Settlers of Catan in teams of two

Last night we had some friends over for a meal. Dave had played Settlers before, once. They like board games; Josh, who is thirteen, really likes strategy games, so we decided to play altogether. Eight people is too many for one game, of course, so we decided to play in four teams of two. Sonja with me, the two girls (aged 11 and 8) with Richard and Dave respectively, Josh with Tim.


We decided to play to ten points rather than twelve, since we were having to explain strategies and rules as we went along. Sonja and I (orange) played second, which is probably my least favourite place. Towards the end we had nine points - seven on the board, and the largest army - so all we needed was a victory point, or another city. But our best source of ore was blocked - repeatedly - by the robber. I didn't have much wheat in the game - my only access was via the 11 hex, or by trading - so it was slow going.

Then Richard and Nicole picked up a Victory Point card, although of course nobody else knew they had it, and realised they had another building spot. So they got their last settlement (covered by a hand in the photo) and won.