Seafarers of Catan Review
Posted by
Brian D Kron
on 7/07/2012
/
Labels:
board,
board game,
catan,
expansion,
games,
german games,
klaus teuber,
mayfair,
settlers,
strategy game
Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)If you're reading this, you no doubt are already a fan of Settlers of Catan. You're deliberating, trying to decide if you want to shell out more $ for this expansion. "Is it worth it?", you ask.
As one Settlers fan to another, allow me to encourage you. Yes, it is definitely worth it!
Seafarers adds additional water and land tiles, as well as an additional land type: Gold Field. Gold field works like every other resource, except that when the number comes up you get to pick *any* resource card.
The game also includes little ships, of four colors. These ships function just like roads, and can be joined to roads through a settlement. You use them to explore from the mainland of Catan in search of additional lands (and additional resources).
The rulebook contains several scenarios, accomadating 3 or 4 players. Some scenarios start with all lands revealed, other scenarios include an exploration element. In these scenarios, only the mainland is revealed: the surrounding seas and the other land tiles are placed face down. These are turned over when a ship reaches them, revealing either a sea, in which case exploration must continue, or a land, in which case the discovering player gets one card of that land's resource.
You can see that one of the best things about Settlers, the random board setup, is made even better by hiding the concealing the nature of the unexplored tiles.
My only complaint is that the rulebook, which contains diagrams of specific tile layouts for each scenario, is printed in such a way that it is hard to read. The text is understood easilly enough, but the board layouts are dark and indistinct.
But this complaint is minor, and with practice is easilly remedied. Seafarers is a terrific expansion that makes the already great game of Settlers even better.
Click Here to see more reviews about: Seafarers of Catan
Publisher: Mayfair GamesNumber of Players: 2-4 (up to 6 with expansions)Designer: Klaus TeuberPlaying time: 90 to 120 minutesAges: 10 & upOverview: Players are recent immigrants to the newly populated island of Catan. Expand your colony through the building of settlements, roads, and villages by harvesting commodities from the land around you. Trade sheep, lumber, bricks and some grain for a settlement, bricks and wood for a road, or try to complete other combinations for more advanced buildings, services and specials. Trade with other players, or at local seaports to get resources you might lack. The first player to achieve 10 points from a combination of roads, settlements, and special cards wins.With the Seafarers of Catan expansion, you can expand your Settlers of Catan game in new directions, add Islands, Pirates, Gold, Ships, and Trade. Explore and colonize the newly populated Archipelago of Catan. Building settlements, roads, and villages by trading commodities from the land and islands around you. Trade sheep and wood for a ship, bricks and wood for a road, build new settlements and improve settlements into cities.In the Cities and Knights of Catan expansion, dark clouds are gathering over the peaceful island of Catan. Wild barbarians, attracted by the wealth of Catan, sailed to attack the country. Fortunately, warning has given Catan time to meet the danger. The size of the barbarian army corresponds to the number of cities in Catan. Thus, for Catan to fend off the barbarian attack, the players must form a knight force as strong as the barbarian force.In addition to the barbarians, players compete to build the three great metropolises of Catan. Each of these magnificent centers is worth two additional victory points. To build a metropolis, players must invest in city improvements. To acquire these improvements, players must acquire the three new types of Trade Cards: Coinage, Paper, and Cloth. These cards can only be gained
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