Why is settlers of catan so popular

Email Address:. This has to be one of the most popular games for bringing new people into modern board games. These work really well for changing the minds of people who think of board games as just Monopoly, Chutes and Ladders, Clue, and Life. Like Liked by 1 person.

Thank you for the great article. I think you are right about why Catan is still popular. There are minimal rules, minimal choices you can take and a great player aid. Yet, despite the simple rules and gameplay, there is a lot of fun from the trading to be had, a fair amount of luck from the dice rolling and plenty of strategy and tactics for those who want that.

Like Like. I agree with your points especially the one about negotiation. Few games have that. There is also one factor that I think also matters. That is a very good point — the same with various celebrities. The article nailed it. You are commenting using your WordPress. You are commenting using your Google account. You are commenting using your Twitter account.

You are commenting using your Facebook account. Notify me of new comments via email. Notify me of new posts via email.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed. Why is Catan so Popular? Luke August 25, 5 Comments. Mid-Catan Game. Catan in motion. Catan up close. Like this: Like Loading Published by Luke. Eurogame , General Articles , Resource Management. Join the Start Your Meeples Community Subscribe for updates, analysis, strategies, and general board game goodness.

Email Address: Subscribe. Search Articles Search for Start Your Meeples Community Highlights. Most Read Articles. Leave a Reply Cancel reply Enter your comment here Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:.

Settlers of Catan has been internationally recognised. Settlers of Catan uniquely engages players throughout. Millennials are increasingly moving away from the cities. Read Edit History Discuss. And yet, nothing could now be further from the truth as millennials prefer to barter over wheat than rave all night.

What could be more appealing for the generation work shy than the opportunity to take over the world with minimal effort? Evidence shows millennials have short attention spans Research shows that millennials have extremely short attention spans. The game is great for that mental laziness because it's over quickly and doesn't require huge effort. Players can achieve big ambitions with little input The game allows players to feel like they are exerting high-level strategic skills to achieve lofty goals of world domination, without actually requiring them to think or do anything extraordinary.

Each game begins with a shuffling of the board tiles, producing a wholly different board each time. Settlers allows players to produce resources, build roads and settlements, buy "development cards," and trade with one another. Where games like Monopoly fall short—with playing times that far outlast the players' interest, particularly those who have little hope of victory—Settlers is designed to maintain close competition.

Unlike games of Risk that can famously last for days, Settlers usually takes 90 minutes or less. And unlike many pastimes that quickly descend into cutthroat competitiveness, Settlers of Catan is not a zero-sum game. A single roll generally produces resources for multiple players, and trades are almost always mutually beneficial.

Because Settlers is a unique game that rewards cooperation as much if not more as confrontation, Weisberg argues that it "brings out competitive spirits in a positive way. Still, plenty of well-designed games remain mired in obscurity. There are a number of theories explaining how Settlers expanded out of the geek basement to corporate breakrooms and household living rooms.

Blake Eskin argued in the Washington Post , for instance, that Settlers has taken hold because it exemplifies many aspects of our modern world, such as limited resources and intertwined global economies. Another way to view the mainstreaming of Settlers is part of the larger trend of "nerd culture" slowly infusing into "popular culture. Settlers is taking a similar path to popularity. Not long after its inception 16 years ago, Settlers found a welcome home among gamers.

But the game isn't too nerdy for mainstream players.