Settlers of Catan

(Courtesy of BoardGameGeek)

Settlers of Catan marks the beginning of a new era of board gaming. It is a unique game altogether which deals with trading, management and planning.

It is a game to be played by 2-4 people. The objective is to be the first player to obtain at least 10 victory points at the end of his/her turn.

There are five types of resources - lumber, brick, wheat, ore and wool. These resources are used to build settlements (1 victory point per city), cities (2 victory points per city), development cards (no victory points) or roads (no victory points). Players can perform as many actions as possible at their turns. For example, player can use one wheat, one brick, one wool and one lumber to build a settlement.

They will build two settlements at the beginning of the game, which means all players will have 2 victory points in hand. They will start with initial resources which are the neighbouring resources of their second settlement.

The resources are represented by hexes (inset) and are marked by a number. A dice is rolled at every turn and the number will represent the number on the hexes. Let's just say, a player rolled a nine. All players who have settlements neighbouring hex No.9 (brick) will obtain a resource, which is brick (1 brick per 1 settlement). A city will yield two instead of one resource. Then comes the trading part. Only the active player can initiate trade with any one player. The trade can be done on any terms, such as 3 wheats for 1 lumber, 1 lumber 1 brick for 2 wheats 3 ores and so on.

Note that number 7 is not available on the hexes. It is meant for the only blank hex on the board. If any player rolls a seven, he/she will activate the robber. The robber will then be moved to any one hex and a resource will be stolen from the hand of a player surrounding the hex. A soldier card (a development card) will produce the same effect. However, when a player rolls a seven, all players with more than 7 cards on their hands will have to discard half of the cards on hand (excluding dev cards...and in the case of 11 cards, discard 6). This effect, however does not apply to soldier cards. Any hex which has a robber on it will not yield any resource even if the number is rolled.

Player can also play development cards during his/her turn. However, he/she can only play one development card at one turn. He/she also cannot buy a development card and uses it in the same turn. Roads doesnt bring any victory points, but you must build roads before you can build a settlement and then city. Settlements cannot be built next to each other.

There are special awards as well. 2 precious victory points will be given to the player with the longest road (at least 5 roads). When another player equals him/her, he/she still holds the title. However, once another player builds more roads, he/she will have to hand the title to the player. Note that the roads have to be connected and there is no opponent cities or settlements blocking the way. Another two victory points will be given to the player with the largest army (largest number of Soldier cards being played - at least 3 soldier development cards). The same principle applies - nothing happens if another player plays the same number of soldier development cards, but the player will snatch the 2 points away if he/she uses more Soldier cards later.

Sometimes, a development card may bear one victory point as well. These cards are to be placed face down, so the opponents will not know. It will only be revealed at the end of the game.

Once a player reaches 10 victory points or above, the game ends.

This game is very interesting but there is a visible effect of luck and emotion. Probability can suggest anything but if a dice keeps giving 11 or 2 or 3, players can get some shocking results. Besides that, friendship and loyalty can be a deterrent factor for winning as well. It all depends on the communication skills of human. After all, we are not perfect :P