6 ms·

The Man Who Built Catan

210 points by route66 13y ago

TacticalCoder 13y ago
I've got a little story as to how addictive Catan can be to some people... About 15 years ago, a friend came to visit in my country with Catan. The simple, original box. He stayed at my place and for days my friend, my roommate and his girlfriend and me kept playing it. Then my friend left back to its country and took his Catan with him. We were so addicted and wanted to play really badly, but it was saturday evening. Shops wouldn't open until monday and we wanted to play. We had played the game so much in a few days, non-stop, that we knew it by heart. So I told my roomate and his girlfriend: let's build it. I was working in the book publishing business and had a very nice color printer at my apartment. I fired up Gimp on Linux (IIRC) and Quark XPress (that I'm sure of) on the old Mac and started designing basic hexagons and cards layout while my roommate started drawing and his girlfriend started writing down everything she remembered. Then we printed everything on the color laser printer and started cutting. In about three hours (!!!) we had a functional game (we'd put a huge table glass on the map once randomly distributed). And we played the whole Saturday night, the whole Sunday... And when we woke up on Monday, we went to buy the game. We were so into it that the three of us couldn't wait 36 hours or so to buy the game: we had to have it immediately. And we built it. There's one word I'm thinking of for this game: addictive ^ ^
- lostlogin 13y ago
  Agreed, not quite to that level though. The best thing is, compared to computer gaming, it is very social playing and you can have a conversation while playing (usually punctuated by screams hurry up, not screw up and random insults). Board gaming in an evening is excellent.
- krrrh 13y ago
  Some friends and I made a single-use board with felt markers some years ago. It's also fun to customize the resources to your local environment. Debating how resources should combine was at least as fun as playing. http://flickr.com/photos/dorywithserifs/3745799327 http://flickr.com/photos/dorywithserifs/3745799327
chimeracoder 13y ago
Catan was my first German-style board game[0]. I've since "graduated" on to more complicated games, so I rarely play it anymore, but I find that it's an effective "gateway" German-style board game. Almost all of my friends who have played it love it, and have gone on to try (and enjoy) other German-style games. Catan is nice because it's sufficiently more complex (and well-designed) than Monopoly so as to be interesting, but not so complex that the rules take ages for newcomers to learn (as is often the case with many more complicated games). My personal favorite at the moment is Through the Ages[1], though I'm also a fan of Puerto Rico[2], as it's a rare example of a good game that has (almost) no random elements to its gameplay, such as rolling dice or shuffling a deck. (There is one set of tiles that is shuffled, but it's rather inconsequential and could easily be made deterministic if desired). Here in NYC, there's a cafe dedicated to board games and which was funded on Kickstarter[3]. As a huge board game geek, I'm really glad they're catching on. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German-style_board_game https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German-style_board_game [1] http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/25613/through-the-ages-a-story-of-civilization http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/25613/through-the-ages-a-... [2] http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/3076/puerto-rico http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/3076/puerto-rico [3] http://www.uncommonsnyc.com/ http://www.uncommonsnyc.com/
- tfgg 13y ago
  In Oxford there's http://www.thirstymeeples.co.uk/ http://www.thirstymeeples.co.uk/. It's really good for finding new games, as they've got roaming board game specialists that will recommend a new game, help you get set up and teach you the basics. I just wish they'd get an alcohol license ;) (if only to help their profitability!) After playing a fair bit of Catan, I tend to get frustrated with how it's just a bit too random to establish complex strategy. I rather like Dominion for variability and depth.
  - pliny 13y ago
    How do they keep the food off the games? Is everything covered in plastic?
    - 13y ago
geddes 13y ago
Is Catan really Silicon Valley's golf, like the article claims? I'd love to think so but I haven't seen any deals cemented over a game of Catan. Anyone have any stories?
- nedwin 13y ago
  I'm fairly new here but yet to see a ton of Catan action. Fancy a game?
- michaelochurch 13y ago
  Is Catan really Silicon Valley's golf, like the article claims? I'd believe it of the old Silicon Valley. The new one, with Snapchat and Clinkle and spider pooping and expensive real estate and multiple liquidation preferences? Probably not. I think golf is the new golf in Silicon Valley.
  - Yhippa 13y ago
    I had to look up spider pooping. People can't possibly be doing that. Wow.
tylero 13y ago
Here's a fun (and pretty long) podcast interview with Klaus and Guido: http://jeffrubinjeffrubinshow.com/episode/16-settlers-of-catan-creator-klaus-teuber/ http://jeffrubinjeffrubinshow.com/episode/16-settlers-of-cat...
habosa 13y ago
"The company originally sourced all of the materials for the game from Europe, but, when demand began to take off, the manufacturers didn’t have enough wood to keep up." Couldn't they have traded some grain or ore?
- adamconroy 13y ago
  I chuckled when I read that line. I assume they put in as a little joke.
- ojii 13y ago
  you never trade wood, roads...
habosa 13y ago
