Stop Everything, There’s Another Space Settlers Of Catan

If you’re talking classic board games, and not tosh like Monopoly or Clue, then Settlers of Catan has to be near the top of the list. It’s still brilliant today, and the app is even one of the best digital recreations of a board game around.

Most people have played Catan at one point or another, so you’ll be familiar with how good it is. Now, are you sitting? Good. Because Settlers of Catan is getting a space version.

Amy Wang and Fuzzy Wobble have taken it upon themselves to refresh the classic board game. They haven’t just given it a fresh coat of paint, however, but redesigned the entire aesthetic to take Settlers of Catan into space.

And holy shit, it looks amazing.

It’s not just a visual overhaul, either. Called Deep Space Settlers, the game takes the Seafarers expansion and tweaks it slightly. There’s no 2 or 12 in the numbers anymore, for instance, and if you roll either you get a resource of your choice.

Here’s the improvements and changed rules:

Improvements:

This game is an evolution of Sea Farers Catan, in which there is an exploration element to the game. Instead of exploring the sea, we are now exploring deep space, which are inverted tiles that are flipped during exploration.
Perimeter pieces have grips. No sliding board.
Hexagon pieces are smaller. Can create large boards without needing a stadium size table (as you did with Sea Farers).
When you reach a trading port your piece is elevated so other players are more aware who is owning which trading ports.
Robber covers both the resource and the number.
Finally, you can build your cities, rather than replacing settlements with cities.
Building reference card is connected to the baggie of pieces.
Longest Road and Largest Army now trophies instead of cards.
Although, not very space themed, we kept sheep/wood/wheat/ore/brick because we did NOT want to force people to remember a new set of resources.

Rule Changes:

No 2’s or 12’s in the numbers. If you roll a 2 or 12, take a resource of your choice.
No building roads along the perimeter. Consequently, road strategy becomes more intense.
You can remove the robber by giving up all the resource cards in your hand if you have 4 or more.
No pirate (as there usually is in Sea Farers).
No trading or building between turns, even if there are 5-6 players.

You can’t buy Deep Space Settlers online, but there’s an email on the Fuzzy Wobble website. I’m not saying bombard the guy with emails demanding this get made … but like, holy shit. I would totally buy this for Christmas if it did. Or right now. Please take my money?

Update: I’ve been reminded that Starfarers of Catan and a Star Trek-themed Catan were produced. Neither come close to being as classy as the rendition above, but I’ve updated the headline to suit. My bad!


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