(Insert excessive exclamation here)

Some genius in this world made the Catan board out of cupcakes.

This is why if you aren’t using StumbleUpon to take up all of your free time after work, then you really should consider it because you will find things that you love.

But seriously. They made little sheep, bricks, lumber, wheat, and iron. And they made the robber. And all the ports. And included the desert (dessert!) AND surrounded it with ocean cupcakes!

My next challenge, when I have the time and people to play with, is to make the Catan board out of cupcakes, play an entire game of Catan, and reward myself with eating the cupcakes when I win. And if I lose, I’ll still eat them.

Who. Is. With. Me?

Six players set the Longest Board Game Marathon Record with The Settlers of Catan!

Six Settlers of Catan players set a world record for the Longest Board Game Marathon on January 16, 2009 in Langley, British Columbia, Canada. Their record has now been certified. The players completed 12 games of Settlers of Catan: Cities and Knights and were partially through a thirteenth game when they reached the fifty hour mark. The previous record was 42 hours, 48 minutes set in September of 2006 by four players playing Carcassonne. The six players used the event not only to break a world record but to raise awareness and funds for the Canadian Cancer Society.

This is not the first time Settlers of Catan has been played while setting a world record. On September 10, 2005 in Tietz Hall in Chemnitz, Germany, a specially designed Settlers board was used for 816 players to play a game at the same time. Each section of the board was used by two players. Each player could trade with the person on either side of them as well as the three people across from them.

My name is brett and i’m a whiner.

“Hi Brett!”

And it’s not cool. And i’m really trying to change, and it usually manifests in games [Settlers of Catan largely, occasionally Scrabble or Rage, sometimes hockey...].

And it’s usually justified situationally. For example Settlers last night which is a Risk-type (but much, much better) strategy game, where i started with a vengeance and everyone including myself thort i was going to dominate and then i went (playing with 6 people) 15 turns in which i picked up only twice… and so the dice-throwing cost me the game, no doubt… BUT Emo Kev played a great game and won and, as far as i can make out, the lousy dice-throwing was not his fault at all… and so my pointing out (repeatedly, and possibly keeping a scorecard) how lousy the dice-throwing was, detracted from his win, which is swak. Sorry Emo Kev.

And it really is something i have been trying to work on and even before last nite’s game i said to myself ‘no talking brett just play the game’ but i don’t think i’ve had as unlucky a game dicethrowwise as last nite and so i just got completely sucked in and whined.

Urgh.

[i should add in addition to that, that whining has been a part of my game winning strategy when i do win because it misdirects and makes people hesitant to grab cards from me and rather pick on other people so i am fully aware of that – i have used it to good effect on a number of occasions to sneak wins... but that is not cool.]

We’re playing again Thursday. I’ll try be better.

p.s. ‘whiner’ not to be confused with ‘winner’ cos they are VERY different.

La revista norteamericana Wired escribió hace ya seis meses un artículo muy ilustrativo de lo que son los eurogames, o juegos de estilo alemán, en particular el conocido y laureado Settlers of Catan (Colonos de Catán).

Photo: Baerbel Schmidt

El artículo se titula “Monopoly Killer: Perfect German Board Game Redefines Genre“, que traduce algo así como Asesino del Monopolio: Juego de tablero alemán redefine el género.

Hacen una reseña del juego y de su autor, Klaus Teuber, además de analizar la influencia que tuvo este tipo de juegos en juegos tan viejos como Monopolio o Risk.

Via: Wired.com

Mit «Catan – Die erste Insel» kommt das geniale Strategiespiel jetzt auf das iPhone und iPod Touch und bietet Spielspass jederzeit und überall. Genau wie im Original können bis zu vier Spieler um die meisten Siedlungen, die längsten Handelsstrassen und die grössten Rittermacht wetteifern, miteinander handeln und sich das wertvolle Land mit seinen Rohstoffen zu eigen machen.

Und wenn einmal keine Mitspieler zugegen sind, bieten cerschiedenen Cataner mit ganz eigenen Charakteren eine würdige Konkurrenz.

Das Spiel ist für CHF 5.50 im iTunes Store erhältlich.

The Catan Dice Game Deluxe Edition White Glove Demo is Here!

Our friends at PulpGamer.com and our own Alex Yeager have completed another White Glove Demo. This latest installment to the series introduces audiences to the Catan Dice Game™ Deluxe Edition. You can view the video above or on our Mayfair Games Movies’ YouTube Channel at the link below.

