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FOT Community => General Discussion => Topic started by: wood and iron on July 10, 2009, 12:12:58 AM

Title: Settlers of Catan
Post by: wood and iron on July 10, 2009, 12:12:58 AM
Anybody else play this?

My friends and I read about this in Wired (http://www.wired.com/gaming/gamingreviews/magazine/17-04/mf_settlers) and got a copy. My one friend took it home with her so I've only played it a couple of times but I'm kind of hooked now.
Title: Re: Settlers of Catan
Post by: wood and iron on July 10, 2009, 12:46:44 AM
I just realized how flimsy this post was.
Title: Re: Settlers of Catan
Post by: oilcantim on July 10, 2009, 01:03:53 AM
I played this a few weeks back for the first time.  Great, nerdy fun!

My favorite resource is sheep.  My second favorite is corn.
Title: Re: Settlers of Catan
Post by: Regular Joe on July 10, 2009, 04:53:29 AM
Why did they think the best place to play this was out on the lawn?

(http://www.wired.com/images/article/magazine/1704/mf_settlers_f.jpg)
Title: Re: Settlers of Catan
Post by: buffcoat on July 10, 2009, 08:09:29 AM
NERRRRRRRRRRDDDDDDZZZZZZZ!!!!!!!!!!!!
Title: Re: Settlers of Catan
Post by: yesno on July 10, 2009, 09:15:09 AM
Wait, you need friends to play this, don't you?
Title: Re: Settlers of Catan
Post by: pete on July 10, 2009, 11:26:38 AM
I played a LOT of this for about a year or so and am kind of burnt out on it, but have a lot of affection.  I think the end-game kind of slumps a bit, but it's still a pretty great game.

I've been real into Carcassonne lately.
Title: Re: Settlers of Catan
Post by: wood and iron on July 10, 2009, 11:41:02 AM
I played a LOT of this for about a year or so and am kind of burnt out on it, but have a lot of affection.  I think the end-game kind of slumps a bit, but it's still a pretty great game.

I've been real into Carcassonne lately.

I agree with you about the end-game. You'll be taking turns and all of a sudden with no warning someone wins.
Title: Re: Settlers of Catan
Post by: bakersfieldchimp on July 10, 2009, 11:41:39 AM
oh, thank god I wasn't the first one to post about nerdy board games. Catan is pretty great-- my cousin and her boyfriend introduced my fiancee and I to it about a year and a half ago, and it's all been downhill from there as far as nerd games are concerned. I got a copy of Cosmic Encounter for Christmas last year, and I highly recommend it, especially if you're into science fictiony stuff. Agricola is a pretty fun game that revolves around farming, of all things.
Title: Re: Settlers of Catan
Post by: Matthew_S on July 10, 2009, 12:23:58 PM
Wait, you need friends to play this, don't you?


Ideally, yes.

Actually, no. For example: http://www.jsettlers.org/


I've only played this particular game online but I am interested in this type of game and own a few that I play periodically with the family.  I'm far from an authority but am happy to answer any question that may arise.

For those interested, this is the best, if potentially overwhelming, site for information:

http://www.boardgamegeek.com/



Title: Re: Settlers of Catan
Post by: iAmBaronVonTito on July 10, 2009, 01:52:12 PM
i love this thread already. 

a group of friends and i get together every so often to play video games, board games, drink, and make dinner.  it's usually the most fun i have on the weekends i need to keep it cheap considering none of them go to shows but i enjoy their company.
Title: Re: Settlers of Catan
Post by: NJL on July 10, 2009, 05:50:22 PM
Why did they think the best place to play this was out on the lawn?

(http://www.wired.com/images/article/magazine/1704/mf_settlers_f.jpg)

Why do they have what looks to be a tapir in their backyard.
Title: Re: Settlers of Catan
Post by: wwwes on July 11, 2009, 12:00:15 AM
Why do they have what looks to be a tapir in their backyard.
Have you ever tried to housetrain a tapir before?
Title: Re: Settlers of Catan
Post by: slipperyslope on July 16, 2009, 03:41:50 AM
Catan is a fantastic game. It's just the right balance between simple/fun/accessible to all, etc and the "other side" of gaming - that more complex stuff that instantly classifies you as a nerd.
Title: Re: Settlers of Catan
Post by: bakersfieldchimp on July 16, 2009, 11:35:23 AM
Catan is a fantastic game. It's just the right balance between simple/fun/accessible to all, etc and the "other side" of gaming - that more complex stuff that instantly classifies you as a nerd.

