Review #1: Settlers of Catan
Overview
Settlers of Catan is a game that has often been credited with bringing Euro Style games – or games with more cooperation between players and strategy than many traditional American games that emphasize conflict and luck – into the mainstream and starting a revival of the popularity of board games. This game also has a special place in my heart, as I have won this game more times than any other, so my family plays it often to try to take me down.
The overall goal of Settler of Catan is to get ten victory points to win the game. To do this, you use resources – wood, wheat, brick, sheep, and ore – to build things. Points can be obtained by creating Settlements or Cities, having the longest road on the board, or buying cards that will give you random bonuses, secret points, or extra bonuses. The board is made up of different tiles representing all the resources. Players get new resources every turn based on a roll of the dice.
The strategic moves in this game start right from the beginning, as players get to pick starting points to determine what resources they will be able to receive. If you’re playing with my family, this is when people start to get competitive.
Regardless of how intense your game play is, players will definitely have fun with Settlers of Catan, which I think is the real goal of any game.
This game is a fantastic “gateway game” to transition players who favor Clue and Monopoly to newer, more cooperative games. It can be played with whatever level of collaboration you want – you can willingly trade and respect each other’s boarders, or be completely cutthroat by refusing to trade or blocking each other’s roads. It is also fairly easy for someone who has never played before to learn.
Elements
Strategy – If you love games that require careful planning, there are a lot of opportunities for this in Catan. You have to pick the right resource tiles to build on, trade with the right people, and build in the right direction. You can choose to focus on the longest road, the largest army, or just do your own thing and build structures.
Visuals – The art style is soft and colorful, and looks consistent between all aspects of the game. My only complaint is that the sheep tiles and wood tiles look a little to similar at times.
Cooperation – There is a level of cooperation in Settlers of Catan if that is how you choose to play it. You can trade with each other and politely assure you don’t cut anyone off. If you aren’t one for collaboration, you can also be completely savage and refuse cooperation. It’s really whatever you chose to do (my family does the latter).
Social fun – This is only a four-player game (unless you have the 5-6 player expansion, which I do), so it’s not great for a party or large group of people. If you play it with a close group of friends, it’s super fun. It isn’t necessarily a goofy game, but with the right attitude you can make it one.
Overall, I would give Settlers of Catan an 8.5/10 – it has lots of different strategies and you can play it a bunch of times, even with new people. Depending on who you’re playing with, it can become cut throat very quickly, but is still a pretty fun game.