Mayfair Games Movies on YouTube

Visit the Catan Dice Game™ Deluxe Edition product page for more information:

MFG3109 Catan Dice Game™ Deluxe Edition

The Ten Greatest Board Games

10. Trivial Pursuit (1981)

In 1981, two Canadian magazine editors decided to design their own game and ended up creating a champion medium for all sorts of useless facts and knowledge. The gameplay is decent enough, simple in concept, but the trivia challenge is what made this game a huge success. Trivial Pursuit’s popularity continues today, spawning all sorts of updates and specialized versions.

9. Diplomacy (1959)

In 1957, a little game called Risk was published, setting off the popularity of wargames. However two years later, a new war game called Diplomacy was released, with a concept unique to Risk. The players must write down their moves and reveal them at the same time, cutting down on down-time spent between other players’ turns and giving a fresh unpredictability to the gameplay. Diplomacy is most famous for have negotiations, alliances, and double-crossing as an integral part of the game providing lots of room for player interaction.
Diplomacy became very popular and even JFK and Kissinger have declared it to be their favorite game. Diplomacy even grew to include postal games, where players would play from across the country through the mail. A unique and special game, one of the most interactive and involving war games there is.

8. Carcassonne (2000)

Board games seem to currently be in a Renaissance period over the last decade, mostly with the advent of German-style ‘Eurogames’. One of the most popular and unique games to come out of this era is Carcassonne, where rather than beginning with a board, the players create the board as the game goes on, each taking turns placing a new landscape tile and matching features. They then play their board pieces or ‘meeples’ on different areas of the board to perform differing roles which score points in different ways.
Carcassonne is a definitely a different expierence than regular board games, introducing the concept of tile and worker plaecment to many. There are a number of explanations, each of which addd a little something extra to the game without taking away its essence.

7. Tigris and Euphrates (1997)

Reiner Knizia is one of the biggest names in modern board games, and Tigris and Euphrates is often considered his masterpiece. Chances are you haven’t heard of it. It is not a game for the casual board gamer, but is instead a ‘gamer’s game’, full of complexity and skill, a mix of theme and abstract. One of the more complex games out there, wonderfully crafted and beautifully made.

6. Scrabble (1948)

The ultimate word game which has spawned tournaments of all kinds, had full dictionaries written on words that can be used, and created an enjoyable and intellectual leisure activity for people of all ages. Scrabble has garnered a level of respect in society like few other boards games can.

5. Backgammon (200)

Backgammon is one of the oldest games in the world. combining the race game with the dice game. It has a long history and is studied widely. Backgammon even has a World Championship. Backgammon is a pillar of the world of board games which has been around for many, many years and will be for many more to come.

4. Puerto Rico (2002)

Puerto Rico may be one of the most brilliantly constructed board games ever made, with almost no flaws in its design at all. In the game, the players are plantation owners who take turns in various roles (mayor, builder, trader, etc.) which dictate the different phases of the gameplay. The only aspects of luck in the game are the way the plant tiles are drawn (which has little impact on the game) and the strategy of the other players.
Puerto Rico is the Citizen Kane of board games. Not only is it technically brilliant, its also highly enjoyable.

3. The Settlers of Catan (1995)

Settlers of Catan is everything you want in a board game: an interesting theme, lots of player interaction, enjoyable gameplay, a good mix of strategy and chance. Settlers also has the quality of being able to pull almost anyone into its orbit.
The board is made up of 19 hexagonal pieces which are rearranged differently every game so that you never have the same board each time you play. You collect resources from the ‘hexes’ which you use to build settlements and road. Yet the description of the game does not do it justice; this is a fun, involving game that everyone can enjoy. I truly believe that eventually Settlers of Catan will be taking the place of Monopoly as the quintessential board game of modern culture.

2. Go (c. 2200 BC)

From the annals of ancient China comes one of the oldest and greatest board games in the world. Go focuses on balance, tactics and strategy. Perhaps no board game has had quite the cultural impact that Go has had, especially in the Far East. In China, Go was actually known as one of the Four Arts of the Chinese Scholar.
Go ended up spreading to Korea and Japan and eventually to the rest of the world. Go was considered an important skill in some Eastern cultures and is a game with many philosophical implications. It is certainly one of the most important and meaningful board games ever made.

