Settlers of Catan

Settlers of Catan


  • Total voters
    87
It's like Stratego, only with actual strategy. ;)
Stratego is one of the few board games out there (that I've played) that is pure strategy (though I hate it cause I suck at it due to impatience and less than perfect memory).

But thanks for the ideas. I've heard good things about Tigris and Euphrates.
 
I've played Settlers of Catan several times at nerd camp, and it was really fun. We played a lot of Diplomacy there, too, but that got really tedious and politcal for my tastes.
 
One thing I've noticed about the game is that the tone of the game is set by who the players are. The people I usually play the game with tend to play civilly, getting along and trading for the benefit of all, and anyone who spites another player finds himself isolated and quickly defeated. There's another group on campus that plays the game very viciously (oddly - or perhaps not oddly - they're the holier-than-thou God Squad group), and to survive in a game with them, you must constantly attack the other players.
 
I played online for awhile (MSN has a free month membership after which it costs $20/year to continue, I canceled two days before the deadline). I logged about 80 games, was rated about 1800. :)

People online play pretty balanced games, generally they pick on the top dog exclusively and don't hold petty grudges.
 
or Life.

Challenging game, that one. The flick of the wrist has to be just right, and it's so hard to know whether or not you should bet all your assets.
 
Settlers of Catan: a dice-based strategy game. This is an oxymoron. Catan is Monopoly with a hex board.

Much better German boardgames: any 18xx railway game, Puerto Rico, Caylus...
 
Settlers of Catan: a dice-based strategy game. This is an oxymoron. Catan is Monopoly with a hex board.
While it does have a few monopoly like factors its much much more strategic and a vastly superior game. That's why it is consistently ranked among the best games in the world. /steps off board game geek soapbox...


Much better German boardgames: any 18xx railway game, Puerto Rico, Caylus...
Well, yes, but that doesn't make Settlers bad by any stretch.
 
Caylus is waaaaay too much analysis-paralysis for me. Puerto Rico is about right but the problem is not enough player interaction.

Good games have a small amount of luck and lots of player interaction, imho.
 
Settlers of Catan: a dice-based strategy game. This is an oxymoron.
Right, and poker requires no strategy because the cards are dealt at random. :rolleyes:

Catan is Monopoly with a hex board.
Catan is nothing like Monopoly. :crazyeye:

Much better German boardgames: any 18xx railway game, Puerto Rico, Caylus...
Haven't played any of the railway games, I found Puerto Rico kind of dull and couldn't get into it.
 
A lot of fun the first few times you play, but I've found it depends mostly on the starting position. Haven't tried the expansions yet, might make it more interesting.


The expansions make it alot better, IMO. Alot more variety and ways to win.
I play with the Seafarers and Knights and cities expansions, and sometimes we alter the rules a bit ourselves.


I voted very good game, but not the best ever.
 
Its alright, I just played it last week and then noticed this thread. My mom said that the key is to get next to wheat because you need it for everything except roads.

All other things being equal(which they never are), my resource priorities are (from most important to least important) ore, wheat, sheep, brick, wood.
 
All other things being equal(which they never are), my resource priorities are (from most important to least important) ore, wheat, sheep, brick, wood.
I'd mostly agree there, though the enterprising settler can use a brick and wood based strategy to build a great wall of roads and shut everyone else out.
 
All other things being equal(which they never are), my resource priorities are (from most important to least important) ore, wheat, sheep, brick, wood.

It all depends on what variant you're playing (in Cities and Knights, ore and wheat are absolutely essential), what period of the game it is (in a non-C&K game, ore is not necessary in the early game), and your overall strategy (if you're aiming for as many cities as possible, ore is good, if you want to expand over more land, bricks and wood are good).

Overall, though, my list would probably go:
For a standard (or seafarers) game:
Early: wood, brick, sheep, wheat, ore (to emphasize building roads and settlements)
Late: ore, wheat, wood, brick, sheep (to emphasize building cities)

For a C&K game: Wheat, ore, sheep, brick, wood (for building/activating knights, and to build cities)
 
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