For the Board: Intro

There are two kinds of people in the world. Those who play ‘board games’ and those who play board games. Oh, and my dad. He hates all games. Three kinds of people in the world…

Our chief weapon is Settlers of Catan, that’s right…

The Settlers of Catan, sometimes shortened to just Catan, is a multiplayer board game designed by Klaus Teuber and first published in 1995 in Germany by Franckh-Kosmos Verlag (Kosmos) as Die Siedler von Catan.

i basically divide board games into two different time segments – Pre-Settlers of Catan [PC] and post Settlers of Catan [PC] – that’s right i like to always try and keep things PC on this blog… but the difference is marked:

Before Settlers of Catan existed, there was basically one type of game – Monopoly, Risk, Cluedo, Scrabble – where there was basically one way to win the game and the person who did that way best won the game.

Monopoly – get all the money

Risk – win all the battles

Cluedo [or Clue in Americaland] – solve the murder

Scrabble – score the best word points

ALONG CAME A SETTLER

Then Settlers of Catan arrived and suddenly, everything changed.

Because the board looked something like this:

The game board is made up of hexagonal resource pieces [representing wheat, ore, wood, brick and sheep] and then numbers on the tiles which correspond to dice throws. Basically whenever you have a settlement built next to a number that rolls you pick up that resource.

Only thing is, the resource pieces are shuffled up and placed randomly as are the numbers of them and so no two boards are ever the same.

Which affects strategy. As it is there are two main ways to win Settlers of Catan, the base game – expansion or fortification. But in certain games some resources will be very scarce and so the trading aspect of the game is raised. In other games some resources will be abundant which brings greater risk from the robber who steals half your resources any time a seven is rolled [if you have more than seven resources].

The strength of Settlers of Catan was a varied board which led to differing strategies which had to be formed by how the board came together as well as how the other people playing against you decided to play.

After basic Settlers came the Settlers: Cities and Knights expansion, which pretty much added three to four different strategies to the game and then games such as Carcassonne, Seven Wonders, Dominion, Puerto Rico and and and… games with more than one single-minded goal or way of reaching it. Games that changed depending on game setup, who you were playing with, and what happened during the game. Games that even cause you to change strategy once the game has started.

GAMING OPPORTUNITIES

If you’re in Cape Town, then pretty much any day you want to play a game there is an opportunity to do so [without even owning it most of the time]. i often head to Wizards on a Thursday night [Stadium on Main, Claremont] where after 7.30 a group of people arrive and play a few games til midnight and sometimes beyond. Absolutely FREE of charge and the options are wide and varied. Big Box is another place i love to hangout in Cape Town and they have many special game events but also opportunity for you and some friends to book a table and go and grab a sandwich and learn a new game or play one you already love. Quantum gaming, Fanaticus and Skycastle are just three other names of places where good gaming happens, and often.

A good board game is quite an expensive investment which is why it is helpful to have some mates who love board gaming as much as you and then buy a couple of games each and pass them around – or invite the person who has the game you want to play.

Which is why i wanted to start blogging about some of the games i have played recently and enjoyed. You might be looking for a good game to invest in and i know quite a few.

If you are still someone who still enjoys Monopoly, Risk, Boggle and Chess, you don’t have to feel bad about it, but i encourage you to consider that there might be something more worth checking out… so join us…

What is your favourite board or card game at the moment? Or is there a particular one you have your eye on? Also, is there a game you would like me to review? Leave your comments below…