One of the things you'll find if you are lucky enough to live near a games store that stocks Euro games like Settlers of Catan is that there are a lot of different variations of the game to choose from.

For new players, I highly recommend you start out with the basic game.

The Settlers box looks like this.


The original game supports 3 or 4 players. If you want to play with a larger group, you should also purchase the 5 to 6 player expansion pack. This will allow you to play with up to 6 players.




Most of the really great variants of Settlers are expansion packs like Cities and Knights that require you have the original game, so everyone should really start with this.

Next, I recommend the Seafarers of Catan expansion set. Sefarers introduces the notion of boats and expanding to other islands, which can make gameplay significantly more complex and interesting. You can also use the Seafarer pieces to construct interesting new board configurations that will keep the game feeling fresh even if you play quite often.

The Seafarers box looks like this.



Again, the initial Seafarers is for 3 to 4 players, so if you want to play with a larger group, be sure to

Please note, you cannot play seafarers without the original game, so get the original first before buying this.


The final expansion set that I would highly, highly, highly recommend to everyone is Cities and Knights of Catan. Cities and Nights combined with a board using the Seafarers pieces and islands makes for the most complex and satisfying variant of Settlers. I have played this form of Catan for more than 6 hours in a row without growing bored due to the great number of strategic ways to achieve victory this setup offers. Not only does Cities and Knight introduce the Knight characters which can severe your opponents longest road and give you victory points for fending off Barbarian invasions, but the City concept is introduced which allows you to develop your civilization in different areas by upgrading your cities to have certain added special abilities. It takes a few times to really understand Cities and Knights, but once you do, you won't want to play anything else.

The Cities and Knights box looks like this.




You cannot play Cities and Knights without the Original Game, so be sure you have the original game before you buy this.



Bundle Deals
If you buy all of this and upgrade to the 5 to 6 player versions it will cost you around $180. You can save some money if you buy things in bundles. For example, you can buy a bundled Cities and Knights expansion with its 5 to 6 player upgrade for about $12 less than buying each thing individually. The original game can also be purchased as a bundle with its 5 to 6 player upgrade, as can a

You can buy the whole trio of games with their player expansions as well, if you really want to be fully decked out.

Catan Products to Avoid
The Alexander and Cheops expansion leaves me cold. I find Cheops far to slow to get going with little payoff when it finally gets underway. I haven't really played the Alexander side yet, so perhaps that is more fun, but Cheops is a snooze.

Starfarers
Sadly, I have not yet played . The reviews of this game are very good, lots of people rave about it, and I plan to purchase this soon. When I have a considered opinion I'll update this post.

Whatever you decide on, you're sure to enjoy the immersive gameplay of Catan.

Since you've heard the buzz if you've made your way to this site, here is a quick overview of what the game is about and why it gets such high reviews. I won't go into a full explanation of the game rules, but hopefully you'll get a good take on what makes this game special.

Settlers of Catan is a board game that involves both strategy and luck, but the bargaining and interacting with your fellow players is really what sets it apart from the crowd and makes it a lot of fun. In this way, it has aspects of play that in the US you might associate more with "party games", but wrapped up in a clever traditional board game setup. As a final perk, the layout of the game's board is randomized each time you play for a new experience every time. The result? A light and fun game with a healthy dose of strategy that has almost infinite replay value. You'll end up laughing, scheming, and smiling each time.

The goal of the game is to be the first player to earn 13 points (referred to as 'victory points'). To accumulate these points, you'll need to strategically play game pieces on the board, each of which require a bit of work to acquire. The strategy of playing the game pieces, as well as how you go about getting them is where the fun comes in.

Round by round, players earn special game cards through dice-rolling. They can either hold, spend or trade these cards with the other players at the table. Once you accumulate certain combinations of these cards, you can cash them in at the bank for your game pieces (settlements, cities, and roads), and play these newly purchased pieces on the board. Because of the layout of the board, each player will probably be collecting different sets of cards at different times, so players will be bargaining with each other for different cards, sometimes happily trading with each other, other times furiously trying to outwit each other when a particular type of card becomes universally desirable.

What appeals to most people about the game is that it strikes a great balance of luck, interaction, and strategy. The luck factor and constant bargaining guarantee the game will be fun and quirky keeping your friends laughing and joking all night long. The clever strategy of the piece placement on the other hand, keeps the game from being a cutesy-fun-one-time party game, as you try to out think your opponents and win with your master plan. Win or lose, Settlers of Catan is always fun. It's friends-and-family strategy that's not antagonistic or too cut throat, and fun and interactive without being silly.

Have fun!

Ok, so Settlers of Catan or just 'settlers' as it's frequently known is a strange name for a game. Here are the top three name-related questions people send in over and over:

1) Where is this Catan everyone is talking about and why make a board game and a card game out of it?

2) Is it properly spelled Catan, Cattan, or maybe even Katan or Kattan?

3) Is The Settlers of Catan the same game as Die Siedler von Catan and other similar non-english names found around the web?

Answer 1)
After researching this one for quite a while it seems that Catan is purely fictional. Some people have taken the mythology of Catan so far as to write up fan fiction about the origins of Catan and how it came to be. One author, Rebecca Gablé, went so far as to write a full novel entitled, Die Siedler von Catan (2005), (in German).

Answer 2)
Although I've seen all of these on the internet, the correct full version is Catan. Starts with a C and has only one T. If you google around you will find a lot of the other versions but when you want to get the real information, Catan is what to search for.

Answer 3)
As settlers is originally a German board game, and since its become so popular, you will find references to not only Die Siedler von Catan (German), but a raft of other names for versions in other languages such as:

Colons de Katane, Les
Die Siedler von Catan
Siedler von Catan, Die
Kolonisten van Catan
Descobridores de Catan, Os
Coloni di Catan, I
Catanin Uudisasukkaat
The Settlers från Catan
Colons de Catane, Les
Catan Telepesei
Los Colonos de Catán
Los Descubridores de Catán
Katanas ieceïotâji
Osadnicy z Catanu
The Settlers fra Catan
Katan no Kaitakusya
Osadníci z Katanu
Catan - Landnemarnir
Naseljenci otoka Catan

All of these are the exact same game, just with localized translations.

For some more background info, check out the publisher of Catan's corporate site.