Reviews

Great for anyone with the old version of the game. Prevents the tiles from moving whenever you bump the "board". It's a must have.

My family loves Settlers of Catan, but there are 5 of us and the orginal game is only designed for 4 players. I wanted to order the 5 to 6 player extension pack so we could all play, but we have an older version of the game and they've since redesigned the game so the new extension pack would not be compatible with our old game. By ordering this adapter, we were able to use the new extension pack and we've really enjoyed playing Settlers with 5 players.

I had an older catan which used the tile hexes for the boarder. Our board would constantly fall apart. These new pieces interlock together so they don't come apart. They form a frame making the board stable. It really makes set-up so much more convenient. Highly recomended, especially considering it's only about $10.

I've been looking for some sort of board to hold the game cards for the Settlers of Catan for years. My brother has a version of the game that he purchased in Germany that came with one, but the USA versions do not. This adapter is great! I'm so glad I found it. Now when you play the game it doesn't slide apart. I definately recommend!

Reviews

I was amazed I had never heard of this game until now. A friend of ours recommended it while visiting, so we ran out and purchased the game right away. That night we played until 1 AM in the morning. This game is fun! The instruction book is rather large, but the gist of the game is on the first two pages. My 8-year old daughter picked up the game right away and now wants to play all the time. I really like the fact that the game play is different every time. It is definitely a strategy style game and take a few games under your belt to start developing your own strategies. Our edition came with extra plastic bags for all the pieces. And everything fits nicely into the box. The game board, at first, fit very tight into the surrounding edges. I found that if I took some of the hex pieces and just rubbed the edges on the table to flatten out the nubs created when punching them out of the cardboard that it fit nicely into the surrounding pieces. You might want to do that too. If you like playing games, this is a must. This is our new 'family game night' game to play. For two players, the game play lasts 30 minutes to an hour. You can figure that for every extra person play, it will add about 30 minutes or so to the game play. You can't go wrong buying this game!

This is the best board game ever made. There needs to be nothing else written about Settlers of Catan. In fact, everything else I'm writing beyond that first sentence is extraneous. If you're still reading this and not purchasing said board game, you are wasting your time.

Settlers of Catan is by far my favorite board game. We encountered it a few years back and it continues to remain the favorite. The standard version is for 4 people, with the minimum age around 10. Extensions are available, and you can easily change some rules if there are only 3 of you. A typical game lasts about an hour. The players compete to acquire resources and construct roads, settlements, cities etc. There is also an amount of chance since you use two dice at each turn to determine who gets what resources. In that respect it is like many other board games. But there are three main factors that make it very interesting and why everyone feels that they can have a chance of winning each game: (1) the board setup is random, so that everytime you play, it IS a new game (there is a Nexus One app available that allows you to get a more balanced board), and (2) you can trade resources, and only the player whose turn it is can trade so that each time you have a possibility of acquiring points, and (3) there are many ways of acquiring points to take you to victory. Incidently, Amir Khan once said on his blog that he likes to play Settlers of Catan a lot. Due to the large number of possibilities the first time you play it seems a bit daunting. But it is worth every bit of you time and effort. The game was apparently invented in Germany to teach about capitalism. It has one the 'Spiel des Jahres' (game of the year) award in 1995. See more board game reviews at < [...]

Settlers is a great strategy game geared for a wide audience. The pieces and board were made to be durable and every match is always different due to the different land tiles and different number placings. I'd say the game is a mix between Risk and Monopoly.

We play this game a lot and love it! Once you catch on to the rules it goes quickly and is lots of fun.

Reviews

we played this game at a friend house and got hooked from the start.it may take a few rounds to understand how to play but once you do you will have a blast.this is a great game.

Even if you've only got 3 or 4 people playing Catan, it's *much* better with the expansion! I find the extra room and resources makes for a better game. Plus, you need this expansion in order to play the expanded Knights and Cities expansion.

OK. I like Catan. It is a great game to sit around and play, especially if your friends are good natured about it. Having a few drinks over a game of Catan is a fun experience that I recommend to everyone from the casual player to the serious. This expansion is great for one reason, and only one reason: It increases the number of people who can play with you! (This also makes the trading phase of the game have more strategy, as there are more players to trade with -- This can be a major plus if you are "serious" about the game). The only negative is that the game will become longer. Read: double the amount of time. You might not think that only 2 more people would add this much time, but it really does. Coordinating everyone in this game takes some effort, and the more peopel the harder it becomes. I definitely recommend this expansion if you want to increase the number of players who can join the fun! Note: The expansion is made out of the same junk cardboard the original board is, so this game gets low marks for durability. --Seriously, this thing will wear quickly with use.

Catan is such a fun game. This extension pack just allows more people to play, so more fun!

