Settlers of Catan is a multiplayer board game invented by Klaus Teuber, first published in 1995 in Germany by Franckh-Kosmos Verlags-GmbH & Co. (Kosmos) under the name Die Siedler von Catan.

Settlers is perhaps the first German-style board game to reach any degree of popularity outside of Europe. It has been translated into Chinese, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Estonian, Finnish, French, Greek, Hungarian, Italian, Icelandic, Japanese, Korean, Latvian, Lithuanian, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Slovenian, Spanish, Swedish, and Turkish from the original German. The standard game and its many expansions are available from Mayfair Games in the United States, from Capcom in Japan, Kosmos and 999 Games in the European Union, and Devir in Brazil. Computerized versions also exist for the PC and mobile devices such as the Nokia N-Gage. Also, Microsoft recently announced at the August 2006 Leipzig games convention that a version of Settlers will soon be available on Xbox Live Arcade for the Xbox 360 along with other German board game adaptations.

Teuber's original design was for a large game of exploration and development in a new land. Between 1993 and 1995 Teuber and Kosmos refined and simplified the game into its current form. Unused mechanics from that design went on to be used in Teuber's following games, Entdecker and Löwenherz. The game's first expansion, Seafarers of Catan, adds the concept of exploration, and the combined game (sometimes known as "New Shores") is probably the closest game to Teuber's original intentions.^[1]

Gameplay

Settlers of Catan in action

The players in the game represent the eponymous settlers, establishing a colony on the previously uninhabited island of Catan. The island itself is laid out randomly at the beginning of each game from hexagonal tiles ("hexes") of different land types each producing one type of resource: ore, grain, wool, lumber, or brick. One hex is desert which does not produce anything.

As players establish towns and cities on the island, each settlement can receive resources for its adjacent hexes (with cities yielding more resources). The resources, represented by cards, can be used to build more roads, towns, or cities, and to obtain development cards for later use. Various achievements, such as building a town or establishing the longest road, grant a player one or more victory points. The winner is the first player to accumulate ten victory points on his turn.

Players are allowed to trade among each other the resources they have produced, and to trade "off the island" for a hefty price. It is difficult for any one player to produce all the resources necessary for progress, so astute trading is the strategic heart of the game. Player interaction is further complicated by the presence of a robber, which is used to steal from other players and hinder their production of resources. There is no combat. Apart from moving the robber, refusing to trade, and cutting off building routes, there is no way to harm other players. The settler theme and economy simulation gameplay are similar to the 1983 personal computer videogame M.U.L.E., though Teuber may have developed them independently.

Settlers of Catan has rapidly become popular in part because its mechanics are relatively simple, while its dynamics are quite complex. At a recreational level, the game is well-suited for family play. No one gets eliminated, and players who are behind can strive towards quantized goals that are within reach, such as building a city in a certain space. Home games generally take between one and two hours to complete.

The layout of the board and restrictions on building allow for a player to be boxed in through poor play or bad luck. Also, given the random component of board layout, it's possible for players to gain a monopoly on certain resource, and demand steep trade rates from other players.

Strategy

Increase production early

One rule of thumb for successful play is to increase production early. The expansion of resource production early in the game allows players to expand capabilities more easily later on. Once a good production base has been established, the player can pursue other aspects of the game, such as building the longest road or acquiring ports. Failure to expand early on can severely cripple a player.

Wood-brick

Focusing on wood and brick production during initial placement facilitates early expansion since the two resources are in high demand for houses and roads. While neither resource is very potent late in the game, the early building of roads and settlements in key locations can not only provide a significant influx of resources and position the player for having the longest road, but it can also inhibit other players from settling new parts of the board. The main drawback to this strategy is that once the player has placed all five settlements, he or she may find it difficult to gain further points and/or upgrade to cities.

Wheat-ore

A bit slower than the wood/brick strategy, focusing early on wheat and ore production can prove to be quite useful later in the game when players following a wood-brick strategy have placed all their settlements and have trouble advancing. The wheat-ore strategy allows the player to produce cities rather early on, and it positions him or her to produce many development cards, which can lead to having the largest army, avoiding the robber, gaining victory points, and a number of often unexpected bonuses such as monopolies. The drawbacks to this strategy are that expansion may be difficult, particularly later in the game when many avenues have been blocked, and that the robber can be devestating early in the game because the player will have only a few production units and cannot afford to lose resources.

Some of all, many of none

Often in games when no clumps of highly compatible resources are available, a good strategy is to acquire some of each resource. This is a less aggressive but more flexible style of play that allows the player to adapt easily to changing situations and to remain relatively effective during each stage of the game.

Supply and demand

Because the board is randomly generated, some layouts may produce large amounts of some resources and small amounts of others. For example, if the wheat hexes have two sixes, an eight, and a five on them, there will likely be a surplus of wheat that game, so unless a player has a wheat port or an early 3-to-1 port chances are wheat will be so abundant that it will have very little value. However if during the same game, the ore hexes have two fours and an eleven, ore will be a highly desirable resource. A clever player may sacrifice a few points of production to get to the ore hexes, and when those numbers do come up, the player can use them for his or her own expansion or trade them for a substantial return on investment. The drawback to this strategy is that overall production will likely be lower, so the player must carefully keep track of the market for the scarce and abundant resources, lest the benefits of the rare production become lost due to inflation – a risk that may be mitigated by clever placement of the robber and/or shrewd trading.

Avoid the robber

In Catan, less can sometimes be more. Players often move the robber to where it will do the most harm to opponents, and thus the sixes and eights are frequent targets and may not produce as much as their high probability indicates. Players who crowd around these hexes can find themselves unable to maintain consistent production because of the robber's influence. Players may also block lower probability hexes simply to maintain a monopoly. To mitigate the influence of the robber, it is sometimes better to settle on fives and nines in order to be a less tempting target and/or to spread out settlements. 

Information sourced from wikipedia.com

For more Settlers Strategy tips see:

• Settlers of catan strategy and tactics guide
  

Variations:

• Settlers Of Catan for 2 players