The most popular board games in the past two decades has been Settlers of Catan, with 11 million owners enjoying the cut-throat, resource trading tile game. There have been plenty of electronic versions, including one for the ill-fated N-GAGE handheld console. This time, Settlers hits the masses on Xbox Live Arcade as Catan, done by Civilization II and Rise of Nations developer Big Huge Games, headed by Brian Reynolds, with some strategic help by Settlers creator Klaus Teuber.
For the uninitiated, Settlers of Catan is part of the "Euro-board game" genre, that is, board games released in Europe, strongly dominated by German developers like Teuber and Reiner Knizia, and released in the United States by such companies as Rio Grande Games and Mayfair. Unlike American-based board games, Euro-board games tend to be aimed at adults. Even so, Settlers has achieved the status in which "hardcore" players pretentiously often deride it as "the Monopoly of Euro-board games", indicating its dominance over the genre.
Catan is a deceptively simple game: the board map is randomly generated by hexagonal tiles which form an even larger hexagonal island surrounded by water (Note: The option to generate the "starter" map is available, which remains the same every game, but this option is seldom used.) Every tile has one of 5 colored terrain types that generate a specific resource: light green meadows generate sheep, dark green forests generate wood, red clay pits generate bricks, cobalt blue mountains generate ore, and yellow fields generate wheat. On top of each resource is a numbered tile from 2 to 12, with every number save 2 and 12 used twice, and 7 not used at all. Each number corresponds to a die roll of two six-sided dice; each number has a number of pips underneath that indicate the likelihood of that die roll. 6's and 8's are colored red to indicate the prime value, since aside from 7, they are the most rolled numbers. Resources are used to build five different types of items: roads, settlements, cities, and development cards.
The game is divided into two major aspects. The first is settlement placement and resource gathering. At the beginning of each player's turn, the dice are rolled, and all players who have a settlement or city bordering a tile with that corresponding number earn that resource. The exception is when the Robber is on that tile - it then generates no resources. The Robber starts in the lone non-resource generating tile (the Desert), and is moved when a player rolls a 7. That player then gets to choose a resource tile to place the Robber on, and steal a single resource from one of the bordering players. Also, any players who have 8 or more resources when a 7 is rolled must discard half their resources.
During their turn, the player may then build items using their accumulated resources. Roads must be built from settlements, which themselves must be attached to roads. The other restriction is that settlements must be built at least two spaces away from other settlements. Some cut throat gameplay arises from other players making potentially valuable points unavailable. Cities not only add an extra victory point to the player's total, but double the resource generated in the surrounding resource tiles.
Development cards are "random" effects. The most common development card is the Soldier, which allows the player to move the Robber without having to roll a 7 - in fact, it can be used before a roll, allowing the player to potentially move the Robber twice. Other cards include such effects as taking all of one type of resource from every player, or getting two free resources of any type. The most rewarding card is the Victory Point card, which gives the player a free point towards victory.
The other major sphere of gameplay is the social aspect, in which the player can trade resources with other players. Part of the game is cajoling and convincing other players to trade with you, often influenced by your actions and future actions, which still trying to win the game at the expense of others. This Machiavellian game dynamic makes the game engrossing. One is not totally dependent on other players for trading one resource for another - one can trade any four of one resource for one of another, or if that player has a settlement on a port, they can trade 3 for one, or, in the case of specialty ports, 2 of one specific resource for another. However, player trades are usually 1 for 1, making it a more economical option - though benefiting an opponent at the same time.
The object of the game is to reach 10 points. Points are earned in a variety of ways: players get a point for every settlement (since every player starts with two settlements, they begin with 2 points), two points for cities which are upgraded settlements, two points for owning the Largest Army, two points for owning the Longest Road, and a point for each Victory Point development card.
How does Catan compare to the board game? It adapts it extremely well. One of the nicer features is the use of "ticklers", or, as the previous Hardwood games referred to them, "Fooms" that allow players to non-verbally express their feelings to or at other players. While it may seem frivolous, it allows the AI players to let the human player(s) know what they are thinking. In a social game, it makes the AI players, who on the hardest difficulty are fiendishly good at the game, actual opponents, instead of just a bunch of algorithms. Your actions do influence them; if an AI player becomes pleased with you, it'll often spare you from being attacked by the Robber, for instance. The AI will play to win, of course, and not sacrifice its own chances of winning, but it will act more like a human opponent.
The game also features a Living World environment, but most experienced players will eschew it (as it is too "busy", and the value numbers are hidden for the most part) for the more utilitarian (but still attractive) board game look, though even the most hardcore player will enjoy the Robber's dance when he strikes a new area (with the sheep literally going belly up when he is placed in a meadow.)
Refreshingly, early reports from non-board gamers have been exceedingly enthusiastic, as Big Huge Games does a superb job of making the game accessible, including a semi-tutorial game mode. Experienced Settlers of Catan gamers have also been praising the game's AI opponents (which are based on various figures from history like Lincoln and Alexander, and have varied personality traits), use of the Xbox 360 controller, and overall gameplay.
For all board game players, Catan is a must, as it is $25 cheaper than the actual game, and includes single player support for gamers, Settlers fans in particular, who need their Catan fix and have no one around to play. Fortunately, for those gamers on the fence about playing a board game there is a free demo. This is one of the best Xbox Live Arcade games to date, and every Live user owes it to themselves to at least try it out.
