Three or four players (up to 6 with the extension) play against each other to create the most prestigious settlement on the island of Catan, rolling dice to collect resources to build roads, towns, cities and other advancements. (90-120 minute playtime)
26
votes
5answers
739 views
When I put the robber on someone in Settlers of Catan, does the resource I take HAVE to be random?
Say I have 3 ore, 2 wheat, and a wood, and player B has a wheat, a wool, and a brick. Player B puts the robber next to one of my settlements and has to take one resource at random. Player B wants to ...
35
votes
2answers
5k views
Do my own villages/cities interrupt my “longest road” in Catan?
In a monthly game night, my friend interprets the rules to say that if I have a village or city on my road, it reduces the "longest road" length. I interpret the rules as saying that my village/city ...
8
votes
5answers
401 views
Promised future trades as part of legal trades? (Solution described, alternatives/comments requested)
When making a trade in Settlers of Catan, there is no official rule encouraging or prohibiting making a promise (to make a certain type of trade or perform some kind of action in the future) during a ...
9
votes
2answers
580 views
Where did the “can't build next to the robber” house rule come from?
Several people I've met play Settlers of Catan with the house rule "you may not build anything that isn't a knight next to the robber". As far as I can see, it's not in the rule book.
To clarify: ...
4
votes
1answer
152 views
Where can I find a spanish language copy of the rules of Settlers of Catan.
I have found a link from a 2008 blog, but this fails now
12
votes
4answers
564 views
Which tournament format best emphasizes winning (as opposed to avoiding last place)?
I've played enough Settlers that I think I could do well in a tournament. However, a cursory glance at upcoming tournaments suggests that most Settlers tournaments use a Swiss scoring system that ...
4
votes
3answers
4k views
With both Seafarers and Cities & Knights expansions, how many victory points should I play to?
I've recently gotten Cities & Knights and plan to play it with my existing Seafarers of Catan expansion once I get the hang of it. Looking through the manuals for both Seafarers of Catan and ...
1
vote
3answers
254 views
Settlers of Catan - turn completion [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Take Back Turns / Forgotten Privileges
I recently played and during my final turn, I placed five roads to reclaim the Longest Road. However, I quickly realized that I ...
4
votes
2answers
193 views
Robber in fishing version of Settlers
In the fishing addition to Settlers of Catan the robber can be removed from the board by using two fish. The question then is can a knight from the pack of Development cards be used to bring the ...
9
votes
1answer
160 views
Can an interrupting settlement allow opponents to move previously unmovable ships?
Take a look at the following setup:
Given this board state, can blue move any of his ships? He was previously unable to, then white built the circled settlement, breaking blue's trade route.
The ...
23
votes
3answers
1k views
Which of the 5 resources in Settlers of Catan (base version) is most important? Why?
Experienced Settlers of Catan players know that the answer to this question will vary based on many board setup factors such as resource productivity, 2:1 ports, whether you can corner the market for ...
14
votes
7answers
10k views
Which Settlers of Catan expansions are recommended?
I was introduced to Settlers of Catan just a few weeks ago here. I plan on buying it and I would like recommendations as to which expansions I should get.
19
votes
5answers
3k views
How do you make Settlers of Catan work well for 2 players? (Problems and play-tested solution described, alternatives requested)
The basic Settlers of Catan game is designed to work for 3-4 players (or more with 5-6 Player Extension). No 2 player variant is suggested by the rules, and for good reasons:
Trades (an exciting ...
17
votes
5answers
2k views
What are the key strategy differences between Settlers of Catan and Seafarers?
Just starting out with Seafarers of Catan—what are the key strategy differences between Settlers of Catan and Seafarers?
15
votes
1answer
589 views
In Catan, can you put the robber on the desert?
In Settlers of Catan, we've always played that you cannot put the robber back in the desert. But watching tabletop this week, they did exactly that, and in the youtube comments people have said that ...
4
votes
2answers
170 views
Are progress cards awarded if the barbarian strength is 0?
If there are no cities on the board, barbarian strength is rated at zero. So automatically the players have tied or beaten the barbarians. Are progress cards allocated under these circumstances? If ...
12
votes
2answers
720 views
How is gameplay improved in the Cities & Knights Expansion?
I've played both regular Settlers of Catan and the Seafarers of Catan Expansion, but I haven't yet played Cities & Knights and I’m curious about how it plays. I've noticed a lot of people speak ...
1
vote
2answers
6k views
Where can I play Carcassonne or Colonists of Catan online? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Boardgaming Online
I want to play Carcassonne or Colonists (Settlers) of Catan online, either against other people, or against a computer opponent.
I want to improve my ...
19
votes
4answers
825 views
What are common contracts in Catan?
Players in my Catan groups never reneg on deals, so we have a number of common contracts. For example, we often sell each other a "Not-Hit," the right to be avoided the next time the seller gets to ...
13
votes
1answer
541 views
Can You Buy a Catan Border That Fits?
"The border of the 4th edition Settlers of Catan is too small for the board hexes. To be exact, each hexagonal tile is about 79 mm wide. Five of them, end to end, form the longest stretch of land ...
18
votes
3answers
966 views
Is giving resources away for free allowed?
Motivation: I once had one surplus card on my hand, and knew the robbers would come soon. So I gave it to someone for free, to avoid losing more cards when they hit.
I was surprised by how badly this ...
5
votes
3answers
788 views
How to make Settlers of Catan less cut-throat?
I know some people enjoy playing this way, but the other 50% of players seem to prefer a more casual game. This often stops people wanting to play at all, and so Settlers gets left on the shelf.