My friends and I just got into Catan and it's really great. We used to play a ton of FIFA and Madden when we were together, now it's always "who wants to settle?". It really is a great game because it can't be completely beaten like Monopoly can and there is no best strategy that we've found. I play totally differently than my friends and we all win sometimes. I also love the social aspects of trading and the robber. We have a LOT of table talk when we play, and it's hilarious to see what people will say to convince someone to put the robber on a spot they don't own. Also the desperate trades we get into "I'll give 5 wool for a grain! 6 wool for a grain!". It's really the best board game I have ever played by far.
- mlader 13y ago
  They should trade into the bank! 4 for 1 =)
  - habosa 13y ago
    Yeah I was exaggerating, but people do 5 cards for one if they really need it (just mixed element).
    - MichaelGG 13y ago
      Is trading actually a good thing? I see people play and they seem open to trading for trades sake. Unless your opponents are making pointless trades to confuse, doesn't it just help their position? Catan's alright, but it's too random to be really enjoyable. The strategy seems outweighed by getting lucky on rolls or draws.
      - habosa 13y ago
        Trading is definitely a good thing. I find that when placing settlements at the beginning it's crazy to try to get exposure to all 5 elements, but if you get really strong exposure to 3 of them you can trade for what you lack. Then you don't have to spread yourself too thin. Plus you know what people will do with what you trade them ... don't give up wood if you don't want people building roads.
Pxtl 13y ago
The great thing about Catan is how it's a wedge. It's a gateway drug into the world of modern boardgames (I don't say Eurogames because there's some fantastic Ameritrash). People who play Catan are then amicable to try out other fun great games like Ticket To Ride and Small World.
- philwelch 13y ago
  I thought the distinction between "Eurogames" and "Ameritrash" had more to do with design style than actual nationality.
  - pessimizer 13y ago
    It does. I'm not sure what you're seeing in the comment you replied to that seems like it's implying otherwise, though. Eurogames trace their ancestry from early American designers, and Europeans have contributed some really garish ameritrash (esp. the British.)
  - Pxtl 13y ago
    Absolutely, and there are games that follow the ameritrash design style that are good. risk 2210 is my go-to example.
- talmand 13y ago
  Is "Ameritrash" supposed to be a positive or negative labeling?
  - Pxtl 13y ago
    It's a negative label to a genre that actually contains some good games - that's my point. See risk 2210 for an example of good Ameritrash. Ameritrash describes games that are more violent and simulationist - crude wargames for teens and the like. The opposite of the elegant, dry, abstract Eurogames. But there are excellent ameritrash games.
    - talmand 13y ago
yourmind 13y ago
Best game ever.
locusm 13y ago
I never played Catan but wondered if it was suitable for kids 8-12 yrs old? Also, anyone play "Escape from Colditz"? man I loved that game as a kid.
- daliusd 13y ago
  Suggested age is from 10 (http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/13/the-settlers-of-catan http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/13/the-settlers-of-catan). If you want simpler but equally fun game for younger kids you should look into "Ticket to Ride". My 7 years old daughter demands me to play this game each day.
- andyjohnson0 13y ago
  Definitely suitable, in my experience. One of my children is in the middle of that age range, and the other is just below it. They both enjoy playing the game.
nnnnni 13y ago
It looks like there is a fairly active IRC channel for modern boardgames called #boardgames on Freenode. http://webchat.freenode.net/?channels=%23boardgames http://webchat.freenode.net/?channels=%23boardgames http://www.boardgamegeek.com/ http://www.boardgamegeek.com/ is the IMDB of boardgames.
- epsylon 13y ago
  If you read French (or want to improve yours :-)), there's also the French site TricTrac: http://www.trictrac.net/ http://www.trictrac.net/
talmand 13y ago
For those who might be interested: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3WJTlDa7oo http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3WJTlDa7oo This is a Table Top episode hosted by Wil Wheaton playing Settlers of Catan. There is also another episode where they play the Star Trek variation. Also, if you haven't seen this series and are interested in board games I highly suggest you watch other episodes. The level of interest will vary from episode to episode based on whether you like the type of game they play. But they give you a decent idea of how the game works and how it is played. I have made several board game purchases based on this show.
- Zikes 13y ago
  I've also made several purchases based on that show and recommend everyone give them a watch. They're also organizing the upcoming International TableTop Day at http://www.tabletopday.com/ http://www.tabletopday.com/, and are very proud of how they almost got the ISS involved in last year's but that fell through at the last minute.
michaelochurch 13y ago
I wish we had more of a board game culture in the U.S. It seems that most adults end up, just because society is so demanding and competitive these days, with a lot of low-level social anxiety. It's rarely enough that most people notice it, but it keeps people from really relating to each other or learning from each other, and it's a major part of why people become so damn boring, one-sided, and narrowly careerist once they leave school. There seem to be two antidotes to this low-grade but ubiquitous social anxiety. One is games, the other is alcohol. I don't mind an occasional drink but, most of the time, I prefer the one that sharpens the brain over the one that dulls it.
the_watcher 13y ago
Catan is incredible to me. We picked it up in a thrift shop in a rural eastern Washington town, thinking it was some relic of the 70s (this was probably 1998 or something). We played it on family vacations and never thought about it outside of them. Then, all of a sudden, it exploded in popularity. Really cool story.
awkwit 13y ago
Played it for the first time a year ago. I've been addicted ever since.

