It’s a game about building and trade. Each player builds settlements that can produce some of the 5 resources – Ore, Wheat, Wool, Wood, and Bricks – which can then be used to build roads and more settlements to expand your kingdom or upgrade your settlements to cities to increase their production. The thing that really makes the game is that there is always a hot commodities market, with players trading to trade resources they don’t need in exchange for those that are more useful for their game strategy; each resource is useful in different combinations for building different things.

This is a pretty simple game that even younger kids should be able to handle. Anybody who can play Monopoly can play this game, and believe me, they’ll have a much better time with the Settlers of Catan (you can even buy an expansion to handle up to 6 players).

A lot of people I know are somewhat daunted by this game because even though it’s very straightforward, it’s a bit different from your average American game. I speculate that the reason for this is that the Germans have a thriving mass game market, with several competing companies, while the US mass board game market is essentially monopolized by a single company, Hasbro. So while we are busy playing various Monopoly knock-offs, the Germans have benefitted from tremendous development. In terms of family entertainment, the rather small amount of effort it will take to embrace the Settlers of Catan will be well spent. And if you like it, it’s just the tip of the iceberg.
Rating: 5 / 5