Settlers of Catan

Settlers of Catan is a board game, and a very awesome one at that. “How can a board game be more awesome than any other one?”, you ask. “Aren’t all board games pretty much variations of the same thing?”. If you truly believe this, then I won’t get through to you, and you can go back to playing Monopoly or whatever. Board games, like cuisine and fashion, have finer sides that take a refined taste to appreciate. If you think I’m being overly pretentious, then once again, this probably isn’t the board game for you. However, if you’re interested in learning about the better side of board gaming, keep reading.

Settlers is called a “German-style board game“, which basically means it doesn’t suck. “German-style board game” is a very general term that says nothing, since not all German-style board games are German and the mechanics of these games have nothing to do with Germany. However, a number of these games, Settlers included, did originate in Germany. These games are characterized by the fact that they’re themed, that is, the game isn’t just a set of rules where you roll the dice and move on a board to gain points, but there’s actually a backstory to the game. In Settlers, you and everyone you’re playing with play the role of the aforementioned settlers, settling the aforementioned island of Catan.

These games usually have very simple, short rules, as opposed to more complex games like Risk or Monopoly, where nobody can ever agree on the rules, and everyone goes home mad at each other. However, although the rules are simple, the gameplay still involves quite a bit of strategy. Gameplay in Settlers involves receiving and trading for resources, such as lumber and grain, in order to build roads and cities, which earn the player points.

The Wiki entry (Settlers of Catan) goes into detail about the game, so if you’re still interested, check it out. The point of this post was to bring something to your attention so you’d check it out yourself, not to spell it all out for you. A short summary of the rules is available here. “What’s the point of checking all this out, since I don’t want to buy a game I’ve never played before?”. No worries, this is the Internet. You can play Settlers online here (Java required, but we all have that, right?). All you have to do is sign up for a free user account and you’re ready to go. They call the game Xplorers, but it’s the exact same game, trust me. Just click Play on the left side and go to one of the non-ranking rooms under Xplorers. You can play against bots if you’re trying to get the hang of the game. You’ll find me there with the username V64 (of course).