The Settlers of Catan

[GundamSentinel]

I've only played the vanilla game, but it is great. Sadly, I don't know many people with an interest in simple board games, so I haven't played it in a long time.

 

[thedoclc]

Catan is one of those "rite of passage" games folks play when they leave the world of games like Monopoly and Scrabble to see what else is out there. It's fun and simple. I like it as an "introduction" game for folks who haven't really played many table top games.

Catan has a few expansions, but in my opinion, whether you think they are worth it depends on if "the same, but more" is worth your hard-earned currency.

Might I suggest the original poster check out boardgamegeek.com?

The original poster asked for recommendations, so here's a question for the original poster - what do you like? Without knowing what sort of mechanics, settings, conflicts, and so on you care to join in, without knowing what sort of skill level you and the people you play with have, and without a clear understanding of what you want out of gaming, there's really not much advice anyone can give you except, "I think so-and-so game is awesome!"

Speaking of: Betrayal at House on the Hill is awesome. It's a mostly cooperative game where the players are exploring a randomly generated haunted house and struggling to stay alive and sane. Then a key event called a haunt is triggered, which (usually) leads to one player betraying the whole group and everyone scrambling to stop some horrid thing from happening. The re-release version has 50 scenarios which are balanced mostly because the random element is so high, there's no favorite. The game requires modest reading skills and has a medium skill level. The random factor is high. Re-playability is very high, as there are fifty scenarios with a randomized "traitor" mechanic. It's a great party game that hardcore gamers can still have fun with non-gamers because it's quite approachable. Besides, who doesn't like the idea of turning out to be a werewolf and eating your friends? Cost: $35. Producer: Avalon Hill / Wizards of the Coast

 

[thedoclc]

I like the harbormaster variant, but as a whole Catan isn't one of my favorites. I'm more into Ameritrash (Cosmic Encounter, Battlestar Galactica, etc)

Hooray Ameritrash! Eurogames tend to cost double for tiny wood-paste pieces, then apply a disparaging label to rival games which frequently have nicer tokens and parts. I tend to be very disappointed when a Eurogame comes out with very simple mechanics (which I don't mind - that can be fun when mechanics are simple but deep) and an incredibly simple board that should have cost less than half what I wound up paying. At least the more expensive Ameritrash games have content and a mass of pieces that justify some of the price.

Two questions: have you checked out Twilight Imperium and Cheapass Games?

 

[Launcelot111]

snip

Wow, god forbid there's any risk to a game. I wouldn't call your friends snobs in terms of "elite board gamers". It seems to me they just can't think critically and blame the game for it.

As I said, I enjoy Catan, but there are other games that offer better resource systems than catan. For instance, instead of rolling for resources, there is a space to take wood/sheep/etc and you have to put a worker there, so if someone else has already taken the sheep for the round, then you have to wait and hope for next round or change your strategy or maybe even choose to pass but go first next time. And to add a new wrinkle, if no one takes a sheep for one turn, then there will be two sheep available next turn. Or some games let you choose the resource, but the randomness comes from rolling to see how many resources you'll get, and there will usually be a system in place where you can forgo actions to get tokens or something which will let you manipulate the dice and get more resources. There's plenty of room for critical thinking in these other systems, where in Catan, if the rolls really aren't going your way, then you have nothing to trade, exchange, build, or get cards with, so there's essentially no critical thinking going on. Also, a good game doesn't need to have a random element like dice to be unique every time.

Can you recommend some?

Sure thing. Ones I like with some similarity to Catan are:
Alien Frontiers: Using dice as workers to gather resources and build the most moon colonies
Lords of Waterdeep: D&D themed game where you gather troops to complete quest cards and score points
Agricola: You're a farmer, you gather resources, crops, and animals, plow fields, build houses and stables, and grow your family. There are lots of systems like a cooking system and a harvest cycle, so it's a little complicated for your first go
Stone age: You have a bunch of workers competing in a village for resources that they'll exchange for technologies and huts and stuff which score you points.
Castles of Burgundy: You have a plot of land and you roll for the opportunity to collect buildings and place them on your land, while other players are also trying to take your land. The strategy comes in when there are many different types of buildings that all have different effects when built, which allows you to change turn order or take free actions or buy special technologies

Board games with less similarity to Catan that I still recommend:
Game of Thrones (2nd ed): I have little knowledge of the show/books, but I love this game. It's military conquest, but with a big element of diplomacy/backstabbing, lots of room for creative play, and a different experience every time.
Invasion from Outer Space: One player is a Martian leader terrorizing Earth, everyone else is circus workers using their bizarre skills (contortion or firebreathing or being a human cannonball) to fight them off. There are lots of different characters and scenarios to play.
Chaos in the Old World: It's a Warhammer game where you play as a bunch of chaos gods who fight each other while trying to spread discord in a bunch of different regions
Cyclades: Set in ancient Greece, you bid against your opponents for the favor of different gods which allow you to build troops or buildings (eg Ares gives you soldiers, Poseidon gives you boats) in a race to build the most metropolises in the world.
Robo Rally: It's like Battlebots, but a board game. Super random, but goofy fun and there is skill in making the most of a bad situation or planning ahead through your turn

 

[dagens24]

snip

Wow, god forbid there's any risk to a game. I wouldn't call your friends snobs in terms of "elite board gamers". It seems to me they just can't think critically and blame the game for it.

