Settlers of Catan: Game Review

Settlers of Catan is the greatest game our family has ever found! Clayton, C.J. and I play this game almost every day. Any little bit of free time we have, one of us will say "Want to set up the board?" It's almost embarrassing how quickly we are all sitting cross-legged on the floor completely engrossed in this silly game. This weekend we were given the gift of the "Expansion Pack" as we call it. It's actually called The Settlers of Catan 5-6 Player Extension, and it allows us to add a little extra room to our game.

The game is played by setting up a collection of hexagonal tiles, randomly placing numbered discs on each tile, then rolling the dice to see how many resources you can each gather. The first one to reach ten Victory Points is supposed to win the game. Well, that got too easy for us because we got too good at it. We started playing to twelve, now it's almost always to fifteen and often times we play until someone can't go any further. Each tile represents a different resource: brick, wood, sheep, wheat, and ore. The strategy requires each player to place their settlements in locations where they will be able to acquire each of the needed resources to build further. Your opponents will try to block you from reaching the resources you need and place the robber in strategic locations to stop you. Ultimately, you are at the mercy of the role of the dice and the game can change on a dime.

Now, Settlers of Catan has expanded to provide for lots of different dimensions and I look forward to trying them all! Have you played Settlers yet? What's your opinion? -Julie L. Spencer

The Settlers of Catan: This is the original game created by Klaus Teuber in Germany. It has won multiple awards including Game of the Year, has been translated into 30 languages and the series has sold 15 million copies worldwide. If you've never played Settlers, this is the place to start!

Settlers of Catan 5-6 Player Extension: If you like to play with a group or have a big family who likes to play games together, this is a must have. It makes the board larger and provides game pieces for two additional players.

Settlers of Catan 4th Edition Bundle: If you've played the game, know it's awesome and want to start things off right, jump right in and get the basic game and the extension pack together.

Settlers of Catan Seafarers Game Expansion: This is used in addition to your basic Settlers board and brings on the added excitement of gold, ship building and fish ports. My brother-in-law owns this one and I can't wait to try it.

Settlers of Catan Cities & Knights Expansion: I've not played this one yet, but I'm looking forward to trying it. Build metropolises, fend off barbarians, collect coin, paper and cloth. I'm wondering, can you use this and the Seafarers expansion at the same time? Anybody know?

Catan Histories: Settlers of American, Trails - Rails: This is a stand-alone game which does not require the original board to play. Railroad tracks, covered wagons, coins, goods, and the excitement of pioneer days and settling the Old West. This one sounds amazing! Wish list item!

Settlers of Catan Friends and Family Super Bundle: Self-explanitory. This includes the basic game plus the Seafarers, and Cities and Knights additions along with expansion packs for each of them.

Settlers of Catan Replacement Card Deck: Our cards have been used to the point of destruction. I look forward to getting new ones.

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