A review of Settlers of Catan and expansions.

Settlers of Catan is a must have board game for any game collection. There are so many reasons to love this game.

First off is the changing map. Each time you play the board is set up randomly. This eliminates the advantage of board memorization thereby levelling the play for veteran and novice players alike. For novice players, the closer to the number 7 the numbers on the resource tiles are the more likely the number will be rolled. There I just levelled the board memorization factor for you.

This is a resource trading game. There are no combat rolls. You cannot destroy what your opponent has done. As you build your settlement on the island of Catan you will have a sense of accomplishment. Each of those accomplishments will have a chance of paying off later in the game.

There is a variety of ways to trade resources. Again this is a resource trading game and this game makes it easy to do so. You could trade 4:1 with the bank, or claim a trade port for better exchange rate or you can trade with your opponents. The better your negotiation skills get the better you will be at the game.

The random element of resource gain is a fantastic concept. As each player rolls the dice at the beginning of their turn, any player who has a city or settlement on the number result will get resources. This keeps up the interest level even when it isn’t your turn. The possibility of trade even on an opponents turn will also keep the game interesting.

The goal of Settlers of Catan is to reach 10 points. There are different routes to doing this: Building more settlements which are worth 1 point, building more cities which are worth 2 points, building the longest road which is worth 2 points, getting points from development cards, or developing the largest army. (the soldier cards chase away the robber)

The robber changes things up. This character moves each time a 7 is rolled. Whoever rolled the 7 places the robber on a hex which blocks resource collection, and allows the player to steal a resource card from another player. But there is one last thing about rolling a 7, any player with more than 8 cards must discard half before the robber is moved.

Now there are several expansions to the game which are worth talking about.

First off there is Seafarers of Catan. This expansion adds a new tile which allows a player to choose which resource to collect. This expansion also opens the game to new board designs. Boats, which are used like roads on waterways, can be used to reach new land masses. I highly recommend this expansion as it adds a significant amount of randomness to the game play but doesn’t add too much to the rules of play.

The second expansion I recommend is the Cities and Knights expansion. The reason I don’t recommend this first is because this expansion adds a significant number of rules changes. I still recommend once your group gains more experience this as this opens Settlers of Catan to new possible ways to win. The first change is that cities located on pasture, mountains or forests no longer produce 2 of the same resource. Instead you collect a resource and a commodity card. These commodity cards are spent on a single expansion tree. As you expand this tree you have better odds of collecting progress cards (Which replace the development cards). These cards are distributed when the new die added into the set matches the commodity colour and the player has purchased a level equal to the number on the corresponding numbered dice. These cards have different effects which give the player different advantages. There is a downside however; the new die has several black faces, which move the barbarians along their track. When the barbarians reach the end of their track they attack. Depending on the number of knights on the board players will either lose a city, gain a commodity card or get a defenders of Catan card. Another change is the robber does not enter play until after the barbarians attack. The next addition is the merchant. The merchant is moved via merchant progress cards and he grants 2:1 trade for whichever resource he is on. The merchant also grants a victory point to the controlling player. Confused? So was I, wait until you understand the core game before adding this expansion

The next expansions I recommend are the 5 to 6 player expansions. These expansions merely allow for more players in the game, but I always feel that the more the merrier on game night.

The last expansion we own is the traders and barbarians expansion. Mostly this is a pick and chose compilation of mini-expansions and scenarios. This has yet to be played at our table as most players aren’t interested in all of the different new rules. Most players decline due to a feeling of over-complication of a great game. I would refrain from buying this expansion until your players are really kicking for more expansions.

 To sum up, Settlers of Catan is THE game to get for your game table. It will be fun for everyone, from novice to hardcore gamer, from family night to hard core competition groups. This isn't the old generic board game. Settlers of Catan has an original concept and the randomness of the game makes for a high replayability factor.