The Settlers of Catan
1995 (1997 edition) / Strategy board game / 3-4 players
***
Resold
I decided Catan wasn't really my game when I upsold the swanky new Sixth Edition set that I found cheap on eBay, but then I saw a tatty old-school '90s set going for even less, but with more character.
I hadn't realised it was the modern artifice that was putting me off, but as with Cluedo and Carcassonne, I don't need or want old games to be remastered so they appeal to people born in the 21st century. That gigantic box with its wasteful compartments, personal tuckboxes, bland card text and boardroom-abbreviated title wasn't for me. A sensible jigsaw-sized box where everything gets chucked in on top of a black and white A4 rulebook that makes it hard to tell which type of tiles are being depicted? That's more like it!
It's the same stilted and slightly boring game of development and trade as before, but it feels like I'm playing a classic now, even if it does need an expansion to be worth bothering with.
