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Cities & Knights of Catan
by wigglylittleworm
In the game "The Settlers of Catan" the aim is to colonise the island of Catan, which is composed of 19 production hexes, by building roads and settlements and cities with the winner being the one who scores 10 victory points first. Each player builds their initial settlements around numbered hexes and rolls of the dice ... determine whether or not your hex produce the materials needed to build your empire. Along the way you can collect victory cards allowing you to monopolise resources, build an army of knights or collect victory points which helps you to get ahead of your opponents. Settlers is a fantastic board game, once you have mastered the rules of the game it is well worth investing in a Cities and Knights expansion pack which will give you all you need to play the more advanced game which is even more fun than the original.
A Cities and Knights expansion pack currently costs around £25 from Amazon which I think is fairly pricey considering you already need to own the Settlers board game in order to play. The original board game also costs around £25 so if you are intending to play C&K without owning the original set then you are going to need to spend around £50. Having said that, the games are all very well constructed so will last a lifetime. Cities and Knights is a game for 3 to 4 players, to play with 5 or 6 people you will need to buy a further expansion pack setting you back another £15 or so. There are very few sets available second hand via Ebay which shows that once people own the set then they enjoy playing the game and want to keep hold of it.
The first difference between C&K and Settlers is that in C&K you can build up your cities to be an extra strong city called a metropolis. This is done by collecting various commodity cards which are books, cloth or coins that are produced by forest, sheep and ore hexes alongside the usual resources. Building up these commodities also gives you access to progress cards which can either give you an advantage or allow you to do something nasty to your opponent. These progress cards replace the victory cards in Settlers and are a lot more fun.
The second difference between Settlers and C&K is the addition of the Barbarian. The Barbarian attacks Catan and unless the cities are protected by Knights then the cities can be downgraded to a settlement which not only loses you a point but also takes away access to commodities. Players must co-operate to build enough knights to fend off the Barbarian attacks, at the same time the player with the strongest army of knights when the Barbarians strike also gains a point so there is still an element of competition. Knights also fend off robber attacks when a 7 is rolled so are well worth having but be warned that if your opponent has the correct progress cards they can steal a knight from you and make it their own!
Have I lost you yet? As you might have worked out then C+K is a very difficult game to learn and the banker also has their work cut out for them juggling resources and commodities and moving the Barbarian. The role of the banker is so complex that unless you are experienced at the game then it makes sense to have a dedicated banker who does not play at all. Even for someone who is fairly proficient at playing the Settlers game it is going to take a while to get used to all of the new rules.
It is worth spending the time learning the new game rules as playing Cities and Knights is far more rewarding than playing the Settlers game. The fact you have to keep your brain engaged to think through your strategy whilst also keeping an eye on your opponent and trying to jinx them means that this is a game which is highly satisfying to play. Because the hexes are organised randomly each new game you can't rely on one strategy but need to adapt your gameplay to each new board so will never grow bored. A game generally takes around 90 minutes to play and there is always lots of activity and chatter around the table when you are playing.
I would recommend every "Settlers of Catan" fan takes a look at the "cities and Knights" expansion to the game if they have not already. If you are new to the game then you need to play the basic game first before you move onto more advanced variants.
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Settlers of Catan
by Misterlak
Settlers of Catan has long been extremely popular and one of the bestselling board games. The game originated in Germany and was created by Klaus Teuber in 1995. Meanwhile it has been translated into 25 languages.
The island of Catan is hexagonal and divided into various areas such as commodities and as forests, mountains and ... meadows. As a player it is your goal to get as many resources on the island, faster than your opponents. You're in need of commodities to create new towns, streets and city building. The building of towns and cities are worth points and those who get ten points first wins the game.
You do not just get points for building cities and such, but also for the longest continuous route you get points. Players can trade with each other and choosing to help or sabotage other players.