1. Chess (c. 600)

Chess: the grand master of all board games. Originating in India, chess has a long and intricate history of evolution into the game of strategy we know today. The game can be considered a war simulation as well as an abstract exercise of the mind where each individual piece has its own role with one common goal: protect the king.
Chess is often used as a metaphor for such philosophical views and life lessons such as sacrifice and thinking numerous steps ahead. The game is widely studied by scientists and mathematicians and is played at the highest international level, including the famous cold war match of Fischer vs. Kasparov.
No board game in the world holds quite the level of popularity and reverence as chess does. It is the ultimate board game and the standard for all recreational challenges of the mind.

Este año las jornadas de puertas abiertas con eventos, juegos, etc, serán los dias

Martes 10 de noviembre

aula 113

12:00 a 20:00

Miércoles 11 de noviembre

aula S-107b

14:00 a 20:00

Jueves 12 de noviembre

aula 113

12:00 a 20:00

El acceso es totalmente gratuito. Podrás conocernos, descubrir cosas sobre la asociación y sus actividades, aprender a jugar a juegos nuevos y jugar a tus juegos favoritos.

Te esperamos!

If you are or ever have been the board gaming type, you may have run across Settlers of Catan, or at least heard of it from a fanatic friend. The game, which is a bit like Risk but without the war (at least in its basic incarnation), is all about resource gathering, trading, and colonization.

Fans of the series (and there are many) will be pleased to know that Settlers is now playable on your iPhone thanks to Catan ($4.99, iTunes link), an app that faithfully recreates the experience on your mobile device. If you aren’t yet a fan, Catan for your iPhone or iPod touch might just be the thing that converts you.

Gameplay

If you’ve played Settlers the board game, or if you’ve played it on your PC or Xbox 360, then you’ll already be familiar with the gameplay in the iPhone version, since it uses the standard rule set. Expansions are available for the board game which add more tiles or new gameplay elements, but for now, Catan on the iPhone doesn’t offer any of these additional modes of play.

The board consists of 19 hexagonal tiles, themselves laid out in a hexagon pattern. Each tile represents one resource, either Sheep, Wheat, Ore, Lumber or Brick. Each player gets to place settlements at the corners of these tiles, and collect resources from them when the number on the tile is rolled. Each tile has a number from 1 to 12, and each player rolls two six-sided die at the beginning of their turn.

Some tiles, like those with a 6 or an 8, come up more frequently, statistically speaking, and are strategically advantageous because of this. The goal in the game is to amass resources, which you can use to buy more settlements, roads, and other things to earn victory points. In traditional play, the first person with 10 victory points is the winner.

Catan on the iPhone lets you play with between three and four players. You can either play against computer opponents, or play hot seat multiplayer mode, in which you pass the iPhone off to other players when it’s their turn. It’s not an ideal multiplayer situation, since you have to trust your partner not to glance at your resource distribution, but without a Wi-Fi or Bluetooth option, it at least works well enough to be playable.

Sights and Sounds

Clearly, Catan wasn’t rushed out to the masses on the iPhone. Developer United Soft Media (USM) took its time in refining the look and feel of this cult sensation before its release, probably predicting correctly that fans of the game would be sticklers when it came this version’s faithfulness to the original.

The board is viewed from a top-down perspective, and you can zoom in or out using touch controls. Your resource count is displayed at the bottom of the screen in a convenient and non-obtrusive status bar. All of your controls are nested in a pop-out tab interface usually hidden at the right side of the screen behind an arrow button.

Sound is great, with a nice, fitting soundtrack running in the background, and appropriate sound effects for things like trades, resources, and standard button presses. In fact, I’d say it compares favorably even to the console version on the Xbox 360.

Conclusion

Whether you’ve heard of Settlers of Catan before or not, the iPhone port is an awesome time-waster. It’s engrossing, rich, and carefully tailored to the handheld touch-controlled platform. I will say that I found the difficulty to be rather on the challenging side, even when playing against a stacked line up of all the weakest computer players. The Xbox version has both a universal difficulty switcher and different AIs, allowing for greater versatility, and I would recommend Catan for iPhone adopt that in future, too. Still, for $4.99, you couldn’t ask for a better or more challenging pocket strategy game.

The famous board game “Settlers of Catan” was released by USM. It works completely like the original game!

There’s also a Multiplayer mode, statistics and some other options ! Have a look into the appstore!