As I said, I enjoy Catan, but there are other games that offer better resource systems than catan. For instance, instead of rolling for resources, there is a space to take wood/sheep/etc and you have to put a worker there, so if someone else has already taken the sheep for the round, then you have to wait and hope for next round or change your strategy or maybe even choose to pass but go first next time. And to add a new wrinkle, if no one takes a sheep for one turn, then there will be two sheep available next turn. Or some games let you choose the resource, but the randomness comes from rolling to see how many resources you'll get, and there will usually be a system in place where you can forgo actions to get tokens or something which will let you manipulate the dice and get more resources. There's plenty of room for critical thinking in these other systems, where in Catan, if the rolls really aren't going your way, then you have nothing to trade, exchange, build, or get cards with, so there's essentially no critical thinking going on. Also, a good game doesn't need to have a random element like dice to be unique every time.

Can you recommend some?

Sure thing. Ones I like with some similarity to Catan are:
Alien Frontiers: Using dice as workers to gather resources and build the most moon colonies
Lords of Waterdeep: D&D themed game where you gather troops to complete quest cards and score points
Agricola: You're a farmer, you gather resources, crops, and animals, plow fields, build houses and stables, and grow your family. There are lots of systems like a cooking system and a harvest cycle, so it's a little complicated for your first go
Stone age: You have a bunch of workers competing in a village for resources that they'll exchange for technologies and huts and stuff which score you points.
Castles of Burgundy: You have a plot of land and you roll for the opportunity to collect buildings and place them on your land, while other players are also trying to take your land. The strategy comes in when there are many different types of buildings that all have different effects when built, which allows you to change turn order or take free actions or buy special technologies

Board games with less similarity to Catan that I still recommend:
Game of Thrones (2nd ed): I have little knowledge of the show/books, but I love this game. It's military conquest, but with a big element of diplomacy/backstabbing, lots of room for creative play, and a different experience every time.
Invasion from Outer Space: One player is a Martian leader terrorizing Earth, everyone else is circus workers using their bizarre skills (contortion or firebreathing or being a human cannonball) to fight them off. There are lots of different characters and scenarios to play.
Chaos in the Old World: It's a Warhammer game where you play as a bunch of chaos gods who fight each other while trying to spread discord in a bunch of different regions
Cyclades: Set in ancient Greece, you bid against your opponents for the favor of different gods which allow you to build troops or buildings (eg Ares gives you soldiers, Poseidon gives you boats) in a race to build the most metropolises in the world.
Robo Rally: It's like Battlebots, but a board game. Super random, but goofy fun and there is skill in making the most of a bad situation or planning ahead through your turn

Awesome, thanks! I'll have to look into some of these.

 

[themyrmidon]

I like the harbormaster variant, but as a whole Catan isn't one of my favorites. I'm more into Ameritrash (Cosmic Encounter, Battlestar Galactica, etc)

Hooray Ameritrash! Eurogames tend to cost double for tiny wood-paste pieces, then apply a disparaging label to rival games which frequently have nicer tokens and parts. I tend to be very disappointed when a Eurogame comes out with very simple mechanics (which I don't mind - that can be fun when mechanics are simple but deep) and an incredibly simple board that should have cost less than half what I wound up paying. At least the more expensive Ameritrash games have content and a mass of pieces that justify some of the price.

Two questions: have you checked out Twilight Imperium and Cheapass Games?

I've played Twilight Imperium once, way too long for me. Thanks for showing me Cheapass Games.

 

[Paladin2905]

If you're looking for a couple more in the "a bit more advanced that Catan" field, I highly recommend Power Grid or Puerto Rico.

That being said I absolutely love Catan, though I strongly prefer it vanilla. I think that part of the genius of the original game was how beer and pretzels it was. You could sit down and play it with very little extra going on beyond the core strategies, and I think the expansions took away from that quality to a degree.

 

[aba1]

I play Catan with my gf all the time she owns almost all the expansions. I find I am more into Twilight Emporium than Catan however because of the more complex strategy.

 

[L. Declis]

Settlers of Catan is one of the first games I got to go beyond the basic boardgames (Monopoly, Scrabble, etc) and I am loving it.

I also agree it's very relaxed, so we can all chat about something else, make jokes and whilst there is strategy, there's no need to have to think too hard about it.

