The kids and I have been playing quite a bit of Settlers of Catan lately. It’s a turn based game in which players compete to build settlements and control resources on the island of Catan. Dice rolls, and thus luck, play a part too. It’s quite a fun game that requires players to formulate an initial strategy based on a variable board layout, adjust strategy in real time based on changing elements, understand a little about supply and demand, and negotiate with the other players to obtain the resources needed to expand your empire.
It sounds complicated, but a 10 year old can easily learn to play it in 10 minutes. It’s a great family game, as nobody gets eliminated during the course of the game and both cooperative and competitive actions are required to win. A typical game lasts about an hour or so.
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Thanks for this review… it sounds very interesting. We are on a kick of searching out new and different board games, to spice things up a bit.
You can only play so much Texas Hold ‘Em poker with your kids before they start dreaming of Vegas instead of college.
This game came up during my annual search for new boardgames… sounds like a good one.
Heh. Do you have any of the expansions yet? It’s a very addictive game.
We play Settlers from about age 6 on up, actually, with lots of help and coaching. My 9 and 11 year olds can play the expanded versions (though those can sometimes go for three hours).
Since you like Catan, I also recommend Carcasonne (we like Hunters and Gatherers best) and Puerto Rico.
We have Settlers of Catan. It’s one of the few games that the adults are just as happy playing as the kids. I’ve seen several other versions, but haven’t yet tried an expansion. Off to look up “Carcasonne”!