Settlers of Catan Fest--who's in?

montgjules · 08-25-2005, 08:04 AM

Hey all. Scilaci and I are big Settlers of Catan fans. We play almost every Sunday evening at my mom's house. So if we have a Catania Fest, does anybody want to join us?

Also, does anybody here have cool house rules? My favorites from us:

(1) Down With the Robber: When a 7 is rolled, the player who rolls it can take any card of their choice from the bank. The robber isn't used.

(2) Auto Reroll: If nobody has a settlement/city on the number rolled, you roll again. (I bet that's a common one.)

(3) Pennies: You collect one penny every time a number is rolled and you don't collect. Then when you have the same number of pennies as you do of points, you can trade that number of cards in for a card of your choice. (Two cities + one settlement + longest road = you need seven pennies)

(4) Teleport Clause: This is our favorite, but not one that gets used very often because it's crazy. If you build out to a spot touching a 2 or 12, you can build your settlement anywhere on the map instead of on that location. Same rules apply otherwise: the "teleport" spot has to be two away from other cities/settlements, etc. And you can build there later if you want to. Yes, you can build ANYWHERE on the board. No roads, boats, anything. You can teleport to interrupt your rival's hard-earned longest road, you can cut off your enemy's prime spot that is an 8 on gold that he's been building toward all game, etc.

(5) Walls: We often use City Walls (From "Cities and Knights") in normal Settlers/Seafarers.

(6) Pit Settlers: I've never gotten anybody to use this one, but it would be fun. You can randomly trade with people like in pit: "Two to trade! Two to trade!!"

Okay, folks, what house rules do you have? What clever witticisms do you spew while playing Settlers? Scilaci, help me out here. Let's educate any people who play quietly and calmly. We get loud, crazy and laugh our heads off every time we play. ("That's NOT fair! I rolled seven AGAIN right after 10 and I have to get rid of all my cards AGAIN!" ... "Somebody call the Waaaaambulance. Mama Says isn't going to win yet.")

Aerick · 08-25-2005, 08:46 AM

Settlers of Catan? What the heck is that?

montgjules · 08-25-2005, 08:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aerick

Settlers of Catan? What the heck is that?

Oh my. My oh my.

We have some educating to do. Settlers is an addictive board game with a board that you build before every game, so it is different every time you play. Here's one link

JasonMa · 08-25-2005, 10:54 AM

And it's only the intro to the world of so-called "German" games.

http://www.boardgamegeek.com

I personally like Carcassonne and Ticket to Ride.

montgjules · 08-25-2005, 11:19 AM

Scilaci introduced me to a game called "Puerto Rico" that is very fun. I don't think it's "german" like Settlers, but it's another good one. (Scilaci... so.. Sunday? Saturday? for Puerto Rico?)

Scilaci · 08-25-2005, 11:24 AM

Carcassone is a good one too. Have you played all the expansions? Anyhow.

Settlers is semi to very addictive. I like that it is a different board everytime you play, that everytime somebody rolls the dice you get to play, and that it is fun even when I lose.

colinkun · 08-25-2005, 01:22 PM

I played "Ticket to Ride" the other day and thoughorly enjoyed it. There is an online version available on their web site. Fun stuff... really!

Aero · 08-25-2005, 01:30 PM

Ticket to Ride is way fun.

JasonMa · 08-25-2005, 01:40 PM

Puerto Rico is probably the most popular German game.

Warning, long explanation ahead

These game shave been nicknamed "German" games due to the fact that many of their designers are German. This come from the fact (As I've been told, so no idea how true) that after WWII the imagery of war was strictly controlled/outlawed in Germany. Thus the German designers came up with other games that force conflic without being war-like. That combined with the general culture (Apparently family activities like board gaming are very popular) led to a number of German board game designers becoming very good at designing games. The "Oscar" of board gaming is called the Spiel de Jahares and is awarded every year in Germany. The winner is front page in the newspapers and they can expect sales of their game to go through the roof. Former SdJ winners include Settlers of Catan by Klaus Tuber, Carcassonne by Klaus-Jürgen Wrede, and Ticket to Ride by Alan R. Moon (An American).

Thre's a number of groups here in Phoenix that meet on a regular basis and play these sorts of games. I tend to get together with people about every other week to play. I've played Carcassonne with the first 4 expansions (River, Traders and Builders, Inns and Cathedrals, and the King), as well as the stand alone versions of Carcassonne: Hunters and Gatherers, Carcassonne: The Castle, and Carcassonne: The City.

Since I'm posting this to a Salt Lake board, there might be some interest in a a couple of games that have been given a religious/LDS theme.

Settlers of Zarahemla (Settlers of Catan)
Carcassonne: Ark of the Covenant (A modified Carcassonne, those who are of the Mormon faith say that it reflects well)

montgjules · 08-25-2005, 01:49 PM

We haven't tried Ticket to Ride. Thanks for the heads up, people! German games rock!!