 

[freaper]

You know, I really don´t see what is supposed to be funny about this.
Sometimes, you simply desperatly need some wood.
I, for example, often find myself not having enough wood in my hand.
And if one of my fellow players happens to have wood, maybe even massive amounts of wood, he could help me out.
With his wood.

You're right... I'm... sigh... I'm sorry. I was acting childish. I should have been more considerate of others that might not have as much wood as I do or as much wood as they used to. Sometimes it's hard to get some wood.

But that's not to say I'm not generous with the wood I have in my hand. If there's a player who needs some wood in their hands, I'm always glad to lend them mine. It's a good way to build friendships.

Is anyone sitting on some wood?

OT: I used to play it fairly often when I was younger, but now I haven't got time, nor enough friends who enjoy boardgames.

 

[dyre]

Yeah, it's pretty fun. I don't play it a whole lot, but when I do, I mostly play an expansion my friend has called Knights and Cities, or something like that.

I hang out with a lot of board game snobs and Catan is looked down upon. I like it just fine, but a lot of people don't like the randomness of rolling for resources. If you really do like it, though, then I would suggest using it as a jumping off point for trying more games with better mechanics and strategy.

Wow, god forbid there's any risk to a game. I wouldn't call your friends snobs in terms of "elite board gamers". It seems to me they just can't think critically and blame the game for it.

The random factor of what resources you get is what makes each game of Settlers you play to be unique and not focused on a single set of strategies. Say, if I can't get the resources I need to build roads and settlements, I focus on other areas of the game such as upgrading to cities or buying development cards. The game offers many different avenues of what you can do if you're blocked from doing something else, and the expansions add to those possibilities. Adapting to the game in front of you is what makes you a good player.

And, yeah, sometimes the dice are just not in your favor, even for an entire game. But it's something everyone is potentially subjected to and there isn't anything "unfair" about it. Hell, I've still won games even when I had jackshit the entire time since I could adapt to my current conditions. And even then, Settlers still gives you other options if you don't like the randomness of the dice! There's the Catan Event Cards that are used in place of the dice that guarentee each number is drawn at least once but in higher and lower frequency based on the probability of each number. There's a solution for your friends!

After all, if it wasn't for the many random elements of Settlers, it would take away the unique nature of each game you play since everyone would just result in using whatever is considered the "best" strategy.

You don't need randomness to "think critically;" in fact, you don't even need randomness for risk. I'm sortof halfway on this issue (I think dice-rolling works alright in Catan, where you can minimize risk or work around bad luck sometimes, but it sucks in a lot of other games, like Risk), but I understand that some gamers want their victories and defeats to be caused by calculated action, not luck. If I've been beaten, I want it to be because someone played a better game than I did, or that they outsmarted me, not that they rolled better dice than I did, you know?

Take Diplomacy, for example. There's no random dice rolling, the starting positions are pretty much exactly the same in each game and the board is set the same way, but each game is completely different and there is no "best" strategy. If you lost, it's because your opponents had better positioning, and because they lied to you and you believed them.

Randomness isn't "unfair," but it often makes for a worse game.

 

[Agent Larkin]

I've always wanted to give it a go as it looks fun and I have played the Xbox version.

If I ever see a game of it going at a con I will be all over that.

 

[thedoclc]

I like the harbormaster variant, but as a whole Catan isn't one of my favorites. I'm more into Ameritrash (Cosmic Encounter, Battlestar Galactica, etc)

Hooray Ameritrash! Eurogames tend to cost double for tiny wood-paste pieces, then apply a disparaging label to rival games which frequently have nicer tokens and parts. I tend to be very disappointed when a Eurogame comes out with very simple mechanics (which I don't mind - that can be fun when mechanics are simple but deep) and an incredibly simple board that should have cost less than half what I wound up paying. At least the more expensive Ameritrash games have content and a mass of pieces that justify some of the price.

Two questions: have you checked out Twilight Imperium and Cheapass Games?

I've played Twilight Imperium once, way too long for me. Thanks for showing me Cheapass Games.

You're more than welcome. I love how you can have a library of tiny board games for next to nothing, even free.

 

[RoonMian]

By the way, has anyone of you ever played "The Starfarers of Catan"? THAT was really awesome!

Holy crap it was! I should really play that more often. It totally kicks ass.

I do play Catan frequently with my family. It's great fun. Most of us prefer the version with knights and barbarians, and metropolis things, and the wizard that lets you trade resources two for one with the bank. That one's really fun.

I personally suck at the game. I barely ever win, and if I do, it's an incredible stroke of luck. I don't care though. It's still incredibly fun to play.

Seems like you're the only one which is a shame.

It is one of only two times that the trope "cool starship" ([link]http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/CoolStarship[/link]) is included in a board game.

