The Evolution of Catan

At this past Gen Con, wife and I picked up a copy of the Cities and Knights expansion for the Settlers of Catan board game. Catan was our gateway game into the world of board game geekiness, and we've spent much of our convention time at the Mayfair booth the last couple of years. So, a month after buying it, last night came time to finally give the expansion a try.

Our first game of Cities and Knights in progress.

This expansion places a large emphasis on cities (the upgrades from basic settlements in Catan.) Rather than producing 2 standard resources, cities now produce 1 resource and 1 of the new commodity cards (paper, cloth or coin.) Those commodity cards are used to make upgrades to your cities (market, churches, etc.) These upgrades are what allow you to draw the new Progress cards (which replace development cards from the basic Catan game.)

Knights are soldier units that can be built mainly for the purpose of defending Catan from the barbarians that periodically lands on its shores to pillage its cities. Successfully defending Catan from the barbarians yields the strongest defender a victory point. Knight and cities each cost stone, and with these 2 elements being so key to the game, good resource management is key with this add-on.

Running a Settlers of Catan demo at the Mayfair Booth, Gen Con 07.

Long story short, Cities and Knights adds more complexity and strategy to basic Settlers of Catan game. Wife and I didn't get a chance to finish our game (it was late and the front room was filled with poison*) but I'm looking forward to giving it another go, and seeing how it works out with 3+ players. It was overwhelming at first, but after a few turns we got the hang of it pretty well. All in all, Cities and Knights adds a lot to the game. Next on my list is the Seafarers of Catan add-on.

*We had been using a large card table in the game room, which was still a little too small for our needs. For example, the Gangsters board game itself fit, but did not leave enough room for everyone's cards, game pieces and whatnot. On our front porch was a circular wooden table we'd bought at a garage sale a few years ago. It was on the front porch because we lacked the space to store it inside. After donating the recliner that was in the game room, it was time to bring the wooden table inside.

Now, there is a large roof covering our porch which has 2 effects:
- It protects the porch (and the table) from the elements.
- It has made our porch a haven for spiders.

The porch has become a warzone, pitting humans vs spiders. This table had been sitting on the porch for about a year, meaning it was crawling with spiders. First I took the broom to it and broomed the shit out of it. Spiders and nests begone! I then flipped the table and sprayed the hell out of the little nooks and crannies with pest killer. The resulting cloud of green poison made us evacuate the game room a little early. It is currently under quarantine and will be open again soon.