Beyond Settlers of Catan

Settlers of Catan is perhaps the most recognizable Eurogame with over 15 million copies sold world-wide. While a tremendous board game that has been recognized as a modern classic, what do you do when need something new? That’s what this article looks to answer.

In the article, we’ve broken up the major mechanics and selling points of Settlers; with specific games that emphasise those mechanics provided here.

Civilisation & City building
Enjoy building up cities and the civilisation around it? Is Cities & Knights of Catan your favourite expansion? Well then, perhaps you should consider Kingsburg. In Kingsburg, you'll be building your province through the accumulation of resources draw from the favour of the King's advisors who are influenced by chance (your die rolls). A fun, slightly more complex game, Kingsburg has a ton of civilisation and city building.

Or perhaps you'd like to try colonising? The Age of Empires III was based on the best-selling computer game, and has been translated into an oustanding board game. In Age of Empires III, you will have to manage your workers and gold (instead of your resources) to develop your colonies and your trade routes. A somewhat more complex game, Age of Empires III is incredibly well balanced and still plays in a couple of hours.

Modular Board
Perhaps it's the fact that you have an ever changing board that keeps you interested in the game. If that's the case, the first game to look at is of course Carcassonne. Here, you build the board as you play the game, scoring points by completing features. For a game in the same vein as Carcassonne but with a bit more interaction, try Taluva.

La Citta on the other hand is a closer comparison to Settlers – players compete to build and attract the population of the countryside through the development of their cities. There are numerous paths to victory, with the best choices changing depending on the board and the initial cities the players will start with.

Route /Network Building
The top 3 route / network building games are of course Ticket to Ride, Thurn and Taxis and Power Grid. These games range from simple to complex in their gameplay, with Ticket to Ride simpler to learn than Settlers of Catan while Power Grid being more complex and sometimes quite 'mathy'. All of these games emphasise the development of routes as a major method of winning, so your understading of the board and where to go is going to be pre-dominant.

If you want something somewhat more complex in the route building arena, you should look at Chicago Express and Steam : Rails to Riches. In Chicago Express, you'll need to work with other shareholders of your train companies to win while in Steam : Rails to Riches, you'll be the only shareholder in charge of delivering the goods from one city to the next. Be warned though – Steam is quite complex and a substantially more difficult game to play; if highly rewarding.

Trading & Negotiation
Of course, maybe it's just the trading and negotiation; the high levele of interaction that Settlers generated that attracted you. If that's the case, you should consider Genoa – a game where players take on the role of Renaissance traders moving about the city acquiring goods and filling orders for goods. Messages need to be delivered and privileges obtained. Of course, none of this can be accomplished on one's own. Much negotiation and deal-making is the order of the day in an effort to become the richest deal-maker in Genoa. Flexible rules allow for negotiating almost everything in the game.

Of course, there's also Bohnanza – a pure card game where players are trading away the unwanted beans that threaten to grow in their fields. You'll need to get rid of your beans if you can; otherwise your currently growing crop will be ruined. Another easy to learn modern-classic, Bohnanza has the added advantage of playing up to 7!

Hand Management
Or for something slightly different in the same city building / civilisation theme, San Juan offers the ability to develop your city using a deck of cards instead of a board. Since you use a deck of cards, San Juan is a much more portable game while providing a high level of hand management and strategy still.

Conclusion
As can be seen, Settlers of Catan is just the start of the great board games that are available for players today. It's just a matter of which type of game or mechanic that you have enjoyed the most.