A loser game review on Settlers of Catan

Does anyone enjoy playing the game Settlers of Catan?

It seems like everytime if anyone who played eurogames before, they would recommend this as an introduction to euro board games.

Personally i feel that this game is way overhyped. Don't get me wrong, it is not too bad, just wasn't as fantastic as it was made up to be. There are definitely much better eurogames for first timers. Of course the fact that i am a loser in this game, it is definitely not love at first sight for me.

Ok so lets move on to my review on this game. In this game you try to build a civilisation in the island of Catan. Different part of the island produce different resources. By producing or trading the resources, players try to expand their civilisation with cities, roads, etc. To learn exactly how to play this game, click here

So to begin the game, you will need to setup the "island" of Catan by combining the individual tiles. I hate this setup part. You see, the game itself is meant for 4 players. For more players you have to buy a separate expansion set which give more tiles. So you have to combine them, and when you keep the game you also have to separate them out. A pain in the ass.


Ok there you have it, the island of Catan

See the different colored tiles? They produce different resources like wheat, ore, brick, sheep and wood. Everyone will get a chance to place their settlement on the tiles.



Each tile will have number on it and everyone will get a chance to roll 2 dice, the tile with the same number as the outcome of the dice will get to produce the resource. If you have your settlement there, then ho seh lor you get the resource, otherwise suck thumb lar

Of course I try to spread my settlements on tiles with different numbers to increase the probabilty of the settlement producing the resources...


Unlucky roll of dice

Ok this is my main complain about the game, it can be too random and luck based. It all depends on the roll of dice. It doesn't matter if number 8 and 6 are higher probability, if the dice outcome is not the number you want, you just can't produce anything!

As the hokkien saying goes "nan suay qi jiao bian gong guay" which means if you are unlucky, even rearing a bird it will turn out to be a cock!

So imagine for a few rounds you sit there nothing much to do, never get any resources while all your friends are happily collecting various resources...


Everyone collects so many resources except me!

Without resources you can't build anything or trade with anyone! Trade backside also nobody want. Of course subsequently my luck turn better and i manage to get some resources, but by then it was already too late to get back in the game.

The game also gets abit tiring and repetitive. Roll dice, collect resources, trade resources and build. Repeat till one player gets 10 points or till the cow comes home. There is room for lots of strategy but the result of the dice throw still plays quite a dominant role in this game. Abit of luck do make the game more interesting. However if you are disadvantage too early, the game can be kinda of draggy.


Resources can change for interesting development cards too!

Don't get me wrong. Settlers of Catan is still a fun game to play with interesting mechanism like building and trading that encourage lots of interaction among players. With an element of luck, newbies may get a fair chance of winning the game too. With most people familar with games like monopoly, players of Settlers of Catan find themselves right at home with the dice rolling mechanism (something that is not that common for Eurogames). That could be the reason for its popularity and acceptance.

But for a true gateway eurogame, Settlers of Catan is overhyped. I personally think that there are much better games. The one that comes to my mind goes chu chu chu....

Overhype or is the game really good? Come to Pitstop Cafe and try out Settlers of Catan and let me know your thoughts on the game!

Pitstop Cafe, the place to settle!

astroboy