Settlers of Catan is a board game whose origins date back to a German publisher in 1995. It is still an extremely popular game today. It has generated numerous supplements, expansions and has sold upwards of 11 million copies. To put it mildly:

Catan is a beast in the board gaming community.

So while the casual observer may have read the announcement coming out of the Leipzig Games Convention in Germany last August that Catan was coming to Xbox Live with a mild yawn, many board game fans eagerly awaited its release. After what seemed like an eternity, Catan (whose name was shortened for reason only few know) finally was released on May 2nd – and it’s been well worth the wait.

The game is simple: your one of four players settling the island of Catan. The island is made up of randomly generated terrain hexes. Each hex produces a single resource which can be ore, grain, wool, lumber, or brick. There is also a single desert tile which produces, well, nothing. It’s a desert after all. Each player starts the game with two settlements and two roads, which they take turns placing. Where you place your settlements and roads determines which resources you have available to you.

The object of the game is to be the first to reach ten victory points. You gain victory points for each settlement you build, settlements you convert to cities and other achievements such as having the longest road or largest army.

Resources are the key to winning in Catan. You need them to build more settlements, roads and acquire powerful Development cards. Of course in order to get resources you have to expand your territory or start trading with other players.

At the start of each turn two dice are rolled and this determines which tiles produce resources – for example if a 1 and 3 are rolled those hexes will be productive. In order to claim resources from a tile they must be part of your territory. By properly placing your settlements and roads you can control what resource you have and cut of your opponents.

No matter how well you play you’re rarely going to have access to all the resources you need; this is where the most compelling aspect of Catan comes in: trading with your opponents. A very easy to use trade screen makes this aspect of the board game shine on Xbox Live. Wheel and deal to your heart’s content. Control all the brick in the game? Make them pay through the nose!