Your name is pretty ironic, because playing Catan is itself a pretty slippery slope. It starts off innocently enough, and then the next thing you know you're playing Advanced Squad Leader or Arkham Horror.
Title: Re: Settlers of Catan
Post by: Martin on July 16, 2009, 12:41:16 PM
Anyone up for a Third Reich campaign? I'll bet we'll finish it before spring next year.

(I'm one of the few people who made it back from the other side with my SAN at almost 100...)
Title: Re: Settlers of Catan
Post by: bakersfieldchimp on July 16, 2009, 03:10:33 PM
I have no idea of what that means... yet. I'm feeling pressure from my uncle and my cousin's boyfriend to start playing it, We've been playing a lot of Twilight Struggle lately, which is pretty fun. My opinion might be influenced by the fact that I've won all three of the games of it that I've played so far, but still...
Title: Re: Settlers of Catan
Post by: Martin on July 16, 2009, 04:13:48 PM
For a fun, cheap and unpretentious evening of boardgaming, check out the stuff from Cheapass Games (http://www.cheapass.com/). Very simple but clever games, often hilarious premises (my favorites: Kill Dr. Lucky, a reverse-Cluedo; Give Me the Brain, zombies working the nightshift at a burger joint; US Patent #1, inventors travelling back in time in order to register their time machine as US patent #1). Most games take 5 minutes to learn, and 15-45 minutes to play.

And of course I have to recommend my friends at Gigantoskop (http://www.gigantoskop.se/) and their fine board games, including Spank the Monkey, Badaboom, and Kablamo.
Title: Re: Settlers of Catan
Post by: Andy on July 17, 2009, 12:10:55 PM
ok nerds: is Settlers of Catan actually worth the $42? Or should I just stick to playing flash games on the internet?  What are the chances I get my ladyfriend to actually start playing?
Title: Re: Settlers of Catan
Post by: yesno on July 17, 2009, 01:20:25 PM
ok nerds: is Settlers of Catan actually worth the $42? Or should I just stick to playing flash games on the internet?  What are the chances I get my ladyfriend to actually start playing?

I can never get any of my friends, lady and otherwise, to play any games besides Scrabble, Connect 4, or Taboo/yelling games.  I've tried.
Title: Re: Settlers of Catan
Post by: bakersfieldchimp on July 17, 2009, 04:48:27 PM
ok nerds: is Settlers of Catan actually worth the $42? Or should I just stick to playing flash games on the internet?  What are the chances I get my ladyfriend to actually start playing?

I think it's worth $42, but whether you can get your ladyfriend to play it or not is a totally different matter. My fiancée likes nerd games and so do most of my friends, and none of us are super-nerdy in real life (or so I'd like to think).
Title: Re: Settlers of Catan
Post by: Matthew_S on July 17, 2009, 09:15:54 PM
ok nerds: is Settlers of Catan actually worth the $42? Or should I just stick to playing flash games on the internet?  What are the chances I get my ladyfriend to actually start playing?

I think it's worth $42, but whether you can get your ladyfriend to play it or not is a totally different matter. My fiancée likes nerd games and so do most of my friends, and none of us are super-nerdy in real life (or so I'd like to think).

Perhaps important to note that, at least for Settlers, you actually need to convince your ladyfriend and  another person -- 3 player minimum. 

I would recommend trying out some online version with the ladyfriend, or at least showing her what it is about.

You should also be able to find it for a few bucks cheaper than $42.

For example:

http://www.thoughthammer.com/settlers-of-catan-fourth-edition-p-4637.html 

lists the game for $33.60
Title: Re: Settlers of Catan
Post by: Gilly on July 17, 2009, 10:51:49 PM
Xbox 360 has a pretty great version of it on the Live Arcade and I think it's only around 10 bucks.

I think it's pretty easy to get anybody into it. I laughed it off in college because all of the nerds played it in the dorm common areas.... I thought it was probably an incredibly complicated game but after learning how to play a couple years ago, it's actually incredibly easy to pick up and very difficult to master strategy. It's really a great game.
Title: Re: Settlers of Catan
Post by: slipperyslope on July 18, 2009, 08:42:55 AM
Xbox 360 has a pretty great version of it on the Live Arcade and I think it's only around 10 bucks.

