Wednesday, July 29, 2009

The Settlers of Catan


A week or so ago at the dinner table, my dh announced that he had done something that he had probably never done before.

He had bought a board game. Those that know my dh know that he is NOT a board game kind of person...he might agree to play if he's cornered - but generally it's not his "thing".

He started telling us of this German made board game - The Settlers of Catan.

"...Settlers of Catan is a trading and building game set in the mythical world of Catan. Players roll dice to determine which resources are generated each round and then must strategically trade those resources with other players to get what they need to build their settlements, cities, and roads..."

Yesterday the game arrived.

We had planned on having company over for supper but they canceled due to an illness in the family - so we had the evening open to attempt this new game.

The kids were kind of jazzed about it - since they had talked with dh about it previously and they had watched a tutorial on-line. I was not jazzed about it.

I am not a board game kind of person - unless that game is Scrabble. When my dh started talking about the game and the rules, my thoughts were - this sounds totally boring and very complicated and how am I going to figure all this out - let alone the kids figure it out. Actually I should say how would the kids figure it out - let alone the mom figure it out.

Once we started playing - I began to enjoy the game and after a few rounds of the dice - the rules became second nature.

The game lasted about 2.5 hours (and much past the children's bedtime much to their delight I am sure) ....and I won!

After our first game - we are all hooked.

Supposedly the game can be played in one hour - and hopefully that will eventually be the case b/c we don't need another Monopoly game.

The game can be played with 3 or 4 players and is for ages 10+ (the boy is 7 and he had no problem playing at all - so don't be scared off by the age suggestions).

I'm counting this game as school hours - there is strategy involved, not just a roll of the dice.

4 comments:

Jennifer said...

I have several friends who absolutely love this game and could play for hours... and they are otherwise totally normal people. You'd never guess they would get so excited over a board game.

TheSaxonHus said...

My daughter-in-law's family loves this game as well and have hooked my son on it.

CanadianGrandma said...

This is the first time that I have ever heard of such a game. It looks interesting.

Fernweher said...

Settlers of Catan!! I just knew this game as "Settlers" but all my friends played in our college dorm years ago. It's great thet your husband brought that home for the family :)