The Settlers of Catan: A Board Game

The Settlers of Catan is a very fun multiplayer board game designed by Klaus Teuber. It was first published in 1995 in Germany by Kosmos under the name Die Siedler von Catan. Since then it has gained worldwide fame as a game that can easily be played and enjoyed by a 10 year old, as much as it can by a bunch of competitive adults.

It is now published by Mayfair Games in the US and Britain.

During the 10+ years since its creation, the game has won numerous awards including the following:

2005

* Games Magazine Hall of Fame

1996

* Origins Award for Best Fantasy or Science Fiction Board Game

1995

* Spiel des Jahres Game of the Year
* Deutscher Spiele Preis 1st place
* Essen Feather

These are basic tips for playing Settlers of Catan, however you will find that there are various strategies that you can learn and develop as your skills advance.

1. Focus on the number - The tiles with red numbers have the best chance of being rolled with the dice. Try to place your settlements in the midst of hexes with numbers that are most commonly rolled. There are 36 different dice roll possibilities. Here are the odds as to how often each combination can be rolled. If you try to place settlements at the crosspoint between the resource hexes with these numbers, then you will greatly increase your odds of getting the resource.

odds for 7

6/36

odds for 6 and 8

5/36

odds for 5 and 9

4/36

odds for 4 and 10

3/36

odds for 3 and 11

2/36

odds for 2 and 12

1/36

2. Expand early - The earlier you build a new settlement, the more resources it will provide overall. As you lay down your first two settlements think about potential directions of your expansion.

3. Interrupt your enemy - Use roads and settlements to interrupt your enemies expansion. If you build a settlement in the middle of their road, it disrupts their "longest road" count. Also, you can effectively blockade your enemy from expanding into an area that you would like to build on.

4. Brick, bricks and more bricks - In a game of Settlers of Catan (not any of the major expansions), brick is the most valuable resource, as there are only 3 brick and 3 ore tiles while there are 4 of every other type. Since brick is necessary for roads and settlements, it is the most important component of early expansion. Ore is important also, but more in the later part of the game, as you upgrade your settlements to a cities.

Also, in the beginning of the game, if you have something of a monopoly on brick your ability to trade very well for the common resources becomes that much easier, as you will have the least common resource in good quantity.

5. Trading - By intelligently taking part in the trading of resources throughout the game, you can not only increase your desired resources to further your expansion, but you can also potentially find an ally in another player.

6. The robber - The robber piece is a great way to make an enemy (or several). However, you could also benefit a friend as well by putting the robber on specific tiles of which another player (that may be an enemy) is on.