Product Review - The Settlers of Catan

This post is a little late, but here is my review of The Settlers of Catan board game! :)

The Review:

My Ranking: 10 out of 10

Ages: 11 & up

Catan, as it's been shortened to in my family, is an excellent game that combines strategy with creativity. The goal is to reach 10 points. You can earn points with settlements(1 point), cities(2 points), the longest road(2 points), collecting three soldier cards(2 points), or by drawing a 1 point card.

As you can see, you can have up to four players, each with their own color. You can play with only 2, but over the years I've learned the more the better. ;) 

You play with houses, which you can upgrade to cities, and roads. You can build these by collecting the right amount and kind of resource cards. I would go on and explain all how to play, but that would take a while so here is a link on how the game works. ;) The picture below shows what the board looks like after your into the game a bit. Every time the dice is rolled, if you have a house on the side of a resource that has that number on it, you pick up a card. For instance, in the picture below, if a 10 was rolled player red would get two sheep, since he has two houses on the 10 and white would get two also, since he has a city on it. (City gets you double)

It's a somewhat complicated game and I think it would be kind of hard to figure out on your own, but the instructions included are easy to read and after a few rounds, you'd have this game down pat. I learned how to play with some friends of the family's, so it was much easier to learn it that way.

I think the game is excellent for children ages 11+ or so and adults of any age. This game is bound to keep all ages entertained. And you know what they say - the bigger the number, the better, which is why I recommend also purchasing the 5-6 player expansion so you can enjoy this game with all of your friends. :)

You'll find yourself laughing and having a grand time when playing this game! Catan is an extremely competitive game and requires lots of brain power - two things I love about it.
While not nearly as popular as Monopoly, I wouldn't be surprised if this game was in the average family's game cabinet within a few years.