The board: In the basic game you have 37 land tiles available. These are hexagonal. The following tiles are available:
4 Forest
3 Mountains
4 Meadow
4 Arable land
3 Hills
A Desert
9 Sea
9 Sea ports
Victory Points you can earn in various ways. Namely:
Every village is worth a victory point.
Every city has two victory points.
The longest trade route (ie the longest path), is worth two points. The longest trade route only counts if you have five or more contiguous roads.
There are developments cards are worth points.
It's a great family game but also a thrilling game. To win the game you need to apply the necessary different tactics what makes the game different every time. You can use different tactics for each game and take your opponents by surprise. You can also apply additional rules to make it even more exciting. There are many expansion sets available in the game. For me I love this game Settlers of Catan and it's a great game to play with a group.
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Settlers of Catan
by wigglylittleworm
Catan is a German board game which was invented in 1995 by Klaus Teuber and immediately won awards in its native country but remains relatively unknown worldwide. I was only introduced to the board game a couple of months ago by my cousin (who is currently competing in the World Of Catan world championships where she is in the quarter ... finals!) when the game was explained to me I just thought it sounded weird but since then I have become hooked.
The island of Catan is hexagonal and divided up into 19 different hexes, 18 of which produce either logs, metal, sheep or bricks with one non productive desert hex. The way the board is set up each time varies with the tiles placed at random over the board and then numbers placed on top. It is your goal to build up your resources to build on the island more quickly than your opponents.
In the game you play the part of a settler on the island of Catan. Each settler (or player) starts of by building 2 settlements on the edges of production hexes. Each hex is numbered from 2 to 12 and when the dice roll your number it yields one unit of production for every settlement built there. Players choose where to base their settlements trying to get a good mix of both resources and numbers; obviously a 6 or 8 will be far more likely to roll than a 2 or 12. You use your resources you build roads on the island and when you reach other hexes you can build more settlements and upgrade to cities. You can also buy development cards which are like wild cards; some allow you to steal resources from other players or build roads or use a knight to drive away the robber.
The winner is the first person to reach ten victory points. Each settlement gives a point, a city two. There are also points for the longest road or the person who has used the most knights which can swap between players several times over the course of a game.
Players have the option of trading resources with one another and also the bank at various rates depending on where they have built (like Monopoly somebody has to act as banker to dish out resources and cards) so there is always a lot of interaction and chat going on round the game table. Players set their own rate for each trade and can choose to help or hinder other players. The game gets really competitive with everyone vying for the best spaces on the board and trying to sabotage the other players.
Catan can throw up some nasty surprises. Every time a 7 is rolled, the person who rolled gets to move the robber onto an opponents hex. The robber stops this hex producing anything and the person who rolled a 7 also gets to draw a card from the other person's hand. There is much gnashing of teeth and wailing when the robber is moved.
Catan probably sounds very complicated to those who have never played before and I will admit being lost for the first game but you pick up the rules surprisingly quickly and learn tips and tricks to get ahead. The beauty of the game is that there is a new board built every time so you cannot stick to one strategy, you have to be flexible and adapt your game play to each new board in order to win. I play monopoly every so often but once you have learned the rules it gets dull as you use the same strategy for every game but every game of Catan is different. A game lasts from around 30 to 45 minutes and you need at least 3 players. It is a game primarily for adults, the teenagers in my family play but I don't see a child under 11 being able to pick it up.
My family have all become great fans of the original Settlers Of Catan game as well as the more advanced variants. I received a brand new game for my birthday, the game costs around £25 from various retailers. The game itself is really visually striking and the pieces all of great quality with lovely wooden game pieces and nicely illustrated cards. It is advisable to splash out on the new game rather than the second hand one as the newer version has a nicer surround to stop the pieces of the island moving around which was a problem with older versions.
The Settlers of Catan is a brilliant board game and I wish I had discovered it years ago. It combines the fun of a property trading game with the thought needed for a strategy game and also provides a great way for families to interact.
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