HOW TO WIN CATAN 

Few tips and strategies: 1) Wheat is arguably the most important resource in the game as you need it to complete three out of the four possible actions (road, settlement, city, and development card). Be sure to secure a good wheat spot with your initial placements. 2) The more abundant a resource is, they less valuable it is, and the more useless it'll be in the late game. For example if a resource has the numbers 6 and 8 attached, you'll likely be fine without said resource as plenty will be produced in the game and others will want to trade them away. 3) Sheep and wood are generally more abundant than brick, wheat, and ore. Therefore when placing initial settlements, focus more on the latter three as they are more rare. You are more likely to obtain sheep and wood via trade than you do brick, wheat, and ore. 4) See if you can get a monopoly or near-monopoly for any of the resources during your initial placements. When you are the only player with good access to a certain resource, it'll be easier for you to get favorable trades. If lucky, you may even be able to secure a 2:1 port for the resource, making you less likely to be stuck with too many of the said resource. 5) While getting access to all five resources initially is always a good idea, it isn't always possible. It is fine to only have access to four resources upon placing your initial settlements. Anything less than four initially would be difficult, unless your strategy is cities & dev cards, in which case you only need to focus on getting good access to wheat, ore, and sheep. It is possible to win with only access to these three resources initially.

HEXAGONS ARE COOL

Remember that not all ports are equal. A wood or a sheep port can be really strong while an ore or a wheat could also be good but will generally be less useful, unless you really have the production to back it up. Also be aware of resource ratios. Resources pair up. You don't want a lot of wood, if you don't have access to brick or a port. Otherwise your hand will be overloaded with wood and you might get stuck hands and lose valuable resources to the robber. When trading try framing the trade in terms of what your opponent needs. Instead of saying "I need a sheep, can I get it for a wood from you?" You could say "You need wood, right? I could trade one for a sheep". Avoid 4:1 unless you absolutely must. You are giving up 3 cards for free. Even risking losing cards to the robber is more worth it in terms of probabilities (losing 4 cards with 52% chance vs losing 3 cards with 100% chance). You should only 4:1 if it gives you a bigger advantage(like securing a spot or getting a city), or if you are scared of a monopoly and you need to do it defensively.

POV: You've been destroyed at Catan on family game day

When I used to play Catan as a kid, I just enjoyed stacking resource cards and building roads. Cool to see that this game is still played and has some really cool strategies aswell!

Catan is one of my favorite board games, I’m glad you covered it. Cities and knights would be cool, since that’s the expansion that my family plays most often. Thanks for this insight

I have also found it useful to diversify my numbers on initial placement. If you put your first settlement on 8/4/5, then a few plays later you see another good resource combo at the intersection of, say 8/5/10, beware. Yes, these are good odds, but you’ll be stuck in a “feast or famine” scenario, relying on 8s and 5s … and then the dice decide to favor 6s and 9s that day

Hexagons are the bestagons

My family and I just got into catan. We’ve been playing almost every night. We recently just bought explorers and pirates and traders and barbs. Thank you for this great video!

Great video! My family loves playing Catan and now I have a better idea of strategies to use. I’d like to see the next one be about the cities & knights expansion. And if possible, could you do a future video for Carcassonne? Thanks!

I've played thousands of games, and for a good year or so I was consistently dominating my family and friends at Catan winning over 80% of the games we played. Here's my tips. Note, I mostly play gallery edition, and did not watch the video until after I made this comment. - The values of resources are as follows (high numbers = more valuable): brick and lumber = 1 (brick = 1.5 due to being slightly less rolled), sheep = 2, ore = 4, wheat = 5. These values are modified by +1 if you have a harbour for that resource, so if I have a sheep harbour, sheep = 3. Lumber and brick harbours are the best harbours because say you trade two lumber for a wheat, you just went from a value of 2 to 5. - Only trade unfairly if you can, so for example you give a sheep for a wheat, to a less experienced player that may sound swell, especially if that sheep is needed for a town or card, but to you it is objectively a winning trade. Rob players who have wheat and ore. - Place your first city with either wheat or ore, and maybe a lumber or brick. 6 of Wheat/8 of Ore + 5 of Lumber + another 6/8 is the best possible city spot in Gallery edition. - Don't end your turn with more than seven cards. Just don't. Trade them away even if its a little unfair. It's not worth it. - Trading with the person who's turn is before you is better than trading with the person who's turn is after yours, because there's more time for a seven to be rolled and for them to lose their cards. - Seven is the best number you can be rolling early game. It brings your opponents down and you up. Knights are very good early game investments. However, the value of the stealing aspect of a seven/knight is the robber - If you get a monopoly card, count the rolls so you get the best maximum resources from it. - Don't be afraid to set your second initial town on a good harbour location. - Having space to expand is more important than that space being good, especially in a four person game. Everyone always complains about how the person who puts their second town down last (which the way my family plays, would be the person who places their first town first, cuz we go in a boomerang, it's a lot more fair) however I think that it's actually really good IF you choose a spot where you have a lot of relatively uncontested expansion opportunities. - Try to get Y road structures (a road structure where you have one road leading from each town to a single central location where they all meet, like the shape of an uppercase Y) this saves resources and makes your tiles very powerful. - Don't fret too hard if another player gets a slight early lead. Everyone will put the robber on them and they will slow down significantly. After watching I've realized what i normally do is the ore/wheat strategy with the port strategy sprinkled in. Basically I invest into ore, wheat, and get a harbour for lumber, brick, or sheep, whichever I have the most access to.

Great video! I would love to see a video on how to win the game of Risk.

Played this once with friends and already know it’s one of my favourite board games out there

thank you for making this video! this was super helpful i learned a lot, i hope to see more

These video's are very high quality! Keep them coming!