I think it's pretty easy to get anybody into it. I laughed it off in college because all of the nerds played it in the dorm common areas.... I thought it was probably an incredibly complicated game but after learning how to play a couple years ago, it's actually incredibly easy to pick up and very difficult to master strategy. It's really a great game.

True!
I haven't purchased it because I didn't know how easy it would be to find matches on there.

But as for the rest,
it's the type of game that someone of 10 years of age and someone of  60 years of age can most likely get the same joy out of. It's fantastic and not so difficult.
Title: Re: Settlers of Catan
Post by: slipperyslope on July 18, 2009, 08:44:21 AM
Oh, also -
the game is more fun if instead of calling resources by their name... you call them by two-word rhyming names. IE - sweet wheat (and do it in that silly sort of weird pronunciation of the wh sounds and stuff, you know.. the almost a whistle thing?)
Title: Re: Settlers of Catan
Post by: Andy on July 18, 2009, 08:59:28 AM
my chick is 62, is that too old?  It falls outside of slipperslopes 10-60 range.
Title: Re: Settlers of Catan
Post by: Mike A.D. on July 18, 2009, 07:47:54 PM
I know a guy who handmade his own old-timey-looking Settlers of Cataan set. 

As a woodworker, he's really into the shabby/chic look and often beats his projects with a chain as part of the finishing process.
Title: Re: Settlers of Catan
Post by: iAmBaronVonTito on July 21, 2009, 11:30:08 AM
I know a guy who handmade his own old-timey-looking Settlers of Cataan set. 

As a woodworker, he's really into the shabby/chic look and often beats his projects with a chain as part of the finishing process.

are there any photos of thiese handmade sets, Mike A.D.?  that sounds cool.
Title: Re: Settlers of Catan
Post by: yesno on October 29, 2009, 11:48:31 AM
This came out for the iPhone the other day.  It's awesome, awesome, awesome.  (It did crash once before I turned down the FX on my 1st Gen iPhone.)

I've played computer games like Civilization before but this is like the perfect distillation of that idea (without the insane complexity and silliness) into a form that takes maybe a 1/2 hour to play.  Board games force designers to be efficient.

I love board games but any board game sessions I try to initiate tend to devolve into a gaggle of cackling, wine-drinking girls.  I am moving shortly and perhaps I will meet some pasty, nerdy guys to play against "IRL."

Now I want to see if there's a turn-based military game.  I used to love Advance Wars for the Gameboy Advance, but it doesn't really have much replay value--I've never been much interested in games where you just play them, beat them, and then they're over.
Title: Re: Settlers of Catan
Post by: fonpr on October 29, 2009, 12:00:03 PM

... sessions I try to initiate tend to devolve into a gaggle of cackling, wine-drinking girls. 

And you find this to be problem?
Title: Re: Settlers of Catan
Post by: yesno on October 29, 2009, 01:23:42 PM
My whole life I've had too many girl friends and not enough girlfriends.
Title: Re: Settlers of Catan
Post by: Christina on October 29, 2009, 01:29:30 PM
My whole life I've had too many girl friends and not enough girlfriends.

Samesies, 'cept swap the word "girl" for "boy". Or don't.
Title: Re: Settlers of Catan
Post by: DoodleJump! on October 29, 2009, 04:44:42 PM
My whole life I've had too many girl friends and not enough girlfriends.
Yesno, you are a charming guy. Don't give up hope.
Title: Re: Settlers of Catan
Post by: Matthew_S on October 29, 2009, 05:34:27 PM

...

Now I want to see if there's a turn-based military game.  I used to love Advance Wars for the Gameboy Advance, but it doesn't really have much replay value--I've never been much interested in games where you just play them, beat them, and then they're over.

http://awbw.amarriner.com/

Advance Wars by Web.
Title: Re: Settlers of Catan
Post by: yesno on October 29, 2009, 05:41:24 PM
My whole life I've had too many girl friends and not enough girlfriends.
Yesno, you are a charming guy. Don't give up hope.

Oh, I'm married now.   I'm speaking sub specie aeternitatis.

edit to correct my Latin.
Title: Re: Settlers of Catan
Post by: DoodleJump! on October 29, 2009, 07:37:36 PM
Ah! I think I knew that anyway.

by the way,

Today was the first time I've read this thread, and I have never heard of this game previously.
Tonight during a meeting though, the director mentioned playing "Settlers" all the time. I hesitantly asked, "of Catan?" and she immediately launched into how much fun it is.
I think it's a sign that I should find someone to teach me.