compelling realism.

Unlike chess, where the only threat lies in the set of moves made by your opponent, Catan challenges you to build in a world where the availability of resources waxes and wanes and where people can be persuaded to trade and exchange resources.

No wonder we considered this game an important addition to our home.








About Elizabeth Thatcher 3 Articles
Elizabeth is a writer and high school science teacher. She enjoys listening to music in the car, playing games with her husband in the evenings, and eating bread of all kinds.

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