Where It All Started: The Settlers of Catan

A couple years ago my wife and I were visiting with another family and looking for something fun to do.  They pulled out a board game. The game was called Settlers of Catan. I had never heard of such a game. At that time my knowledge of board games was probably the same as yours. It consisted of monopoly, clue, mad gab, phase ten, and a couple other games.

This game introduced a new and fascinating hobby for me. You will soon see why "board gaming" or simply "gaming" is considered a hobby.  Anyway, back to Catan. This game came to the USA in 1995 from Germany.  It is considered a European style game or "Eurogame".

We soon purchased our own copy and played it incessantly for months.  I would guess within a month or two, we played it over 100 times. I take very good care of my board games. Most of them have seen more action than it would appear. But my Settlers of Catan box is definitely beginning to show some wear.

Quick Review:   This blog will include brief reviews of the game that gives source to our topic.  But I will mostly focus on what gaming is all about and why people game. There are many places to find in depth reviews and even video reviews of these games if you are interested.

The Settlers of Catan is for 3-4 players ages 10 and up.  Play last for approximately and hour.  There is alos an "expansion pack" available that allows for up to six players. (Later posts will discuss expansion packs).

What I like most about Catan is the fact that you can play it over and over but the game will always be different.   This is because the board is not fixed.  It is composed of  hexagonal pieces that can be shuffled and placed in various order. One cannot use the exact same strategy every time. The goal of the game is to be the first to score 10 points by building settlements, cities, and possibly and army. Players collect resources such as wood, sheep, brick, ore, and wheat to build these things.

If you are new to board gaming, I would highly recommend picking up this game. Currently we have about 50 or so board games in our house. (Yes, that is a bit obsessive, but I will address this in another post). Some gamers have begun to downplay Settlers because it is old, and the mechanics have been expanded on in so many other games. I still like to pull out Settlers at least once or twice a year. It is what I would call "an oldie but a goodie".  It is a staple to anyone's collection.