Settlers of Catan Guide, Meaning , Facts, Information and Description

Settlers of Catan is a multiplayer board game invented by Klaus Teuber, first published in Germany by Franckh-Kosmos Verlags-GmbH & Co. under the name Die Siedler von Catan. It won the Spiel des Jahres 1995 and Deutscher SpielePreis 1st place 1995 and the Origins Award for 1996.

Settlers is perhaps the first German-style board game to reach any degree of popularity outside of Europe. It has been translated into Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, French, Greek, Hungarian, Italian, Icelandic, Japanese, Norwegian, Portuguese, Russian, Slovenian, Spanish, and Swedish from the original German. Teuber's original design for the game encompassed both the standard set and its first expansion, which combine to form New Shores. The standard game and its 4 expansions are available from Mayfair Games in the United States, from Capcom in Japan, and of course Kosmos in the European Union.

The players in the game represent the eponymous Settlers, establishing a colony on the previously uninhabited Island of Catan. The island itself is laid out randomly at the beginning of each game from terrain hexes depicting mountains, plains, woods, etc. The settlements founded by the players provide their owners with natural resources dependent on the adjacent terrain, and dependent on die rolls each turn. These natural resources are used for activities such as building roads, upgrading settlements to cities, and purchasing development cards which represent a variety of advances toward civilization. The winner is the first player to accumulate ten victory points via these activities.

Players are allowed to trade among each other the resources they have produced, and to trade "off the island" for a hefty price. It is difficult for any one player to produce all the resources necessary for progress, so astute trading is the strategic heart of the game. Player interaction is further complicated by the presence of a robber, which is used to steal from other players and hinder their production of resources. There is no combat. Apart from the robber and refusal to trade there is no way to harm other players.

Settlers of Catan has rapidly become popular in part because its mechanics are relatively simple, while its dynamics are quite complex. At a recreational level, the game is well-suited for family play. No one gets eliminated, and players who are behind can strive towards quantized goals that are within reach, such as building a city in a certain space. Home games seldom take as long as two hours to finish.

The game is also well-suited for tournament play. Luck plays a significant role, but players with a deeper understanding of the dynamics and strategies usually defeat weaker players in spite of the vagaries of chance. When played competitively, Settlers showcases the heights of adaptive analysis, which the human mind does best. Correct strategy is not absolute, but depends heavily on what the other players are doing. To play well, one must consider the nested ramifications of each decision one makes.

Table of contents

1 See Also 2 Availability of the Game 3 Official rules and competitive play 4 Fan musings

See Also

• A comprehensive, detailed exposition of the official rules, which clarifies common misunderstandings
• A discussion of common wisdom regarding Settlers strategy
• Information about official and unofficial variants

Availability of the Game

Disclaimer: This article in no way takes a position on whether people should or should not buy this game, or where they should buy it.

Available products:

• Settlers of Catan: The standard set, Settlers of Catan (1995), is required for playing all 23 maps.

• Expansion sets: Due to the standard game's popularity, a new expansion has been issued each year, to add new possibilities and to make the game more complex and intriguing.
  1. Settlers of Catan, 5 to 6 player expansion (1996), required for playing Standard (V-VI)
  2. Seafarers expansion (for 3 to 4 players) (1997), required for playing all sea maps (III-IV)
  3. Seafarers, 5 to 6 player expansion, required for playing all sea maps (V-VI)
  4. Cities and Knights expansion (for 3 to 4 players) (1998), required for playing all maps (III-IV) with Cities & Knights variant
  5. Cities and Knights, 5 to 6 player expansion, required for playing all maps (V-VI) with Cities & Knights variant
  6. Alexander the Great historical expansion (1998)
  7. The Trojan War historical expansion (2001)

• Other versions: The following games of the Catan suite aren't technically expansions, because they are standalone.
  1. Settlers of Catan, The Card Game (1996)
  2. Settlers of Catan The Card Game expansion
  3. Starfarers of Catan (1999)
  4. Starfarers of Catan, 5 to 6 player expansion
  5. Starfarers Figurines
  6. Starship Catan (2001)
  7. Settlers of the Stone Age (2002)
  8. Die Siedler von Nürnberg (1999)
  9. The Settlers of Canaan (2002)
  10. The Kids of Catan (2003)
  11. Settlers of Catan, Travel Edition (2003)
  12. The Settlers of Zarahemla (2003)

Available sources:

• Physical storefronts: listed by state by Mayfair Games.

• Online retailers: Funagain Games, Mayfair Games, Rainy Day Gamesetc.

• Online implementations: A few online versions have been made available, under the condition that players already own physical copies of the game:
  • Brettspielwelt Online Portal - mostly Standard (III) with regular rules
  • Java Settlers of Catan by Robb Thomas - mostly Standard (IV) with NTRR or NTRR7
  • Sea3D by Jason Fugate - mostly Standard (IV) and New Shores (IV) with regular rules (team ladder available)
  • Wancatan - mostly Greater Catan (IV) and Cities & Knights (III-IV)
  • Catan Online Welt (German only) - official RPG-like portal w/ a monthly fee, offers most boards and the card game

Official rules and competitive play

• Catan World Championships 2002-2003
• Catan World Championships 2003 Official Rules (pdf)
• World Boardgaming Championships 1999-2003
• Klaus Teuber's Site
• Mayfair Games's Rules Clarifications
• Mayfair Games's Settlers of Catan Section
• Mayfair Games's Settlers of Catan Scenarios and Variants Section
• The Settlers' Almanac (pdf)
• The Seafarers' Almanac (pdf)

Fan musings

• S3D's Community & Tourney Forums (merry madness and mayhem)
• Settlers of Catan Bulletin at BoardGameGeek (rare shots of the first edition)
• Trevor Dewey's Settlers of Catan Overview (an opinion piece, but a fun read)

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