210 points by route66 13y ago

I've got a little story as to how addictive Catan can be to some people... About 15 years ago, a friend came to visit in my country with Catan. The simple, original box. He stayed at my place and for days my friend, my roommate and his girlfriend and me kept playing it. Then my friend left back to its country and took his Catan with him. We were so addicted and wanted to play really badly, but it was saturday evening. Shops wouldn't open until monday and we wanted to play. We had played the game so much in a few days, non-stop, that we knew it by heart. So I told my roomate and his girlfriend: let's build it. I was working in the book publishing business and had a very nice color printer at my apartment. I fired up Gimp on Linux (IIRC) and Quark XPress (that I'm sure of) on the old Mac and started designing basic hexagons and cards layout while my roommate started drawing and his girlfriend started writing down everything she remembered. Then we printed everything on the color laser printer and started cutting. In about three hours (!!!) we had a functional game (we'd put a huge table glass on the map once randomly distributed). And we played the whole Saturday night, the whole Sunday... And when we woke up on Monday, we went to buy the game. We were so into it that the three of us couldn't wait 36 hours or so to buy the game: we had to have it immediately. And we built it. There's one word I'm thinking of for this game: addictive ^ ^

lostlogin 13y ago
Agreed, not quite to that level though. The best thing is, compared to computer gaming, it is very social playing and you can have a conversation while playing (usually punctuated by screams hurry up, not screw up and random insults). Board gaming in an evening is excellent.
krrrh 13y ago
Some friends and I made a single-use board with felt markers some years ago. It's also fun to customize the resources to your local environment. Debating how resources should combine was at least as fun as playing. http://flickr.com/photos/dorywithserifs/3745799327 http://flickr.com/photos/dorywithserifs/3745799327