I had been excited about getting this to allow more players in our regular game night...however what is not listed is that this is made for the later editions where the water pieces are linked together like a puzzle (not the normal hexagon shaped water pieces). Really.. how hard would it have been to crank out a few water pieces to fit the old editions and toss them in the box... boom, all editions are now covered in one shot. I'm sad to say I had to return this hours after receiving it.

Reviews

We recently started playing Settlers of Catan and my kids, 10 and 7, LOVE it! So much so that my daughter wanted all the expansion packs for her birthday. I went online and read the reviews and Seafarers was recommended more highly than the other expansion packs so I decided to start with it first. I agree. It is a great addition to the original game. Lots of fun, but definitely adds more challenges to the original game. Of course, like the original Settlers, the initial setup takes a while, especially reading through all the instructions and scenarios, but once you get going, it's hours of fun. We've only played once but the manual has many different layouts for 3 and 4 players so we are looking forward to many more hours of family play. I highly recommend this if you like Settlers and want to add more dimensions to the game. My only gripe with both games (more so with the original) is the pieces sometimes don't stay flat so we have to bend the pieces a little to make them fit.

This is an excellent addition to the original 'Settlers of Catan.' Makes the game a bit more interesting without adding too much additional complexity. A great game for all Catan fans!

We bought this and a Wii set up for my husband's birthday (though the Wii was more for our teenage boys!). We've played the Wii a few times and really like it. If we take out Settlers, all four of us are at the kitchen table in a heartbeat! Settler's is a wonderful engaging game and we love this addition, too, as it gives virtually endless possibilities for games (although there were endless possibilities with the original game, too). Even if you were to set up the same board each time, each person's strategy can change, plus the random roll of the die, creating new games each time. I love that there are different maps to choose from. My boys on enjoy choosing which scenario and setting up the board (this takes about 5 to 8 minutes or so - well worth it!). In this expansion, you can sail to new islands (using the ships) and discover gold (which allows you to choose any resource) and set the pirate on anyone to halt their plans. Since we added this expansion we have not gone back to the original game, though I think we would still enjoy it. I rated this game a 5 for educational value as there is so much thinking, planning, good strategy - there is pleanty of learning going on! It's a 2 for durability as I do not see how the cardboard pieces, especially the outer frame, will hold up well over time. Maybe that's the beauty of it - it will still work, just will look well-loved. Note: Start with The Settlers of Catan. You must have this before you add the Seafarers expansion. We added the SETTLERS OF CATAN: THE FISHERMEN OF CATAN to our collection, too - a great addition. Keep in mind that you need the main game, the one I am reviewing here, in order to you Fishermen expansion. If you do end up enjoying Settlers as a whole, consider adding Carcassonne to your game collection, too. It's different, yet still strategic and doesn't take as much time to set up. Take the time to absorb the instructions of both games. They can seem daunting but it is well worth the time. More on Fishermen of Catan: My 14-year-old thinks this is cool - he always makes sure he places his settlements where he can get fish. We've found that the fish can keep the game moving, especially on turns where no one has anything to trade. We put the fish in a small cup and then draw them out when needed. As far as value, it escapes me why this is not part of the main game? The clever game creators have found a way to eek a bit more out of your wallet. That said, we love the Fishermen addition and no longer play the game without it.

My husband was so happy to get this game after Christmas - we played it over Skype with his family in a different state. I just wish it was a little more challenging for two players and that you could play up to ten players. We have the entire set now except for a few of the expansion packs.

The game arrived in a short amount of time. All the pieces were present and in good working order. We are enjoying our game, which is a good addition to the original Settlers of Catan. We enjoy all the settlers games and are happy with our purchase.

Reviews

This is a clever game of both luck and skill. It can be learnt fairly quickly, but most people need to play it a couple of times to get used to the strategy involved. Trading is crucial to the game making it a very social game with a lot of interaction between the players. The game board can be modified every game, so you're never playing the same game twice. While three people can play it, it's best played with four players. A perfect marriage of luck and skill, this game will keep you playing over and over again.

Reviews

The Traders and Barbarians expansion to Catan adds a varied number of optional rules and scenarios for the enterprising gamer who wants to add spice to their base Catan game. Scenarios include Rivermen, Caravans, Barbarians, and Fishermen. Each add different pieces, rules and resources to the game. Most are mutually exclusive but you can place Rivermen and Fishermen together with minor tweaks to the existing rules. There are also optional rules that can be used with or without the expansion, including a random deck that can be used to replace the dice. The cards also add random events that really make things interesting. and add events to the game. A harbor master variant and a two player version. This is a good choice if you've gotten a tad bored with standard Catan. I'd say it's a winner.