Two-player Settlers game with Tim

Tim wanted to know our house rules for two-player Settlers of Catan. So this afternoon, I introduced him to the game. We were both able to get good resources and reasonable numbers on our three starting settlements, and it was a fast-paced game. Tim thinks rather faster than I do, and plays well, so that we were evenly matched until the end. He claimed the longest street, I claimed the largest army. We were playing to 16 points, and it could have gone to either of us.

Then I made a tactical error. I had the roads placed to enable another settlement, on the 6-9-10 hex (two wheat, one clay), but didn't have all the necessary settlement cards. Tim had a settlement two street away; so I considered playing another street to ensure that I could get the spot. But didn't want to use up my last current wood and clay, so I kept them in my hand. Big mistake: Tim had a street-building development card, which meant that he built two streets AND a settlement on his next turn. I then had to find somewhere else to build, thus effectively losing more than a wood and a clay.


He was thus able to build faster than I did, and since he had a victory point card in his hand, it wasn't long before he reached 16, to my 14.

A good game, which was finished in about 40 minutes.