Settlers of Catan Event Cards

A look at the Event Card Deck for Settlers of Catan
Planner One complaint some people have about Settlers of Catan is that the luck involved in rolling dice can have a strong impact on the outcome of the gameThe Catan Event Cards, designed by Klaus Teuber and published by Mayfair Games in 2006, are designed to change that
Producing Resources in Settlers

In Settlers of Catan (game review), players build towns and cities next to areas which produce various resources, such as ore and woodEach area has a number from 2 to 12, and two dice are rolled each turn to see which areas produce resourcesIf a 4 is rolled, for example, every area marked with a "4" produces

Theoretically, this means that the areas marked with a "6" or an "8" are the best to build next to(Rolling a 7 in Settlers does not cause production; rather, it activates the robber and can cause players to lose resource cards.)

But there will be games in which a 5 or 9, or even a 2 or 12, will be rolled more often than a 6 or an 8Some players don't mind this, believing that the element of luck only enhances the experience of playing Settlers of CatanBut for players who prefer a more strategic game, the dice are an unwelcome element

What the Catan Event Cards Do

Using the Catan Event Cards removes the dice from Settlers of CatanThe deck includes cards marked with every number from 2 to 12(The distribution is listed at the end of this article.)

To use the deck, the 36 event cards are shuffled together and five are placed face down on the tableThe "New Year" card is placed face down on top of those five cards, and the other 31 event cards are then placed on top of the New Year

On a player's turn, instead of rolling dice, he simply turns over the top card from the Event deckIn most cases, the card simply includes the number of the areas which will produce on that turn

Some cards, however, also have new special powersFor example, one of the "5" cards includes this: "Tournament: The player(s) with the most soldier cards revealed takes 1 resource of his choice from the bank." If you like the cards but don't like these special powers, it's very simple to ignore them and use the cards purely to replace dice rolls

When the New Year card is revealed, all of the event cards are shuffled together and the steps outlined above are repeated

Are the Event Cards Good or Bad?

Whether or not you prefer playing Settlers of Catan (or Cities and Knights of Catan) with dice or with the Event Cards is entirely a matter of tasteIf you enjoy random elements in games, the dice will be betterIf you would rather play a more strategic game, the Event Cards are the way to goI can enjoy Settlers either way.