chimeracoder 13y ago

Catan was my first German-style board game[0]. I've since "graduated" on to more complicated games, so I rarely play it anymore, but I find that it's an effective "gateway" German-style board game. Almost all of my friends who have played it love it, and have gone on to try (and enjoy) other German-style games. Catan is nice because it's sufficiently more complex (and well-designed) than Monopoly so as to be interesting, but not so complex that the rules take ages for newcomers to learn (as is often the case with many more complicated games). My personal favorite at the moment is Through the Ages[1], though I'm also a fan of Puerto Rico[2], as it's a rare example of a good game that has (almost) no random elements to its gameplay, such as rolling dice or shuffling a deck. (There is one set of tiles that is shuffled, but it's rather inconsequential and could easily be made deterministic if desired). Here in NYC, there's a cafe dedicated to board games and which was funded on Kickstarter[3]. As a huge board game geek, I'm really glad they're catching on. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German-style_board_game https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German-style_board_game [1] http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/25613/through-the-ages-a-story-of-civilization http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/25613/through-the-ages-a-... [2] http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/3076/puerto-rico http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/3076/puerto-rico [3] http://www.uncommonsnyc.com/ http://www.uncommonsnyc.com/

tfgg 13y ago
In Oxford there's http://www.thirstymeeples.co.uk/ http://www.thirstymeeples.co.uk/. It's really good for finding new games, as they've got roaming board game specialists that will recommend a new game, help you get set up and teach you the basics. I just wish they'd get an alcohol license ;) (if only to help their profitability!) After playing a fair bit of Catan, I tend to get frustrated with how it's just a bit too random to establish complex strategy. I rather like Dominion for variability and depth.
- pliny 13y ago
  How do they keep the food off the games? Is everything covered in plastic?
  - 13y ago

geddes 13y ago

Is Catan really Silicon Valley's golf, like the article claims? I'd love to think so but I haven't seen any deals cemented over a game of Catan. Anyone have any stories?

nedwin 13y ago
I'm fairly new here but yet to see a ton of Catan action. Fancy a game?
michaelochurch 13y ago
Is Catan really Silicon Valley's golf, like the article claims? I'd believe it of the old Silicon Valley. The new one, with Snapchat and Clinkle and spider pooping and expensive real estate and multiple liquidation preferences? Probably not. I think golf is the new golf in Silicon Valley.
- Yhippa 13y ago
  I had to look up spider pooping. People can't possibly be doing that. Wow.

tylero 13y ago

Here's a fun (and pretty long) podcast interview with Klaus and Guido: http://jeffrubinjeffrubinshow.com/episode/16-settlers-of-catan-creator-klaus-teuber/ http://jeffrubinjeffrubinshow.com/episode/16-settlers-of-cat...

habosa 13y ago

"The company originally sourced all of the materials for the game from Europe, but, when demand began to take off, the manufacturers didn’t have enough wood to keep up." Couldn't they have traded some grain or ore?

adamconroy 13y ago
I chuckled when I read that line. I assume they put in as a little joke.
ojii 13y ago
you never trade wood, roads...

habosa 13y ago

My friends and I just got into Catan and it's really great. We used to play a ton of FIFA and Madden when we were together, now it's always "who wants to settle?". It really is a great game because it can't be completely beaten like Monopoly can and there is no best strategy that we've found. I play totally differently than my friends and we all win sometimes. I also love the social aspects of trading and the robber. We have a LOT of table talk when we play, and it's hilarious to see what people will say to convince someone to put the robber on a spot they don't own. Also the desperate trades we get into "I'll give 5 wool for a grain! 6 wool for a grain!". It's really the best board game I have ever played by far.

mlader 13y ago
They should trade into the bank! 4 for 1 =)
- habosa 13y ago
  Yeah I was exaggerating, but people do 5 cards for one if they really need it (just mixed element).
  - MichaelGG 13y ago
    Is trading actually a good thing? I see people play and they seem open to trading for trades sake. Unless your opponents are making pointless trades to confuse, doesn't it just help their position? Catan's alright, but it's too random to be really enjoyable. The strategy seems outweighed by getting lucky on rolls or draws.
    - habosa 13y ago
      Trading is definitely a good thing. I find that when placing settlements at the beginning it's crazy to try to get exposure to all 5 elements, but if you get really strong exposure to 3 of them you can trade for what you lack. Then you don't have to spread yourself too thin. Plus you know what people will do with what you trade them ... don't give up wood if you don't want people building roads.

