Settlers of Catan: The Dice Game Review

I’ve never been a huge fan of Settlers of Catan – for longtime board game fans, Settlers of Catan has fallen into the category of casual board games, alongside the likes of Monopoly, Sorry, and The Game of Life. It once was at the cutting edge of the board game space, but it no longer has the charm and strategic elements necessary to play with the big boys like Tapestry, Scythe, and others. Still, when Asmodee gave me the great opportunity to review the Settlers of Catan dice game, I was really intrigued – I’m a huge fan of games like Dice City, and generally if dice are involved, I’m in!

While the regular Settlers of Catan is a very social game – what others role impacts you – the dice version is a very signular experience. While you compete with others to get the highest score – or be the first to 1o points – what each player rolls is just for them. That does make this version a tad easier. There are two ways to pay the dice game – Island 1 and Island 2.

What is Consistent in Both

In both games you will be building roads, settlements, cities, and knights – this should all sound fairly familiar. The costs of these items are also familiar: wood and brick for a road; wood, brick, sheep, and wheat for a settlement; 3 iron ore and 2 wheat for a city; and wheat, sheep, and iron ore for a knight. Players will roll the six dice up to three times per turn, setting aside the dice they wish to keep after each roll. Once done, they can use their resources to build and earn points. For both islands, players will be given a starting point where future roads must be built from.

Island 1

Island One is played over the course of 15 turns. Everything on the board (sheet of paper) is predetermined. Roads are worth 1 point, and settlements, cities, and knights are worth a varying amount of points, in asscending order as you move around the board. Road placement rules apply here, but ultimately you can build a road anywhere as long as it is attached to an existing road. Settlements, cities, and the knights must be built in asscending order – that means you need to build settlement #3 before you can build settlement #4, etc.

After each turn, players add up the points they accrued that turn. Here is an example:

Adam was able to roll 2 wood, 2 bricks, 1 sheep, 1 wheat. With these resources, he is able to build one road and one settlement. He build a single road that brings him right up to settlement #4. Since Adam has already built settlement #3, he is allowed to build settlement number four. He therefore earns 5 points this round. 1 point for the road, and 4 points for the settlement. Adam marks a 5 in this rounds box.

If at any time a player is unable to build anything on their turn, they must place an X in the box for that round. Each X is worth -2 points at the end of the game. After 15 rounds, players add up their scores and the winner is whoever has the most points!

Island 2

Island Two plays very much like a regular Settlers of Catan game. Like in Island One, you still must begin your road from the starting point, you are not required to build settlements and cities in sequence. If you can build a road to it, you can build it, regardless of where it is on the board. Island Two also has the longest road and the largest army bonuses, and unlike Island One, you win in Island Two by reaching 10 victory points. Settlements are worth 1 point, Cities are worth 2 points, and the largest army and longest road are worth 2 points each.

Should you Buy It?

As I said off the top, I’ve yet to meet a dice game I didn’t like, and that rings true here again. I love that games can be played in 30 minutes or less, and this has quickly become a family favourite to play whenever we have a few free minutes of time. Even though I’ve tired on the original Settlers of Catan game, this is a breath of fresh air, using similar and familiar concepts but packaging them up just slightly different. If you love dice games, this is a no brainer!