Catan is a multi-player board game. It is an adventurous settler’s game. Catan is one of the best board games to play with your family when you spend time together. This is easy to learn and play game that requires strategy and negotiation skills. This is a friendly game with social interaction.
The overview of the game is as settlers expand their settlements on the island of Catan. This game was first published in 1995 and designed by Klaus Teuber.
How many players can play?
Contents
Catan suggests 3-4 players on a standard level. But with expansion, it can be played by 5/6 people.
Introduction
Catan is a globally famous game with over 32 million copies worldwide. It is also translated into 40 languages globally (2020). This strategic board game involves resource management. Players take the roles of settlers. Then they build and develop while acquiring and trading resources. The players are given victory points when their settlements grow. The victory points are typically 10. Whoever achieves the points first becomes the winner on Catan.
In Detail
Players build settlements, cities, and roads to make connections as they settle on the island of Catan. This is played on a game board and with dice.
The game board has hexagonal tiles which represent different land types. Earlier, the tiles were laid randomly. But in the latest versions of the game, now thy layout comes in a fixed pattern.
Resource cards include ore, wool, grain, lumber, and brick. So players spend these to build their settlement.
There are land types. They produce different resources. There is also a barren desert which doesn’t give you anything.
The following are the sources of the resources.
- Hills – bricks
- Forests – lumber
- Mountains – ore
- Fields – grain
- Pastures – wool
How to Play Catan?
Two dice are rolled out each turn to decide which hex tiles produce resources. Players settled adjacent to the hex in which the number has been rolled will receive the resource cards according to the land type.
Cities give two cards of the corresponding resources. If a player rolls out numbers matching the numbers which are adjacent to the city on both sides, then they will receive four resource tokens,
A robber token is also placed on the desert tile at the beginning. If a player rolls 7, the robber is moved to another hex. Then that particular hex cannot produce resources until the robber is moved to another tile. That player who rolled number 7 may steal a resource card from another player’s settlement or the city adjacent to the robber’s placement. Moreover, all the other players with more resource cards than 7, will have to discard half of them. For example, if a player has 8 cards, then he has to drop 4 cards.
Players can spend resource cards on building their settlements and roads. Settlements can later be upgraded to cities replacing the settlements. Players can also trade resource cards with other players in the game. They may also trade their resources with the bank. It is done in a ratio of 4:1 resources (four of any single type resources). If your settlement is adjacent to a port, the player may trade at a ratio of 3:1 or 2:1. This depends on the port’s location.
Players achieve victory points as one point for each settlement and two points for each city. They may also get additional points for the longest roads and other prominent things. Anyways, whoever achieves the points at first, wins the game of Catan.
Why is Catan Considered a Friendly, Family Game?
- Friendly and Social – Catan is a friendly, social board game everyone loves to play together as a family. All players are somehow involved in the game apart from their chance as more trading and negotiations are happening.
- Fair and balanced – the game of Catan has the right strategy and luck together. It is all balanced here. You need to use your strategies well to play the game.
- No restrictions – Catan has no age limit or any other restricting factors. Though it is suitable for everyone above 10 years, those who are younger and have good board game practice also can play this with or without adult supervision.
- Easy – this game has an easy setup and is easy to learn. So even a beginner can play this game well.
Conclusion
Concluding this detailed article with the hope that it would have given you a clear idea of this game named Catan. This is an excellent game in your board game collection and one of the best to play with your family and friends. If you are interested in online board games, you may also like to know more about Board Games Geek.