Pxtl 13y ago

The great thing about Catan is how it's a wedge. It's a gateway drug into the world of modern boardgames (I don't say Eurogames because there's some fantastic Ameritrash). People who play Catan are then amicable to try out other fun great games like Ticket To Ride and Small World.

philwelch 13y ago
I thought the distinction between "Eurogames" and "Ameritrash" had more to do with design style than actual nationality.
- pessimizer 13y ago
  It does. I'm not sure what you're seeing in the comment you replied to that seems like it's implying otherwise, though. Eurogames trace their ancestry from early American designers, and Europeans have contributed some really garish ameritrash (esp. the British.)
- Pxtl 13y ago
  Absolutely, and there are games that follow the ameritrash design style that are good. risk 2210 is my go-to example.
talmand 13y ago
Is "Ameritrash" supposed to be a positive or negative labeling?
- Pxtl 13y ago
  It's a negative label to a genre that actually contains some good games - that's my point. See risk 2210 for an example of good Ameritrash. Ameritrash describes games that are more violent and simulationist - crude wargames for teens and the like. The opposite of the elegant, dry, abstract Eurogames. But there are excellent ameritrash games.
  - talmand 13y ago

yourmind 13y ago

Best game ever.

locusm 13y ago

I never played Catan but wondered if it was suitable for kids 8-12 yrs old? Also, anyone play "Escape from Colditz"? man I loved that game as a kid.

daliusd 13y ago
Suggested age is from 10 (http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/13/the-settlers-of-catan http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/13/the-settlers-of-catan). If you want simpler but equally fun game for younger kids you should look into "Ticket to Ride". My 7 years old daughter demands me to play this game each day.
andyjohnson0 13y ago
Definitely suitable, in my experience. One of my children is in the middle of that age range, and the other is just below it. They both enjoy playing the game.

nnnnni 13y ago

It looks like there is a fairly active IRC channel for modern boardgames called #boardgames on Freenode. http://webchat.freenode.net/?channels=%23boardgames http://webchat.freenode.net/?channels=%23boardgames http://www.boardgamegeek.com/ http://www.boardgamegeek.com/ is the IMDB of boardgames.

epsylon 13y ago
If you read French (or want to improve yours :-)), there's also the French site TricTrac: http://www.trictrac.net/ http://www.trictrac.net/

talmand 13y ago

For those who might be interested: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3WJTlDa7oo http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3WJTlDa7oo This is a Table Top episode hosted by Wil Wheaton playing Settlers of Catan. There is also another episode where they play the Star Trek variation. Also, if you haven't seen this series and are interested in board games I highly suggest you watch other episodes. The level of interest will vary from episode to episode based on whether you like the type of game they play. But they give you a decent idea of how the game works and how it is played. I have made several board game purchases based on this show.

Zikes 13y ago
I've also made several purchases based on that show and recommend everyone give them a watch. They're also organizing the upcoming International TableTop Day at http://www.tabletopday.com/ http://www.tabletopday.com/, and are very proud of how they almost got the ISS involved in last year's but that fell through at the last minute.

michaelochurch 13y ago

I wish we had more of a board game culture in the U.S. It seems that most adults end up, just because society is so demanding and competitive these days, with a lot of low-level social anxiety. It's rarely enough that most people notice it, but it keeps people from really relating to each other or learning from each other, and it's a major part of why people become so damn boring, one-sided, and narrowly careerist once they leave school. There seem to be two antidotes to this low-grade but ubiquitous social anxiety. One is games, the other is alcohol. I don't mind an occasional drink but, most of the time, I prefer the one that sharpens the brain over the one that dulls it.

the_watcher 13y ago

Catan is incredible to me. We picked it up in a thrift shop in a rural eastern Washington town, thinking it was some relic of the 70s (this was probably 1998 or something). We played it on family vacations and never thought about it outside of them. Then, all of a sudden, it exploded in popularity. Really cool story.

awkwit 13y ago

Played it for the first time a year ago. I've been addicted ever since.