I knew we should have been neighbors now there is no way to fight the will of these men, our beloved enemies whose rules we have no choice to accept. If one of her sheep wandered too far, it would surely turn to a bleached set of bones before long. I imagine wind beating against the small plastic roofs while these unwelcome forces press in from either side.Īcross the board, against the far ocean, Tricia has access to only one field of wheat and an empty desert, where nothing will ever grow. I watch Derek spread his reign across the grasslands where my sheep were meant to graze I feel Mike’s attention on the iron-rich landscape to the left of my meager settlement. I am scheming, plotting for control, maneuvering for more. I rake the dog’s fur with my bare toes and get into the rhythm of the game. The dog settles down at our feet, bored with our human delight she has a different definition of a good time. Catan is one of the most popular board games of all time, and I’m beginning to understand why. These theories are widely employed in the international relations realm, and Teuber has developed a game that puts these ideas into action with an almost-eerie effortlessness. That’s the intention, of course when Klaus Teuber invented the game in 1995- released first in Germany, and the following year in the state- he was heavily influenced by multiple well-known economic theories, such as price theory, threat point and zero-sum game (Raphel).
Settlers of Catan is simple: control the resources, gain points, and win the game.Īs we play, I am struck by two things: one, I am having fun, and two, this game is undoubtedly the purest embodiment of a Western-centric relationship to landscape I have ever experienced. Other ways to gain points include collecting ‘knight’ cards, which can collectively form a standing army reserve building the longest road, regardless of where it goes developing smaller settlements into larger cities robbing, hoarding or blocking resources alternatively, forming short-term non-binding alliances, and more. There are also cards that hold unpredictably valuable resources and lots of interesting snags that can set back an unlucky player. Players roll the dice in an attempt to collect resources, and the more resources you gain, the more settlements you can develop. As always, power is what we are supposed to want above all else.Įach hexagon contains a commodity that can be used to develop your “settlements”. The more of your plastic pieces that you spread across the world, the more powerful you are. Put simply, the point of the game is to spread your little house and road bits across the board-world in order to control as many hexagonal plots of land as possible. Once we start to play, however, I catch on quickly, and am soon a terrifically ruthless competitor.
Mike is still talking but for the life of me, I can’t remember a single rule. The board sits in front of us, colorful hexagons and little house-shaped pieces littered across the table. Mike gets everyone another beer and a tiny square of overpriced, fair-trade dark chocolate that is so bitter I gulp beer to wash the bite away. I feign interest and promptly forget all of the instructions. As usual, the rules of the game sound overly complex. Derek belches without covering his mouth and goes to get a third helping of tacos. Mike stretches his beanpole body away from the table and rolls his eyes, telling us that Trica is just bad at Catan and a notorious sore loser. He’s merciless, she says, pushing her eyes so wide that her eyelashes kiss her blonde brows be careful. Tricia interrupts Mike to warn us that Mike always wins.
Our bodies make the living room grow warm as Mike and Trica, an outdoorsy, organized couple who recently moved to Flagstaff from the Northeast, take turns talking over each other.
I eat too many tacos and feed bits of tortilla to the dog, who is equally susceptible to being tricked by treats. Derek planned this dinner and game night but only told me about the tacos I am a sucker for Mexican food and Derek uses this knowledge skillfully and shamelessly to get me out of my comfort zone, which is one of the reasons I love him. I am notoriously mistrustful of games, especially those that involve a board that I am going to play Settlers of Catan is a result of skilled manipulation. It is a Friday night, and we are at a friend’s house about to play a board game.
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