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I probably have Settlers of Catan to thank for the enormous pile of board games that is currently sitting on my dining room table, and continues to multiply at an alarming and expensive rate. Consider it a gateway drug into a world of dice rolling, card trading, back-stabbing and all out tomfoolery.

I actually played Settlers for the first time in a class in college. Yes, you read that right. I was required to play Settlers for class credit. This is what happens when you take a class from one of the two guys who created Dungeons & Dragons. Prior to this my experience with board games was relegated to the usual: Monopoly, Risk, Stock Ticker and Mouse Trap. I had played Talisman once, but that's as far as went for the more "serious" board games. But once I played Settlers, I was hooked. And my bank account still weeps to this day.

The basic premise of Settlers is that you are one of a number of people on an island, and you have to gather resources in order to build settlements are roads. There are a number of ways to gain victory points, and the first person to get to ten victory points is the winner.

The island of Catan is made up of a number of hexes, surrounded by water (hence, an island). Each of these hexes is of one of a number of resources: wood, brick, wheat, stone and sheep. As well, each hex has a number on it between 2 and 12. Coincidentally, these are the numbers you can roll with 2 6-sided dice! In order everyone places a settlement at a corner of a hex, and one road along a connected edge. Then in reverse order, you repeat this process. The only stipulation is settlements must be at least 2 edges apart.

Then you play!

Every turn starts with the roll of the dice. The number that is rolled corresponds to the resources that are handed out. Anyone who has a settlement on the corner of a hex that matches the dice roll gets one resource of that type. You can then choose to trade in resources to build a settlement, build a road, upgrade a settlement to a city (so you get 2 resources for every roll!), or buy a development card.

Each settlement is worth 1 victory points, with each city worth 2. The person who has the longest road that is at least 5 edges long gets 2 victory points, but this can change hands throughout the game.

The development cards are an integral part of the game. Some are worth a victory point, which you keep hidden. Some allow you to steal resources, build free roads, or take 2 resources of your choice. Then there's the soldiers.

The soldiers

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