Games in Personal and Professional Development: “Catan”

Catan, previously known as The Settlers of Catan or simply Settlers, was

invented by German designer Klaus Teuber in the mid-1990s. It was first published in
Germany in 1995 as Die Siedler von Catan and has since sold more than eighteen
million copies worldwide. The game was inspired by Teuber's interests in Iceland and
Viking History, and involves three or four players building settlements, trading
resources, and racing to earn victory points.
Catan is a board game for two to four players in which you compete to gather
resources and build the biggest settlements on the fictional island of Catan. Players
take the role of settlers to a new land and try to become the most successful
civilization on the island. Players try to develop their colony as fast as possible, by
building roads, villages, and towns. Each village and town produce resources (brick,
ore, wheat, sheep, and wood) which can be used to build more settlements and cities,
buy development cards, and trade with other players.
To achieve the goal of the game Catan, you need to acquire 10 victory points
before the other two-to-four people against whom you are competing. You earn
victory points by building settlements, cities, and development cards; having the
longest road and the largest army. To build items, you need combinations of resources.
You gain resources from the hexes your settlements occupy or from trade with other
players and the resource bank. Each settlement is worth 1 victory point, each city is
worth 2 victory points, the player with the longest road wins a special card that is
worth 2 victory points, the player with the largest army wins a special card that is
worth 2 victory points, and then there are development cards, that can be bought with
resources and are worth 1 victory point each.
Players will compete with each other to be the dominant force on the island of
Catan by building settlements, cities, and roads. Setup involves selecting a color and
taking 5 settlements, 4 cities, and 15 roads. Players must place their 2 roads and 2
settlements on the game board, and then place their remaining settlements, roads,
and cities down.
During the game, players roll the dice to produce resources from the 19 terrain
hexes. The first player to build a continuous road of at least 5 road segments, receives
the Special Card "Longest Road". If another player succeeds in building a longer road
than the one created by the current owner of the "Longest Road" card, he immediately
takes the Special Card (and its 2 victory points). The game also features a robber,
which a player can move to any terrain hex when they roll a 7, it prevents that hex
from producing resources. Players with settlements and/or cities adjacent to the target
terrain hex receive no resources from this hex as long as the robber is in the hex. When
the robber is activated, each player counts their resource cards. Any player with more
than 7 resource cards (i.e., 8 or more) must choose and discard half of them to the
discards to the supply stacks. If you hold an odd number of cards, round down
The original game of Catan will typically last anywhere between 60mins to
100mins. For experienced players, the game should take no more than 45 – 60
minutes. The duration of a game varies depending on the number of players and
experience levels
 To begin the game, you build the game board using hexagonal terrain tiles.
Each of the players places two small houses on spaces where three terrain hexes meet.
They are your starting settlements.
And so, it begins. “Christina” (the starting player) rolls two dices. An “11!” Each
terrain hex is marked with a number. Each player who owns a settlement adjacent to a
terrain hex marked with the number rolled receives a resource produced by this hex.
Hills produce brick, forests produce lumber, mountains produce ore, fields produce
grain, and pastures produce wool. You use these resources to expand across Catan:
you build roads and new settlements or upgrade your existing settlements to cities. For
example, a road costs 1 brick and 1 lumber. If you do not have the necessary
resources, you can acquire them by trading with your opponents.
There are similar games to this one like “The Castles of Burgundy” and
“Bohnanza”. “The Castles of Burgundy” and “Bohnanza” are both similar to Catan in
that they both use trading and negotiation as a central mechanic. “The Castles of
Burgundy” has a similar medieval European aesthetic as Catan, as well as the hexagon
concept, but branches out to use dices more strategically. “Bohnanza” is a card game
that also uses trading and negotiation. Both games also rely on players earning victory
points throughout the game to win.
Catan has been used for development purposes in a variety of ways. The game
can be used to teach important concepts such as resource management, strategic
planning, cooperation, conflict, and economic dependence.
It can also be used to stimulate geographic thinking by setting up maps to
reflect real-life scenarios, or by playing multiple games and discussing how different
locations and relationships between resource placement on the map impacted how
the games were played. Additionally, playing Catan can help to promote social skills,
communication, and collaboration, as players must interact with each other.
Finally, the game can provide a fun and engaging way to practice decision-
making, which can help to develop important life skills.
Catan has become popular in a variety of contexts, including business meetings
and social gatherings. It can also be used in educational settings to teach concepts
related to trading, supply and demand, and resource management. Additionally, of
Catan can be played online, allowing players from all over the world to compete
against each other.
Although the rules may be a little be difficult to understand in the beginning,
Catan is a great game with a lot of replay ability. It has a great theme and presentation
and fun to trade with your friends. It is a luck-based game due to being played with
dices, however, strategies can be developed to increase your chances of success. The
game also encourages social interaction, as players must negotiate and compete to
gain resources and build the biggest settlements. The game also has expansions and
various editions to keep things interesting.
Bibliography:

https://www.catan.com/
https://www.catan.com/sites/default/files/2021-06/catan_base_rules_2020_200707.pdf
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bohnanza
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Castles_of_Burgundy