From: "Jim Mason" Subject: Re: review/old site Settlers of Catan Card Game (from Mayfair Games) This is a two player (only) card game that attempts to recreate some aspects of the very popular "Settlers of Catan" multi-player board game. The game comes with the following: 120 square cards one big "regular" six sided die one big "special" six sided die one hardwood "Windmill Token" one hardwood "Knight" token Also included is a well illustrated rules booklet (approx 30 pages) which includes a detailed list of the various cards. The rules for the game are quite simple, and are nicely summed up on the back cover of the booklet for easy reference. This is NOT a collectible card game, everything you need is included, and one game is all that is necessary for two players. The object of the game is to be the first player to build a principality that consists of 12 victory points. Victory points are received for building settlements, cities, city improvements, and the Windmill and Knight tokens. Players begin by each constructing a grid of cards in a pre-arranged fashion. Each player begins with two settlements connected by a road. Each settlement is surrounded by four region cards which are placed at the corners of the settlement, thus the two regions in the middle are shared by the two settlements. The region cards each produce a particular resource and have a die number from one to six which represent the die roll necessary to produce the resource. The amount of resources on hand are represented by turning the card which shows anywhere from 0-3 resources. Players make improvements to their principalities by building new settlements, improving settlements to larger cities, and making improvements to both settlements and cities. They "buy" these using the resources that are produced in the various areas. These improvements are things like fleets that aid in production or trade, various buildings, or knights and garrisons for protection. When a new settlement is created, new resource areas are placed. Thus, the total number of available resources continue to grow. Improvements that bolster trade are marked with a various number of windmill symbols, and the player with the most windmills at any time gets possession of the windmill token. Knights vary in strength, and the player with the most knight "points" gets possession of the knight token. Thus, with players making constant improvements, the knight and windmill token may change hands quite frequently throughout the game. The play commences when a player rolls both dice. The "special" die has four different symbols as well as two question marks. The "moon" symbol allows each player to take a resource of his choice. The "club" symbol means that if either player does not have enough "defense", they lose several resources. The "windmill" symbol allows the player with the "windmill" token to take a resource from the other player. The "knight" symbol allows the player with the most knight points to get a free resource. Note: there are two different strengths associated with the knights, a strength point (in black) that decides who gets the token, and tournament point (in red) that determines the knight production bonus. Lastly, when the question mark is rolled players draw from a specially marked deck that determines a random event that usually applies to both players such as "Plague", "Civil War" (bad) or "Progress" and "Master Builder" (good). The result of the special die is resolved, then the players BOTH recieve a resource that corresponds to the other "regular" die. At this point, the player whose turn it is may expend resources to build improvements and/or play other cards that allow him to attack or hamper the other player or which allow him certain benefits. Play goes back and forth, with each player receiving resources on each turn, but acting only on his turn. There are several strategies to pursue, and half the fun is deciding what to build and whether or not to attack, etc. The windmill token is powerful as you get to take a resource from your opponent, but generally the improvements that get you windmill points don't give you victory points. Same with the knight. In addition, the "attack" cards have corresponding defense cards, but given that players have a limited number of cards in their hand (three at the outset), holding on to a card or two for that reason limits your play. There are improvements that allow you to increase the size of your hand, but again, they generally don't give victory points so a trade-off must be made. My wife and I have played about ten games so far, and we both felt that we had "mastered" the rules of the game after the second playing, so the learning curve is quite shallow. Play time for the first game will be a little longer as players will all want to read and study each card, but once they are familiar with the rules and what the cards do, each game takes in the neighborhood of an hour. This will depend on whether you leave each other alone in your race to 12 points or are constantly attacking each other (there are several arsonist, brigand, and black knight cards that players can use to harrass each other). The cards and dice are good quality - they seem quite durable and the artwork is exceptional, similar to what you might see on CCG's like "Magic, the Gathering" or the like. (Again, this is NOT a CCG - everything is included in the game at the outset - I just mention MtG for comparison of artwork because I figure most people will be familiar with it . . .) I got the game direct from Mayfair in late 1998 for $20. I can tell that this game is going to get a lot of play, and I think it is quite a good value. I recommend it very highly. If you have any specific questions about the game that weren't addressed in this review, please feel free to contact me at: mason_j@gse.utah.edu Jim Mason Jim Mason, Director of Development Graduate School of Education, Univ. of Utah mason_j@gse.utah.edu (801)581-8221 http://members.tripod.com/~Charlemagne64/medieval.html