The Settlers of Catan, otherwise known as simply Catan or Settlers, is a four-player board game invented by Klaus Teuber. Taking place on a made up island, the game is comprised of trading, building and expanding. Teuber was a dentist in Germany at the time he created the game. He took serious interest in board game developing as he developed Catan. Catan actually became so successful–selling over 22 million copies since its release in 1995–it has allowed him to be a full time board game developer.

The island of Catan is not based on any real place. However, if you would like to learn more about the fan created history of Catan, I highly recommend this link: https://catan.fandom.com/wiki/History_of_Catan. The Settlers of Catan has gained such popularity, video games based on the board game have been created, and a potential film about Catan is in the works. Many expansions of the game have also been created, such as the original expansion pack allowing up to 5-6 players, or fan-favorite Seafarers pack, where boats and powerful islands become an important aspect. Over 80 different versions of Catan have been released, and Teuber has been a part of making all of them. An impressive feat, I must say.

Now, to the nitty-gritty review. Our game of Catan was played with 6 members, the maximum amount of players, even with the expansion.  Our players were… 1) the sweats: John Moriarty and Justin McMurray, 2) the noobs: Jacob Wendy and Lucas Brockman, and 3) the goats: Connor Spanos and Clay Petersen.

The people you play Catan with can greatly affect your experience. Playing with scrubs when you yourself are a god can provide a vastly different game than if you were to play with try-hards. Catan is a board game that is easy to play, but it can be hard to grasp. Without proper guidance, it may be hard to ever understand the complex strategy that goes into winning a game of Catan.

One of my favorite aspects of Catan is the trading. How one can have no way of getting a resource but still manage to trade your way to success really makes the game top notch. This is not a game you can win without utilizing your fellow players. Catan is a game that can strengthen your relationship with friends, but it can also destroy them. If you’ve got that wheat on lockdown and your buddy wants to build a city, you have a choice. You can either make friends and trade, or make enemies and hoard all of that wheat to yourself. Playing this game is not advised with your S.O., as the chances of your relationship outlasting the game are slim.

Catan is played by collecting resources off of different hexes when their corresponding number is rolled. You then use these collected resources to buy cities, settlements, roads and development cards. Or you can trade them with other people to get what you want. The goal is to reach 10 victory points. You get victory points in a variety of ways, like development cards or having the longest road. You also get 1 victory point per settlement and 2 per city.

Overall, I have no complaints about Catan. It is an enjoyable game to play, and I would recommend it to anyone with a couple hours and some good friends.