Robert Khuu Presents

Boardgame: Settlers of Catan

After some trying and doing, I finally got the chance to play Settlers of Catan. I know, I know. It’s an old game and everybody and their brother has been playing it for years. I just haven’t been around a circle of friends that had/played the game until recently. Hit the jump for my thoughts.

In any case, for the uninitiated, the game puts players on an island with five traditional basic resources (wood, brick, rock/ore, sheep, wheat) and one unconventional resource (the bandit). Players are given the task of building settlements and roads in the pursuit of expanding their empires. Much of the game is centered around resources that are randomly placed on the board. Since resources are used to build roads and settlements, there is also heavy emphasis on trade. For instance, if you don’t have enough brick production, you can trade with other players for brick in exchange for whatever it is they want. The bandit is used to halt resource production (e.g. placing it on a “sheep” resource piece will halt sheep production for the adjacent settlement until someone moves it). You can also trade three resource cards for one of another kind or trade via ports (that have their own conversion rates). The last important playing piece is the … I don’t remember the name of the cards, but they allow you to take certain aspects of the game under your personal control for your turn. For example, normally, you only control the bandit when you roll a seven. There is a card that will give you control of the bandit and place it wherever you want. You can kind see where I’m going with this.

All of this is done with the sole purpose of accruing “Victory Points.” You get points for building settlements, having the biggest army (by buying bandit cards) and building the longest road (there are a few other possibilities, but I don’t recall them at the moment). Outside of those very basic rules, players can do almost whatever they want. Trade three of one resource for one resource? Sure. Use your roll w/the bandit to threaten someone into giving you resources? Not only fine, but encouraged.

I didn’t really get the feel for the game until my third play through. When the game says “you can trade for anything,” it really means it. At one point, I traded a friend futures in my ore production. Other strategies included my attempt to completely dominate two resources with careful management of the bandit and trade while playing my two other friends against each other. Even with the many options on the table, the game is still subject to a few problems. It’s really easy to figure out the two basic strategies of the game. Most players either go straight to road building or army building (biggest army or longest road = 2 victory points each). There is a middle road, but it’s harder and you have to be a little sneaky. There are apparently more “advanced techniques” for ruining friendships, but I think I’ll stick to casual play styles for now.

In the end, I really like this game. There is a heavy trade element in addition to an attack element that is carefully limited. It also teaches the power of reciprocity very quickly (keep banditing blue and they’ll find a way to screw you). You really are trying to build a civilization. Well, at least on a casual basis, anyway.