Nate Baker
United States
Coon Rapids
MN
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Initial Response – 6/10
As the first game I went out to buy on my own, this was a big deal. I was the most excited when my wife found them on a craigslist ad and found out I could get the Base Game, Cities and Knights, and Seafarers for $45. What we didn’t know until we showed up at the people’s house is that they were all in German.
My wife knows German, so it was fine for her, but me? Not so much. Now I didn’t know what Kosmos was back then or anything about gaming. We had simply played one or two games of the Mayfair Catan with my buddy Bradley and his wife Kate and we wanted it. Because of the amazing price and the fact that we drove 40 minutes to get there…we bought it anyway.
Unboxing and Components – 10/10
Goodness gracious, this was the best faulty decision we had ever made. While the base game had already been punched, Seafarers and Cities and Knights hadn’t even been punched yet. The detailed plastic components blew away those stupid wooden ones from the Mayfair edition, and the sizes of the Resource/Development cards were half the size of the others, which I found I enjoy 10 times more than a handful of big cards. The robber is also an awesome little detailed rubber figure of 3 bandits standing close together. I love it!
The artwork on these editions I prefer wholeheartedly as well, as it looks far more realistic as the hexes blend together.
Not only that, but I find out that this is the 10 Year Ann Kosmos edition when they first started using the plastic pieces. The insert is rather comfortable, easily storing everything in a little compartment keeping everything separate and organized, and with a lot of room to spare!
Setup – 9/10
This version of Siedler has the outer sea frame with the trading posts already printed, cutting down on loose pieces, while keeping its variability. This makes setup quick and easy. It is basically the same as setting any game of Catan up nowadays if you’ve kept up with the times and have the sea frame available. After mixing up the numbers and the hexes, place them down in an orderly fashion. We do it clockwise starting from the outside going in. We also do this with the number chits.
After setting that up, you roll the dice to see who goes first. The first player then lays down a settlement and road on their chosen hex corner. Then the second player, third player, and 4th player lay theirs down. However, the 4th player then lays a second settlement and road down, and it goes backwards until the 1st player lays his second settlement and road down.
Gameplay – 9/10
Like any game, it has its up times, and it has its down times. However, the down times in this game really don’t happen that often as long as you are decent at placement, and your luck isn’t extremely bad when it comes to rolling the dice. On the playing field, you settlements are on corners of each hex. This means they could be touching between 1-3 hexes. The numbers on these hexes represent the number that needs to be rolled to pick up that hexes resource.
Let’s say your settlement is on 2 wood hexes and 1 brick hex. The numbers are 4, 5, and 8. If you OR your opponents roll a 4, 5, or 8, you get that hexes respective resource card. If you roll a 7, you move the Robber from the desert hex, and move him to any hex of your choice. This hex no longer produces resources for anyone touching it, and you can pick someone who has built on that hex to steal one resource card from. The only way to move the Robber is to roll a 7, or use a Knight Development card, which we will get to shortly.
On your turn, after you roll and pick up your resources/moved the robber, you have the choice to use your compiled resources to build a road, settlement, city, or development card. As you can see from the Cost card below, everything costs something a little different.
The deck of development cards consists mostly of Knights, but also has a few producing cards like being able to build two roads for free or grabbing a resource of your choice from the bank. Some are even worth 1 Victory Point. Once you are done building, it becomes your opponents turn and so on. You score points by building more settlements, upgrading them to cities, having the most knights (3 minimum), having the longest road (5 minimum), or getting lucky with Development cards.
Whoever gets to 10 VP in a standard game is the winner and Lord of Catan!
Cleanup – 9/10
This is too easy. With this version’s simple, organized, and efficient insert, cleanup is even easier and faster than setup. Put everything in its rightful place, drool a little over the plastic molded pieces, and put it away. 1, 2, and 3. There isn’t even a need for a decent storage solution in my opinion. I am able to fit all of my Seafarers and Cities and Knights pieces in one box because of the left over room! Now if you are going to do this, I would recommend using plastic baggies to separate the components, unless you plan on playing a mix of all 3 at all times or don’t care if setup takes a little longer as your separate the playing pieces.
Thoughts and Criticisms
Honestly, the only thing wrong I can even think of is the fact that I don’t know German and can’t read the cards. In the case of the base game, it actually really doesn’t matter as the pictures on the cards says it all, and if it is a Monopoly card, it is still Monopol in German, so you should be good to go.
The only thing with the insert is the depressions where you place the 4 different colored playing pieces. The top of the insert doesn’t reach the top of the box, however, one side of it does. So the pieces won’t mix in with the rest of the game if tipped upside-down or dropped, but they will mix in with each other. This is another reason to keep them in separate baggies.
The Final Countdown – 10/10
All in all, you are getting one of the most famous and fun board games created by man. While I may be biased by liking the game, so is any reviewer on the point of whether he or she enjoys it or not. That’s what a review is! This specific version is the one I would buy over and over again if I had the chance. It’s a bit more difficult to find here in the States, and it doesn’t mix with the Mayfair editions too well at all, but if you are in Europe or don’t mind spending a few extra bucks, there are far more Kosmos versions on the European market than Mayfair editions on the American market. Plus, if you get your hands on Das Buch, this edition matches it hand in hand.
Regardless of the edition, it is still my favorite board game of all time, as well as the board game that helps introduce many into the world of board games. If you haven’t played your part in the building the island yon new gamer, than give it a go and get yourself a copy!
Happy playing!
Nate 
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