| The most important part of the game for Settlers of | | | | Settlers of Catan Event Deck - using the actual dice, |
| Catan is the initial set-up phase, and will influence the | | | | the game is much more random, though basing your |
| strategy that the players take. We begin this strategy | | | | entire strategy on good rolls is not wise. |
| guide by detailing basic concepts that players need to | | | | Resources |
| understand Settlers of Catan and then follow on with | | | | There are five major types of resources in Settlers of |
| additional information about strategic choices in the | | | | Catan - brick, wood, stone, wheat and sheep. Of the |
| initial set-up phase. | | | | five, there are the most number of pastures (sheep) |
| Turn Order | | | | but they are only useful for creating settlements (1 |
| Turn order is not something you can influence, but it | | | | required) or purchasing resource cards (again, 1 |
| does affect the placement of your initial settlements. | | | | required). This makes sheep the least important / |
| As the first player, you have the choice of the best | | | | valuable resource. |
| spot; while as the last player, you can make | | | | The Map and Final Placements |
| placements twice in a row. Also whichever settlement | | | | When looking at the map for placement, you will need |
| is placed last by a player provides their initial hand of | | | | to combine all the above information to review |
| starting resources. So a placement intersecting a brick | | | | placement. Good questions to ask yourself when |
| and wood resource hex with mediocre numbers (say | | | | looking over a newly created map of Catan: |
| a 4 and 5) might be better for quick development than | | | | - Where are the 6's and 8's? Is there good expansion |
| one intersecting two wheat and 1 sheep with two | | | | potential near there? |
| mediocre numbers and 1 bad one (e.g. 9, 10 and 12). | | | | - Which resources are going to be scarce? |
| Probability | | | | Abundant? Do these resources matter? |
| Settlers of Catan is a game of probability - a pair of | | | | - Are there clusters of resources? Can I create a |
| dice are rolled to dictate which lands are producing that | | | | monopoly? |
| turn. As such, the available numbers are 2 to 12, with 7 | | | | - Where are the ports? Are they close to good |
| having the highest probability of occurring (6 / 36). | | | | resource hexes? Or are there good resource hex and |
| Obviously, 7 is the thief's number, and as such the thief | | | | port combinations (see above about clusters and |
| can be expected to be in play quite often in a game. | | | | scarcity / abundance of resources) |
| The next most common numbers are 6 and 8 (equal | | | | - Am I placing first, last or in the middle? |
| probability) followed by 5 and 9 and so forth. 2's and | | | | In a 4 player game of Settlers of Catan, the map gets |
| 12's only have a 1 in 36 chance of occurring and as | | | | crowded very quickly. As such, it is often worthwhile |
| such are the worst numbers (statistically) to be on. | | | | to place settlements off the beaten track, in slightly |
| Most Catan versions provide a quick and easy | | | | less competitive area as you may be able to expand |
| reference for this - 6's and 8's and highlighted in red, | | | | more quickly. |
| and the probability of a number coming up is indicated | | | | Last note, be careful about clustering yourself to only a |
| by the number of dots on the bottom of each number | | | | few numbers. While this can be quite beneficial, more |
| token. | | | | often than not, it is better to be placed across |
| Probability is especially important when playing with the | | | | numerous numbers. |