aka pastor guy: #5: The Settlers of Catan (Mark's 100

The Settlers of Catan

Mark's Ranking

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Why It's On The List

The game that launched the European "game" invasion... the first true "franchise" game for Kosmos & Mayfair... a game so simple & yet so innovative that it could inspire devoted play with almost any crowd. This infinitely variable game of trading & building is still a personal favorite, even when way too many gamers have left it behind.

Tips & Tricks:

There are lots of strategy guides out there - the best I've ever seen was compiled by Scott MacPherson - and I republished over the last couple of days so you could find it:

In the next few weeks, I plan on publishing more of my old (and when I say "old", I mean 15 years old) Catan website stuff... something to look forward to!
While your first game may take 90+ minutes, it's not unusual for experienced players to knock out a game in 60 minutes or less. A lot of that depends on how quickly trading goes and how "aware" the people you're playing are - example: it doesn't matter how many times you ask for "brick", if we haven't rolled it in two rounds, it isn't there for trade. Sigh.

Extras

I wrote my Unofficial Guide to Catan back in 2007 - but the basic information is still pretty helpful, if not complete due to age. (Part 2 focuses on Catan spinoffs; Part 3 is a 2010 update of Part 1.)
I recently posted my translation of the rules for the new historical map Siedler von Korsica.
Here's what I wrote about the game for The One Hundred... and here's what I wrote for my personal One Hundred.

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If you feel a need to catch up on my admittedly-aging Top 100 as of February 2012 list, you can check out:

aka pastor guy