We’re Trading Bricks and Wood for Sheep With New ‘Settlers of Catan’ 6th Edition
Catan is a game where you’ll always be looking for more sheep, or wood. And somebody else is always going to have the longest road card!
Settlers of Catan is one of the most popular and well-known board games in the world. Available in more than 40 languages worldwide, and with almost too many expansions and alternative versions to keep track of, Catan is the board game. But what makes this humble game of resource management and community building so special and instantly recognizable?
| Quick Guide | ||
|---|---|---|
| Mechanics | Hex Grid, Hand and Resource Management, Chaining | |
| Players | 3 – 4 Players, Age 110+ | |
| Playing Time | 60 – 120 Minutes | |
| Similar Games | Carcassonne, Ticket to Ride, Agricola | |
| Publisher | KOSMOS |
Origins of The Settler’s of Catan
First published in Germany in 1995, The Settlers of Catan – also known simply as Catan – is a competitive multiplayer game with a pretty simple premise. Players find themselves on a large-ish island that’s blessed with a wide variety of resources as well as multiple ports for trading. Players set up settlements and expand. And the person to build the strongest settlement – by the numbers, this game is, of course, scored – wins.
Since 1995, Catan has sold more than 32 million copies in more than 40 languages, and is currently on its sixth edition. It has been referenced in popular media, has been studied in a short film, is played competitively in national and world championships, and may even be in development as a TV show or movie. Games are easy to learn, but hard to master due to the combination of strategy, luck, and out-maneuvering your opponents.
How To Play Catan
Games of Catan are set up by constructing the hex-grid board and (mostly) randomly arranging the various hexes in the island. The desert tile is always placed in the middle, and the Robber is always placed in the desert to start. Then players will choose their color, collect all of the settlement, cities, and road pieces of that color as well as a cheat-sheet card with a basic break-down of how to score points. Finally, players will place their first few settlements and road pieces on the board.
Throughout a game of Catan, players will take turns collecting resource cards and using those resources to building settlements, cities, and roads. It’s difficult for any one player to have access to every resource, but every one of them are necessary to build something. So players will sometimes trade resources with one another. Other times, they will build their way to ports to attempt to trade for what they need.
Players will also move the Robber token around, temporarily rendering one tile useless for resource collecting, and go out of their way to block other players from building where they would like, and by extension, accessing certain resources.
Settlements, cities and certain cards, and building the longest road on the board are all worth a different number of points. And the first player to reach ten points wins.
Should I Pick Up Catan?
Yes. And I’d be surprised if you didn’t already own it, to be perfectly honest. Catan is beloved, and famous to the point of being spoofed for a reason. I have not introduced Catan to a single person who didn’t go on to buy themselves a copy. Even my parents own Catan! And they may only play board games anymore when they come visit me and I temporarily become that KPop Demon Hunters scene! You know the one.
Catan is competitive, but fun and light-hearted. It’s quick to learn, but not simple or boring by any means. It’s a perfect board game for folks who aren’t ‘board game people’. And it will have you yelling about bricks and sheep in no time at all. But in a fun way.
And a brand new edition is out now!
Explore more of Catan with these 6th Edition expansions…
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