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The Settlers of Catan (New Edition) | 
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| Brand: Mayfair
Category: Toy
List Price: £24.99
Buy New: £21.31
You Save: £3.68 (15%)
New (11) from £19.50
Rating:  6 reviews
Sales Rank: 337
Fragile: No
Batteries Included: No
Shipping Weight (lbs): 2.7
Dimensions (in): 9.4 x 3 x 11.6
MPN: 0029877030613
Model: 4102480
UPC: 029877030613
EAN: 0029877030613
ASIN: B000W7JWUA
Release Date: November 19, 2007
Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours
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| Customer Reviews: Read 1 more reviews...
terrific game, best played with good friends February 8, 2008
KB (London)
19 out of 19 found this review helpful
This game is awesome. You need to be strategic, think beyond your next move, be intuitive about what your opponents will do next. We love all games in our family, any will do, but this game is different to your Cranium or Balderdash-type games which have dominated the market recently. It's cleverer than the traditional games, like monopoly or even chess, as well. I would not recommend it for playing with those easily offended (putting the robber on some people's land can be risky) or those that are aggressive game-players because this is a thoughtful game, where sometimes you have to attack your opponents even if you don't really want to.
Once you get over the tedious explanation of how to play, and everyone gets started, people realise the game is actually very simple. The game never plays the same way twice; Every time you lay out the board, it is different, the odds of gaining the cards of your choice are random, and the way your opponents want to behave is equally unpredictable. You often have no idea whether you have a chance of winning for most of the game.
One of the main advantages of the game is that it can played by an odd number of people, three can play a very good game. Also, this is one of the few games that two people can play and not be tedious. When we play with two, we adapt it slightly and are a little kinder to one another to help the flow of the game. We use the robber (he can steal other people's resource cards and stop you gaining more) but we say after about three rounds he can go back to the desert until a seven is thrown again - the robber otherwise can sit preventing you from getting resource cards for far too long because the odds of throwing the seven and him being moved are reduced when only two play. We also let ourselves collect as many resource cards as we want (in the rules you put yourself in jeopardy of losing cards when you have more than seven) - we find we develop our game in a more interesting way and keep it fast this way. Also, we decide at the outset whether we play to the winning score of 10, 12 or 14 which allows the game a little more time to play out, if wanted. If the game is very even and we are both close to winning we sometimes extend the score we are working towards to play for longer.
My only criticism of this game is, in this new version, the sea section is now in adjoining pieces that do not sit properly allowing the inner pieces too much movement and a messy board is the result. In the older version the tiles for the sea were the same as the tiles of land, and it was a much nicer looking board. We were so frustrated by the hopeless new design (our roads and settlements kept falling through gaps) that we had to score each sea section with a craft knife in two places so that we could force it to sit flat. The board is now better than the original because the sea holds it all together. The maufacturers should score these sections, because already some parts that we scored are not wearing as well as I would like and will, in time, look shabbier than if it was professionally done in the factory.
An excellent game December 24, 2007
Brummie (Birmingham, UK)
23 out of 24 found this review helpful
This is a 'must-have' for all intelligent gamers and for families (12 years and up) who are prepared to spend a little while learning the (fairly intuitive) rules and an hour or two playing the game.
The game is really not too tough to learn. The game board and pieces are attractive and durable. It takes a few minutes to set up and a game will probably last for an hour or two. Every game is different. There is always something for all players to do and you never seem to know who is winning until near the end.
If you really enjoy the game there are various extension sets available. I have purchased the 5/6 player extension and this works really well. My family have spent many hours playing this game.
I'll give you a Grain and a Sheep for an Ore... March 1, 2008
A. Giannotta (Sunbury, Middx, UK)
7 out of 7 found this review helpful
I felt I just had to mention the whole bartering part of the game; it's great fun.
Like the previous reviewer, I love the new board and it's a lovely, snug-as-a-bug-in-a-rug fit. I've introduced the game to a few friends, some of whom are not normally into games, and they all love it. If learning the game seems a bit too much effort they have their own dedicated website to teach you how to play!
If you're not sure about whether this game is for you, check it out and you'll see what it's all about.
New set, same game February 9, 2008
Mr. J. R. Scholes (UK)
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
We were introduced to Settlers of Catan by a friend, and have played on his board on many occasions. Having bought the new edition, I can now say that the new design is very nice. It took a couple of games to get used to what was what but my wife and I now play happily.
The pieces are still good quality wooden affairs, the tiles themselves are just as wellmade as before (now backed with sea rather than plain). Regarding the frame, ours is a anug fit, but I put that down to it being new. We haven't needed to make any alterations as the above commenter has, so his may be an unfortunate batch.
The overall look is very nice, the gameplay is as before, and I thoroughly recommend it.
Simple, smart and very entertaining April 16, 2008
Mr. P. E. A. Mcarthur (Grimsby, UK)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
If you're wondering whether you'd enjoy this game: It's like a cross between Monopoly and Risk, with about the same level of complexity, and with all the benefits of both and none of the drawbacks.
It has enough random elements to make it exciting (dice, cards and board-setup), but without making it arbitrary - which seems to be a failing of Monopoly. This means you can have a good or a bad few turns, but a good strategy will make all the difference over time.
The bartering of resources with other players is a key component of the game, and again it's possible for a good mercantile thinker to turn this to their advantage. It's fascinating - and amusing - to see the market swing in two turns from "All I've got is 4 Wood" to "I'll give anyone any 3 resources for a bit of WOOD!!!"
The combination of short-term goals and long-term strategies give it that Risk-like feeling of rewarding achievements, but without the aggressive style of play. There is no attacking or defending per-se - you just have to out-grow the other settlers. You can only really win by being a more successful cooperator than the other players!
As others have said, you never feel that the game's over until the last turn. Unlike Risk, Monopoly or most of the other conquest games, everybody's in with a fighting chance until the very end...
All in all, this is a beautifully well-rounded game. It's simple enough for anyone except very young children to pick it up and have a go, but balanced and dynamic enough for the more demanding gamer to get stuck-in. I've seen game-fanatics and "toys are for little people" snobs get just as caught up in the same game, and there have been many genuinely funny moments.
It's quite simply the perfect "get a couple of friends over for a bottle of wine" game. Heartily recommended.
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