![]() Build On Three Way Intersections Where You Can.It can be tempting at the start of the game to go for a port or, in some cases, next to the desert if what is around the desert is particularly attractive.The dice will not be rolled enough times for the averages to really be taken into account. So, where I am not saying disregard the law of averages, I am saying that it shouldn’t be taken as a hard and fast rule. We would also expect 2 to only be rolled twice, but in reality it came out a whopping 7 times. If the law of averages was completely fair at low numbers, we would expect is for 7 to come up most often, when in reality 6 did. Although theoretically, they will not come up as often, they may come up a lot.To prove this point, I have just rolled two D6s (a red and a green) 80 times to simulate a game. Instead, it isn’t always a bad move to start on 5/9 or even (if you feel like dancing with the devil) 4/10. Rolling the dice 80 times will not give accurate results so far as averages are concerned, and what this means is that 8 and 6 (as all seasoned Catan players know) are not guaranteed to come out most often. This results in, in a four-player game, the dice being rolled 80 times.Although the law of averages is a mathematical law that helps govern the universe, it assumes large amounts of data to draw an average from. Don’t Get Too Bogged Down By The Law Of Averages. So, according to one Quora post, the average game of Settlers of Catan (or just “Catan”, whatever you want to call it) lasts for 20 turns per player.Place a settlement there and you shouldn’t regret it. What this means is that if there is a 6 or 8 on a grain, you should definitely go for that grain. As you can see, although ore and grain are both needed about the same, grain (or wheat, whatever you want to call it) is useful for the most. The way this works out is like the table above. ![]() Cities are the only way of getting points in the game with more than one resource of a specific type. It’s not 100% as simple as that with development cards, but it is close enough to make no odds when talking about the initial placement.įor settlements and cities, you need 4/1 and 5/1 resources to points. Yes, you could get largest army in this as well, which would be 15/3 points which is better, but the odds are against you. At three resources a piece (sheep, grain, and ore) this means you will need 15 resources to get a potential one victory point. This means you need 5 cards on average to get a victory point. So, you have a 1/5 chance to pick a victory point card. Somewhere like this for the first placement in Catan won’t hurt.įor Development cards, there is 15/1 ratio – namely, there are 5 victory point cards in the deck of 25 cards. You start off with two roads, which brings this down to 13/1, but this is still not a great investment. This is a 15/1 ratio (well, 30/2, but we’re simplifying) of resource to points since you need both a wood and a brick to build said road. Let me explain.In order to guarantee two points with roads, you have to build 15 roads to ensure you get the longest road. Instead, grain has the best resource to point ratio. Believe it or not, Catan is not a balanced game when it comes down the resources. Go For Wheat/Grain.Wheat/Grain (whatever you want to call it) is the most valuable resource in Settlers of Catan.Okay, so the easiest way to explore this is probably through bullet points, so let the bullet points commence! So Where Is The Best Place To Start In Catan? You can find that article here: Catan Strategy: 8 Different Ways To Start. Since publishing this article, I have written a second article going into more detail about specific starting strategies. Obviously, the tiles are random each game, so it’s impossible to give definite rulings as to where to place however, we can use a little bit of mathematics and psychology to come up with a few guidelines as to where is best to place your starting settlements and roads. In the meantime we all slowly die of boredom and stare longingly at empty Pringles packets, wishing they were full again. We’ve all been there, with one player taking three days to pick a position that they believe will be the most optimal place to start. The problem is, it can be so difficult to figure out where to start in order to have the best opportunity to score points early in Settlers of Catan. It is widely regarded as the resource trading game, and has won more awards than Kanye West has diamonds in his teeth. Launched in 1995, and designed by Klaus Teuber, Catan (better known by its former name: “Settlers of Catan”) now graces the shelves of board game lovers all over the world.
1 Comment
|