Boardgames have always been a part of life in the @blanchy household especially coming into the winter. The 9 year old is always mad for a game of something but like all nine year olds she is a very sore loser and would alot of the time freak out when she loses a board game. Stamping feet , crying and storming off are a regular occurance during a board game as I teach her that life is not all about winning. There is one board game that is flavour of the year this year and no it is not a traditional game like Monopoly , Scrabble, Go for Broke, The Game of Life. No this is better than them all. It is a game called Catan.
What is Catan?
Catan is a relatively new boardgame that came on the scene in 1995 and it was refered back then as Settlers of Katan. It is a multiplayer for 3-4 people but you can have more with an expansion pack. Players compete to make settlements in the fictional island of Katan. The game combines resource management, trading, and strategic planning and it would take normally around an hour and a half.
Core Components
Game Board:
A modular, hexagonal board representing the island of Catan, made up of terrain hexes (fields, forests, hills, mountains, pastures) that produce resources, plus a desert hex. Numbers (2-12) are placed on hexes to determine resource production based on dice rolls.
Resources:
Five types—lumber (forest), wool (pasture), grain (fields), brick (hills), and ore (mountains)—used to build settlements, roads, and cities or to buy development cards.
Player Pieces:
Each player has settlements (5), cities (4), and roads (15) in their color, plus a building cost card for reference.
Development Cards:
Provide special abilities, victory points, or resources (e.g., knights, monopolies, or road-building).
Special Cards: "Longest Road" and "Largest Army" award 2 victory points each to the player who achieves them.
Robber:
A pawn that blocks resource production and steals cards when a 7 is rolled or a knight card is played.
Dice:
Two six-sided dice determine resource production each turn.
Ok now that we got the boring part out of the way (It is not as hard as I make out above. So everytime a dice rolls you pick up the resource that is on that number. So if you roll a 6 then the settlements beside the number 6 get resources and you then collect resources to build a settlement. A settlement is 1 point, a city is 2 points and there are various other items that give you points. The longest road can give you two points for example, You can trade resources between players but remember they are trading to build up their resources to win so you have to be careful what you hold back and what you give away. I do not give away too much for example and when I trade I made sure I am looking after numero uno. Something that my wife and my daughter have trouble dealing with. The brick resources always seem to be the hardest resource to get whatever is the reason so we all treat our bricks like golddust. Those who hold the brick hold the keys to winning the game.
Now the little one has a knack of collecting the points without exactly building that many settlements. For example there are points for having the longest road. There are also points for the most development cards so she goes about her business a bit differently to me who tries to get to the coast initially so I can get resources for bargain prices. Now my strategy is not working because I have not won a game as of yet and either has my other half. The 9 year old has won all 5 games this Autumn. This is a revelation because we are actually trying to win and she just keeps on getting the points gathered up. No I very nearly caught her the last time which led to a tantrum because she was singing her way to victory until I put a spanner in the works and put one of my settlements in the middle of her longest road which led to fury. But she had a back up plan and turned two settlements into two cities and she was victorious. So she is now 5 wins in a row after this one. I nearly had her and I could see the fear in her eyes. I am getting closer. Next weekend I shall succeed. I normally absolutely take the mick and put on Queens "We are the Champions" whenever I win anything. This again causes a meltdown but I continue anyway. She's got's to learn.
Catan is by far one of the best board games I have ever played because no matter whose turn it is there is always stuff for you to do. While you are idle you have to be plotting and strategizing your next move. If you take your eyes off it for a couple of minutes you could be left behind. It can also lead to your family not talking to you for a couple of days but this could be an advantage as well as you can go about your business. Nobody has ever filed for divorce after someone stole a brick from them in Catan. But maybe they have in the states.But next week I am going to pull out all the stops to be victorious and I will use my daughters approach in going for all the development cards first. The look on her face will; be priceless. I did take a video of a couple of her Catan tantrums but seeing that she is winning they are not that bad but I shall keep them off the blockchain and unveil them at her 21st.
my family loves this a lot.
We have the travel version for holidays and even the mobile version to play together in a wifi network....
Wow a Catan expert here . So let me ask you what’s your strategy? Go for the longest road , dev cards or just go for settlements ?
Oh - not so easy. Depends on the island, the other players and the board. I play different on the big table version as on the small travel one.
Long flights I prefer to have a game on my ipad against 3 computer player with a high number of winning point. This shorten long flights to a strategic fight with a 50/50 chance to win....
... need an extra beer if I loose that one. ;-)
🤣🤣 interesting . I didn’t even realise there was an app to play . Great way to pass the time on a flight
ohhh yeah!!!
Cool, I love Catan. Strange to call it a "realtively new" though, 30 years after its publication 😄
😂. Good point well made Sorin. I compare all my board games launches to Ludo that was first played in 1896.
Catan.
I saw a marriage fall apart over a game of Catan.
The bloke has never been happier, now that he's several years divorced. We thank Catan for being one of the many catalysts for this event.
My wife is no good at playing Catan. She doesn't understand that not moving the robber to another player's land is giving her a disadvantage. I mean, I think she understands, but I think she also saw what happened between my mate and his now ex-wife.
We have a little tradition when playing Catan. Every resource, regardless of its quantity, is referred to as "an" so "an sheep for an lumber" or "an grain for an stone". It gives the game a bit more charm, and makes us all feel about as illiterate as the very Settlers we're trying to use to dominate the board.
Catan is the gateway drug to more sophisticated board games for so many.
🤣 I an going to copy your an tradition and bring it to the blanchy household sir
Wow, haven't seen that for a while. Monopoly for over-achievers.
😂 Here we go again. Protecting the status quo. There should be no newcomers to the board game market. It should be Monopoly or nothing. Johnny " I don't mind Catan, It's the people playing Catan that I have a problem with."
You mistake me good sir, it's quite the opposite... the people who play at Monopoly are the ones that I don't care for. 😁
You never pass Go !! You go anticlockwise ya big rebel . That l teach m .
I tried playing this a while ago and I didn't really get it. It didn't follow the same scheme I was used to with games like Civiliation and things like that. I couldn't quite wrap my head around it.
Well the way I learn is the wife reads the instructions , tells us how to play it and we go from there . You should give it another go .
My wife would have no interest in a game like this I don't think.
Lol, the family never quite get the ruthless aspects of some games. We play risk and the daughter and missus are often near tears at me merciless and double dealing antics 🤣
Might try that one, if it isn't as complicated as you make out!
Its very easy actually. You will have it down in 15 minutes. Just a couple of things with how many roads(2) between settlements and bits about the robber are the only complicated bits. You will love this. We picked it up on Vinted for 15 quid.
Goddang, that's the second time this week someone has mentioned Vinted! Will need to get on that as well, I'm losing my touch!
They say never judge a man until you walk a mile in his shoes . After a few months on Vinted I can now judge many a man with the clobber and footwear I’m after buying on it .
I am in need of a good judging and some gear!!
The secret is to find a user who is minted and never wears their clothes . (So wife sells all his gear) . I had one fine lady flogging Ted Baker chinos for a tener each with the tags . I am now the proud owner of 8 Ted Baker chinos with the flash little pockets that would have set me back 160 quid if I had purchased new .
Haha, that's a top tip. I actually read the other day about people selling shit they have never worn that's worth a whack
I've never been the biggest fan of Catan. I'm more of a Carcassonne man myself.
I must check that out