Settlers of Catan Board Game Strategy Tips and Review

In Settlers of Catan, you are a colonist looking to settle the newly discovered continent of Catan. To accomplish this you build settlements, collect resources, and negotiate trades with other players. Depending on where you place your settlements on the board, they will generate resources: either brick, wood, wheat, stone, or sheep. You then use these resources to build more settlements, upgrade your settlements, or build roads. In the game, each settlement is worth 1 victory point, while each city is worth two (a city is an upgraded settlement). The first player to get 10 victory points is the winner.

There are two things that set this game apart from others, in my mind. The first is the way that the game board is set up. Each time you play Settlers of Catan the board is totally different, which brings a lot of replay value to the game. The second unique aspect of this game is the resource generation mechanic. It allows every player to get new resources on a single player's turn and has a good balance of luck and strategy.

Settlers of Catan is one of the best unknown board games out there today. It's challenging for both casual and hard core board game players and since every game is different it will take a lot longer to get old than something like Monopoly. It also appeals to all age group ranges, from ten year olds to grandparents and makes a great addition to a weekly board game night.

Below are some quick tips which will help you win a game of Settlers. For more advanced strategies check out my website, www.settlersofcatan.net.

1) In most games, brick is the most valuable resource.

2) Expand by building a new settlement or city as soon as possible. Don't worry about getting Longest Road or Largest Army until you have 6 or more victory points.

3) When placing your first settlements, make sure to get access to a lot of ore and wheat, or brick and wood, as these pairs of resources work extremely well together.

4) Avoid buying Development Cards unless you are trying to get Largest Army or need to unload some extra resources.

About the Author

Steve is a board game hobbyist who has been playing Settlers of Catan for seven years. He currently maintains the website http://www.settlersofcatan.net, which contains strategies and rules variants for Settlers and its expansions. While not playing or creating board games, Steve enjoys reading Wendell Berry, watching Lost, and fiddling with Linux.