Settlers of Catan every day

I was going to blog about every game we played, with some idea of strategies used, and supporting photos.

However, we have now played four games in the last four days, and are playing another one this evening. On Sunday night, we didn't start until 9.30. There were just three of us playing, and I was quite tired. Richard and Tim had been running the PA for a carol concert, and needed to wind down. I did win, but it was mainly due to having picked up three Victory Point cards, which means it was mostly due to luck.

On Monday night we went for a meal with our friends Mark and Joan, and took our game with us. They've played with us a couple of times before. The first time, early November, we played an open hand, and were as kind as we could. We set a time limit, and it ended with a very amicable draw: seven points each. The second time we played with them was early December. Richard won that game, eventually, with 12 points. Mark and I both had 10, and Joan had rather bad luck with resources, so she trailed behind with 7 points.

This time we had to remind them of a few of the minor rules - there really are rather a lot of details when beginning - and also we discussed initial placement strategies. It was quite a nicely laid-out board with a lot of good starting spots. Tim was with us, so we played the extension for 5-6 people, and had to explain the extra rules about allowing anyone to build (if they have the exact resources) after every turn.

At the start of the game we were all doing fairly well, and the game ran evenly for some time.

Tim (white) probably should have won, or maybe even Richard (red). But I (orange) managed to pick up a monopoly card fairly early in the game. I had a lot of wood, so when a good clay number had just been rolled in a previous turn, I played a monopoly on clay and grabbed the longest street card from Mark (blue), who had held it at first. It took away some building spots from Richard, who could have blocked me if he'd realised.

Towards the end, I knew I had two more building spots. I had ten points, as did Tim. I laid out the streets to build my last two settlements. But then - by more luck - I was able to build a city and a settlement in one turn, meaning I won. Again. It's starting to get a bit embarrassing.