Settlers of Catan has been seen as a “gateway game” for several years. It was one of the first of a new kind of game; games different than Candy Land or Monopoly; games created by a smaller company. For these reasons, I will forever hold a place in my heart for Settlers of Catan.

All that said, we don’t have the game with us, and it’s really not my favorite game. However, we do have a couple of different versions with us. They each have different pros and cons, but you’re likely to find a Catan game that your family enjoys.

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All of the Catan games our family has tried are resource management games. Ordinarily, I really like resource management games. They’re great for learning how to think through the steps to a problem, strategic thinking, and logic. Most people have to figure out resource management – from paying bills to grocery shopping – so it’s good to have games that our kids can learn on before they’re adults.

However, the Catan games that have everyone collecting resources every turn also have a factor I really don’t like. Every player is in direct competition with every other player for places to build their settlements, and it’s possible for players to get cut off. If you don’t have the ability to build next to where you already are, then you simply can’t build. The one exception we’ve played is Catan Dice. In Catan Dice, players only get to act on their turn. However, everyone is playing on separate maps, so there’s no direct competition.

I will say that it’s difficult to find a resource management game that is not built on the idea of colonization. So, maybe it’s something that we use to start a conversation about colonization. There are many other resources to learn about colonization and the impacts it has on the environments and people being colonized.

Catan Dice is a very small version that’s perfect for taking on the go or if your family doesn’t do well with direct competition.

One thing to be very careful with is how many players a game supports. The original Catan is only playable by three or four players. If your family is larger or you want to play with friends, you need to get the expansion. You often also need the base game if you want to try Seafarer’s or some of their other games. If you want to play Seafarer’s with five or six people, you need the base game, the Seafarer’s expansion, and both 5-6 player expansions. (That’s a base game and three expansions to play one game!)