Catan, A Learning Experiance

For my first post I’m going to discuss the game session held in class in which we played the board game "Settlers of Catan". While not a video game (or at lease not yet, I know in a few weeks Xbox Live will get its version) the game is a terrific example of a large number of abstract systems that players must master in order to succeed. What I find most interesting about the game is that while on the surface the game appears to be very complex, Even those who were unfamiliar with it quickly picked up on the strategy elements after a few turns. I would compare this to chess, which to me has a simpler set of rules, but can take a lifetime to play like a grand master. I would have thought that Catan would be the harder game to masters, yet in all our groups those who have not played the game before proved to be competent in their abilities.

The process in which the new players to the game learned was also interesting. Mostly the new players would mimic the choices the more experience players made, but then about halfway into the game realized that in order to win they would have to adjust their playing style with one that fix their location and access to resources. Luck also played a key element into the learning curve as I, a more experience player, was not able to execute on my strategy since I was without resources. This allowed the other players in the game to realize the importance of resources and build closer to the locations that kept producing resources.

The trade and barter system of the game also provides an avenue for the new players to learn alternative strategies as players would indicate why a trade would be to both players favor. Unfortunately, do to our games particular layout, we have a number of players monopolizing specific resources while all in need of one specific resource, bricks. The game quickly became centered on this resource.

After the game I think it would be interesting to contrast this experience with playing a game of "Diplomacy". Diplomacy is a similar in a player tries to control dominancy over a geographic area and that each player needs the help of the others to be victorious, but the game is much more conflict oriented as opposed to the city building approach that Catan presents. The other major difference in the game is that there is no luck component in Diplomacy, The only way to gain ground is with overpowering numbers or particularly advance maneuvering.