You can play Catan Universe on your browser, download it as an app on Google or Android, or play it via Steam, an online game platform. I had heard about some friends getting creative and texting photos of boards back and forth, but we decided to use app/video game Catan Universe. I am very bad at Catan, but I love my friends and being competitive, so I was excited to coordinate an online game.Įnter: Settlers of Catan-tine. The first settler to reach 10 victory points wins. In particular, we wanted to play our beloved Settlers of Catan - a board game where you strategically build roads and settlements to acquire resources, rob other players, and acquire victory points. As an extrovert who loves playing games with friends, I've been on FaceTime every night with friends, but it's not the same as the semi-regular board game cafe excursions we enjoy (we miss you Hex & Company!). All empty circles must be filled, if possible.In the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, options for entertainment can seem a little limited. "No player may chose to place colonists in San Juan if he has empty circles on his player board. When you have this names sorted out, then the text is easy to understand: What to do? You store them on "San Juan", or also called in the rulebook "small city of San Juan". Thus: You have no empty circles on the buildings/plantations (the city) or plantation tiles (the island), but you still have a few colonists. "San Juan" or "small city of San Juan" is an own place, situated on "the island" but not the same as "the island"! On "San Juan" you can store your colonists if you cannot place your colonists on your "player board". Your "player board" consists of both "the island" and "the city". In "the city" there is 12 spaces where you can place your buildings. Remember that "San Juan" is not the same as "the island"! On "the island" there is 12 spaces, each for a plantation tile. If you mix them up, then the rulebook doesn't make sense. I totally understand your frustration! What is difficult is that the rulebook speak about "player board", "the island", "the city", "player's tiles", "San Juan", "small city of San Juan" and so on. If a mayor forgets (players may remind him) to place new colonists on the colonist ship, players later place the minimum (number of players) on the colonist ship. ( Note: This rules seems is probably for later turns after a Builder phase has been selected and people cannot remember which new buildings have been built, and therefore how many colonists are supposed to be on the ship.)Īs his last duty, the mayor puts new colonists on the colonist ship to be used in the next mayor phase. It seems silly to place only the minimum number of colonists in the ship if "forgotten" at this point, and I can see how this could be exploited by players to not end the game as soon as it normally would. Since it is the last thing a player does during their turn, the first opportunity to remind them is after a new role card is selected or the Governor placard is moved (since otherwise it would still be during their turn.). Thus, a player may move a colonist placed on a circle or San Juan in an earlier round. All your colonists can be moved each mayor phase, including ones acquired during earlier turns.Ī player may place his new colonist(s), together with all the colonists he acquired from earlier rounds, on any empty circles on the tiles on his player board.