The ...
9
votes
1answer
398 views
What is the best version of Settlers of Catan for a group of people who have never played before?
I am trying to get our family to try out Settlers of Catan, and am wondering which version would be the easiest to begin with. I figured the original, but some sites say that some of the other ones ...
10
votes
1answer
246 views
Is there any data on most common way to get to 10 VP in Settlers of Catan? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Settlers of Catan Data
I sometimes track this for myself when I play online, and almost half the time when I win, I have Longest Road and either 3 Cities/2 Settlements ...
14
votes
4answers
333 views
Is number diversity really important?
People often say you should go for number diversity in your initial settlements. Obviously having higher-probability numbers is good, but is 6-9-4 and 8-5-10 really better than 8-5-10 and 8-5-10?
...
36
votes
6answers
1k views
In Settlers of Catan, how do you overcome bad initial settlement placement?
In Settlers of Catan, how do you overcome bad initial settlement placement? In a lot of games of Catan I've played, initial settlement placement seems to really make or break the game for a player. ...
7
votes
4answers
2k views
Settlers of Catan play takes hours
I was under the impression that the play time in Settlers of Catan was more modest than say, Risk. However it seems almost as long. This is often due to a lot of trading and talk which drags on for a ...
14
votes
11answers
567 views
How to reduce slow starts at the beginning of the game?
We recently played a game of Settlers of Catan where for the first 3 rounds none of us got any brick at all, so there was no road construction at all and it dragged a little. I'm not looking to reduce ...
0
votes
0answers
171 views
Has anyone played a completely 'free market' version of Settlers of Catan? [closed]
In a free market version, there is no robber and sevens don't do anything (either reroll or nothing pays out). Optionally, players' resources cards are public information.
If so, what was your ...
23
votes
3answers
841 views
How do you place your initial settlements in Settlers of Catan?
Initial settlement placement in Catan can really affect the outcome of the game. What strategy do you follow in Settlers of Catan for initial settlement placement. Does this strategy change if you ...
1
vote
0answers
226 views
“House Rules” in Settlers of Catan [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
What are common contracts in Catan?
The group I regularly play Settlers with has used a house rule about ports (I can trade resources for you at my port on your turn) ...
13
votes
8answers
765 views
Creative handicaps in Settlers of Catan?
I've gotten really into Settlers of Catan recently. There are a few people I regularly play with and these games are really fun / intense; however, when any of this group splits off to play "friendly ...
18
votes
3answers
626 views
Public knowledge in Settlers of Catan?
Settlers of Catan has a lot of public knowledge. For example, a player cannot hide how many resource cards or development cards they have.
Are any of the following public knowledge?
Size of the ...
1
vote
2answers
654 views
Useful Settlers of Catan calculations?
I'm trying to calculate various probabilities that would be useful for Settlers of Catan. So far I've tabulated the probability of rolling X in Y turns, the probability of rolling X before Y, and the ...
17
votes
7answers
743 views
How do I avoid the endless trade negotiations in Settlers of Catan?
When I play Settlers of Catan, I often find myself rapidly bored by the trading component of the game. This is normally because of one or two players who insist on endlessly protracted negotiations ...
7
votes
1answer
183 views
Recording Settlers of Catan games?
When I was learning to play Go, recording and reviewing my games helped me improve rapidly. I'd like to do something similar for Settlers of Catan, but it's obviously much more difficult to record ...
10
votes
3answers
256 views
In Catan, should you try to exclude others players from one resource?
In Settlers of Catan (the board game), in a game with four players, is it considered a good strategy to try to lock one (or two) other player(s) from a given resource in order to have an upper hand ...
14
votes
2answers
2k views
Catan : Multiple extension combination
I just bought the extension Cities and Knights (I don't know the rules very well at the moment).
I already have the base game and the Seafarers of Catan.
Is it possible to combine, on the same ...
5
votes
2answers
1k views
How has the composition of Catan's development card deck changed over time?
Has the number of Knight/Year of Plenty/Road Building/Victory Point/Monopoly cards in Settlers of Catan's development card deck evolved across editions, or is the latest edition the same as the first?
...
12
votes
3answers
986 views
Distribution of tokens in Standard 4 player catan?
My 4 player catan set has been mixed with my 5 & 6 player expansion set, parts have been lost, and last time I played we had 3 fields with an '8', no number '2' and a missing '10'.
Would someone ...
14
votes
3answers
793 views
Settlers of Catan Data
I'd like to do some statistical analysis on Catan games, but to do that I need data. Does anyone know of a place I can find empirical data on Catan play? The stronger the players, the better.
Awesome ...
9
votes
1answer
572 views
Settlers of Catan 15th Anniversary Edition?
I just heard about a 15th-anniversary edition of the Settlers of Catan game, and I must be blind because I can't find anything on Mayfair's site about it.
So my questions are:
What exactly are the ...
12
votes
6answers
777 views
Is bribing off the robber a good addition to Settlers of Catan?
When I play Settlers of Catan with my family we sometimes allow bribing of the person placing the robber to not place it in a particular spot. Does anyone else play this way and if so do you find ...
8
votes
1answer
217 views
Seafarers - Ships over Ports?
Quick question about seafarers. Ports are added onto the map by placing them alongside the edge of a hex. Once a port is there is it right to consider that edge as Coastal or not? i.e. Can a ship be ...
20
votes
1answer
2k views
Breaking roads in Settlers of Catan
Let's say my opponent (o) has a road network:
o - - - - - o
|
x
as x, can I:
o - - -x- - o
|
|
x
?
And break his already existing road?
My question is not ...