Die Siedler von Catan

Das beliebte Brettspiel von Klaus Teuber hat nun im AppStore angelegt, um auch unterwegs die Siedler-Freunde zu unterhalten. Grafisch ansprechend umgesetzt orientiert sich die Spielweise komplett an dem Brettspiel und bietet eine touchoptimierte Bedienung. Zudem besteht ein Multiplayermodus. Eine musikalische Untermalung soll ebenfalls geboten werden. [Link zum AppStore]

dig and dig for ore //
but life’s no victory point //
and you’re no robber

We’ve created downloadable Catan Dice Game score pads for those gamers who just can’t put their Catan Dice Game or brand new Deluxe Edition down. If you run out of score pads or just want to stock up, simply visit the product page for the Catan Dice game Deluxe or the Game Support section on our website to download and print as many as you want! Each PDF is arranged so that you can print four score sheets out per sheet on standard letter-size printer paper. Links to the Catan Dice Game deluxe product page and the PDFs themselves are provided below. Enjoy!

MFG3109 Catan Dice Game Deluxe Edition

Red Score Sheets

Green Score Sheets

Gray Score Sheets

Red/Green Score Sheets

Trzeba przyznać, że mniej więcej od dwóch lat mamy (ja i Karmeleiro) hopla na punkcie planszówek
Do naszych ulubionych należą:

Osadnicy z Catanu, Ticket to ride – Wsiąść do pociągu, Neuroshima hex.

I co najlepsze do piwa i dobrej paki – Trivia Pursuit. Tak bzdurnych pytań w tysiącach sztuk nigdzie nie ma.

Ticket to ride

1. I met my friend’s new boyfriend the other day. I ring the doorbell. My friend’s brother answers, obviously thrown by my presence. “Hey. oh, hey…” he says, confused. I smile, and say I’m here to see my friend.  he says “…okay..” and graciously invites me to walk through the door. I wait in the front entrance, hear him announce that as everyone has probably figured out, I’m here. I hear my friend tell new boyfriend he should probably put some clothes on. She comes out to the front entrance and tells me about some of her medical problems.

2. We played Catan, a game which sounded horribly complicated and for only the greatest, most comprehending minds of our generation until I actually played it, at which point I learned it was overly simple and fun only in the sense that anytime anybody asked someone to trade and the other person said “no,” new boyfriend would burst out laughing, making the entire event pretty jovial. Can an event be jovial?

3. New boyfriend soon enough lost a billion points by holding out the plastic wrapped package of cards to me, and saying “do you have nails sweetheart?” Sweetheart? “Um…no?” I reply confidently, checking to make sure, while simultaneously and accidentally taking the cards. I spend the next 20 minutes trying to unwrap them.

4. The cards are finally unwrapped and we’re playing. New boyfriend randomly refers to me as “sweetheart” and “love” and each time I feel it is more off-putting and degrading. He is not calling his girlfriend anything. This leads me to feel that his intent is pure degradation. Still I say nothing. Why do I not say anything?

5. Friend gets up to check her phone. Comes back and tells me she just now got my text that I was coming over. Friend’s brother exclaims delightedly  “you didn’t know she was coming over?” He finally has proof that I am just one giant uninvited inconvenience. I say, indignantly, “She ASKED me to come over.” Friend’s boyfriend backs me up and gains back 2 of his 300 billion lost points.

6. Very mature and coherent things I thought of to say after I left:

“Can I punch you in the balls and call you Nancy? No? Then stop calling me sweetheart.”

“Thanks, honeybunch.” *cough cough*

“Do you have nails sweetheart?”
“[my name].”
“What?
“[my name]. Please call me [my name]. Dickhead.”

I think the best idea, next time, is to just tell him to call me by my real name. And leave out the dickhead.

The brand new implementation of The Settlers of Catan for Apple’s iPhone and iPod touch is now available in the App Store! “Catan: The First Island” is a great way to play Catan anywhere and anytime when you don’t have have any opponents to play with. To purchase the App and learn more about Catan: The First Island visit the link below:

Catan for iPhone

We’re excited to announce the official release of The Catan Dice Game™ Deluxe Edition! Now you can discover, explore, and settle Catan anywhere and anytime with 6 colorful, high quality, embossed plastic dice, double-sided full color map pads(each side is a different board!), and an exquisite lidded leather dice cup. The Catan Dice Game is a fast, fun way to experience Catan on-the-go. Play it in only 15-30 minutes! It’s a great casual introduction to the world of Catan. Roll your way to victory. So get ready to toss! Challenge the odds and discover a fresh way to master Catan!

You can find out more about the Catan Dice Game Deluxe Edition on the product page:

MFG3109 Catan Dice Game Deluxe Editon