 

[Jelly ^.^]

What a co-incidence. I just happen to have put a copy on lay-by at a game shop on a copy of it and the 5-6 player expansion earlier today.

Never played before.

Keen to give it a go.

 

[dagens24]

Catan is one of those "rite of passage" games folks play when they leave the world of games like Monopoly and Scrabble to see what else is out there. It's fun and simple. I like it as an "introduction" game for folks who haven't really played many table top games.

Catan has a few expansions, but in my opinion, whether you think they are worth it depends on if "the same, but more" is worth your hard-earned currency.

Might I suggest the original poster check out boardgamegeek.com?

The original poster asked for recommendations, so here's a question for the original poster - what do you like? Without knowing what sort of mechanics, settings, conflicts, and so on you care to join in, without knowing what sort of skill level you and the people you play with have, and without a clear understanding of what you want out of gaming, there's really not much advice anyone can give you except, "I think so-and-so game is awesome!"

Speaking of: Betrayal at House on the Hill is awesome. It's a mostly cooperative game where the players are exploring a randomly generated haunted house and struggling to stay alive and sane. Then a key event called a haunt is triggered, which (usually) leads to one player betraying the whole group and everyone scrambling to stop some horrid thing from happening. The re-release version has 50 scenarios which are balanced mostly because the random element is so high, there's no favorite. The game requires modest reading skills and has a medium skill level. The random factor is high. Re-playability is very high, as there are fifty scenarios with a randomized "traitor" mechanic. It's a great party game that hardcore gamers can still have fun with non-gamers because it's quite approachable. Besides, who doesn't like the idea of turning out to be a werewolf and eating your friends? Cost: $35. Producer: Avalon Hill / Wizards of the Coast

I'm not really sure what I'm into yet; Catan and Ticket to Ride have been my first experience with board gaming outside of Monopoly and the likes.

We played Cities and Knights the other day and I think I might enjoy that more than the core Catan to be honest; I'm not sure why though - maybe the added strategy.

 

[Wushu Panda]

Anyone out there play this game? What are your favourite expansions, variants, etc? I've been getting more and more into it and I want to see what other people think of it? Do you enjoy it? Dislike it? Etc.

one of THE best board games i have ever played. my roommate brought it out one night and we played several times a night for a week straight before it lost its BANG. we still love playing it occasionally.

Betrayal at the House on the Hill is similar in that the board is never the same, keeps things fresh and challenging.

 

[bliebblob]

Have vanilla.

From the day I went to university it's been waiting in my dorm's closet for the day someone says "hey, anyone got any board games we can play?"

This day has yet to come.

Nuff' said.

 

[thedoclc]

*snip*

I'm not really sure what I'm into yet; Catan and Ticket to Ride have been my first experience with board gaming outside of Monopoly and the likes.

We played Cities and Knights the other day and I think I might enjoy that more than the core Catan to be honest; I'm not sure why though - maybe the added strategy.

Ticket to Ride is a great game.

Then I'd recommend a trip to a gaming store, you know, the odd place where people buy miniature models and play games with massive rulebooks and such. There's always people around who have a bunch of oddball games which are worth checking out. You can also check out boardgamegeek.com, which will have ratings for different games along every dimension from complexity and fun to quality of the materials.

Now, this is pure opinion and should be taken as such, but I like games with a cooperative element as a good way to introduce new games. Lots of games will pit the players against the game itself as they cooperate, and that can be a fun experience for mixing it up. It also makes it a lot easier for people to jump in to something they never played before, since they won't feel like they're getting roflstomped because they don't know how to play.

I'm going to stick to top-rated stuff that seems to get universal acclaim. (For example, I thought Last Night on Earth was good, but not great; the crowd loves it.)

I mentioned it in the post you responded to, but man, check this one out: http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/10547/betrayal-at-house-on-the-hill

Great co-op fun: http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/15062/shadows-over-camelot
Extremely complex, but great depth and many ways to win: http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/12493/twilight-imperium-third-edition
Brainless zombie mashing: http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/29368/last-night-on-earth-the-zombie-game

Then there's classics like Kill Dr. Lucky (Clue in reverse - you want to murder the seemingly invincible Dr. Lucky), Axis and Allies (WWII grand strategy more complex than Risk, less trying than a full wargame), Agricola, Puerto Rico, and Carcassonne (all Euro-style resource/territory management games, along the lines of Catan), Arkham Horror (cooperative play trying to survive the Cthulhu Mythos - quite complex. As in, just go play Call of Cthulhu instead,) Space Hulk (Warhammer 40k-based mission-objective two player combat game), RoboRally (a robot race whose unique mechanic is you have to preprogram your robot), and Bang! (a shoot-out based on old Spaghetti Westerns).

And if nothing in that sounds fun, I dunno what to tell you.