Settlers of Catan is one of a new breed of semi-abstract board games invented in Germany during the last several years. (I have heard Settlers described as the original German board game which started this fad) It has garnered several prestigious awards. An English language version of the game and some (but not all) of its expansion sets are produced in America by Mayfair Games. The basic game is for 2-4 players. A 5-6 player expansion is available, but the basic game is better with three and best with four players. It is played on a grid of hexagonal tiles with different terrain types: forest, hill, mountain, pasture, field, desert, water. Each terrain type produces a different type of resource: grain, wool, wood, brick, stone used to build roads, settlements and cities.
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