Your videos are so detail oriented and helpful!

This is a really great start of a breakdown for strategies, but as my table only ever plays with fish there are a few extra things we have to keep in mind like requiring 11 points to win instead of 10, and managing your fish in the same way you would manage any other resource.

Nice one! Wanting to watch a how to Catan video for some time.. definitely do Cities & Knights next 😍

Hexagons are bestagons also please cover Starfarers edition next, if you don't count that as an expansion, knights and cities

Loved the video as well as I love the game! I also love to play with the seafarers expansion pack, would love to see that for the next video!

Of note, in the early game wood and brick are more important, because SPACE is a very rare resource in ctan, even more so with 4 players (not so much with 5 however). However in the late game wheat and stone become far more important as eventualy only upward development becomes viable. Or you could go all in on dev cards... it is *surprisingly* effective.

just found ur channel with the monopoly videos and this is a rlly cool video as well. appreciate the hard work! maybe do a munchkin video next that'll be cool especially since ive always wanted to learn the odds of getting the right draws and how to use those numbers to your advantage.

This was a very good video, just used the cities & dev strat against the rest of my family, glad I watched it

Great tips! Thanks for covering this game

ive been waiting for thiss thank youuu

Well done man! Great video and well detailed.

thanks for these vids my guy

Thank you for the actionable information.

Nice video - I think another aspect to consider is whether you try to get every number, or whether you bet big on a few dice rolls. eg usually want 4 out of the 6 more common numbers (5,6,8,9) if possible... also important to wreck your opponents plans with your placement - eg if there is a settlement placed next to 3 wheat in the first round, you should place your settlement at the 2:1 wheat port so they cannot dominate and are stuck trading 4:1 - stooge ftw!! we would also do things like trade with the last placed player to allow them the steal the longest road from the leader. you normally want to be a "close 2nd" for most of the game if possible, and steal the win with 2 or 3 VPs on your last turn

Great video, I cant wait to apply these advice! I suggest 7 Wonders as the next game in the series. It has become a classic, and is very well balanced ao this should be interesting

LOVE YOUR CONTENT

Can't believe you actually went through with my idea. Sick video, plan to destroy my uncle next time I see him! Thanks!

It was really satisfying to know that I figured out all these strategies naturally playing the game over time. Then watching this video I was like yup, true, good tip, very good, yes. My favorite strategy is the last one mentioned. Dev card cards all day. I have personally beat my family without any brick or wood the entire game using the aforementioned strategy.

Very well explained and fresh memes my boy!

My favorite way to play is to lay out the board randomly and then put the number tokens out randomly face-down. everyone places their initial settlements based on hexes alone then we flip any token that has a building (road/settlement) attached to it. It can make for some really unbalanced games, but with several skilled players even having a lot of resources early on doesn't guarantee a win. For expansions I started with Seafarers but I really think Cities and Knights completed the game and is by far my favorite. One point you didn't cover is that you want to diversify what numbers you are associated with. In my experience its better to have a wider range of numbers as having 1 resource this turn tends to be more valuable than 2 resources next turn based on the economy of resources.

At 4:29 I loved the little comment at the bottom right under the odds chart. I was thinking that same thing ;) But there are a lot of games based on 2d6 out there and people still don't understand these odds. So it's good to keep showing the chart.

Love ur content! Also, can u make a how to win Catan: Cities and Knights?

An interesting and thought provoking comment about anything. Perhaps, even life changing.

Yo just thanks in general for your whole channel

YES! The algorithm took way too long to suggest this to me. I should've been subscribed. Let's change that.

HEXAGONS ARE COOL! YOUR VIDEO IS AWESOME! ❤️

Great video, really enjoyed it.

I have found when placing my initial settlements, getting a variety of numbers is more important than a variety of resources.

Could you possibly make an in depth look at the game 'Rock, Paper, Scissors'. I lack both mechanical skill and experience, however with your help I may become more skilful in the artful game of ' Rock, Paper, Scissors'

good video, Love it. Now I just gotta get Catan

Taking a look at Traders & Barbarians might be worth a look, especially The Fishermen of Catan variation changes the way the game is played surprisingly much.

HOW TO WIN CLUE!! ❤❤ love it keep it up 🙏

Hexagons are cool mateee love ur unique contemt ❤

Can you do Ticket to Ride next?I now this game for a lot of time an I used to play it with my family in almost every noon , but that was 6 years ago, I would be glad if you did a video on that game . Also I just noticed that you are so underrated, I would reccomend your channel to my friends but then they will become better at those boardgames so I won't be able to defeat them easily.

Great Video! Pls do Citadels Next

For initial placement it's also very important to try and get as many unique numbers as possible. Preferably all six unique, because randomness can bite you worst in early game.

7:09 NeXT is a blast from the past.

Love these videos.

Great video! Could you do a follow up for seafarers and C&K expansions?

It's finally here!!!

Having a way to get all resources regardless of what the other players scheme can be crucial. Even a bad spot like lets say a 3 wood or 2 sheep can make a difference (not ideal, but can become your saving grace if nobody wants to trade). Granted, spots like that are only a last resort, 4:1 trades with the bank can do the trick as well. Obviously having a 3:1 or a useful 2:1 solves the issue as well.

Watched this and lost again. Thanks!

Brilliant!

Thank you. Good shit.. I m going to win today .,.

Can you please do a video on the seafarers expansion, that’s my favorite one to play with my family and friends.

Super video I love this game but we got the expancion of seafarers and that's when the problems starts to grow because of ships and much bigger map (we play the biggest possible)

This is a great video!

Very helpful 😎👍

I agree. Hexagons are cool.

catan is a cool game and I like commenting for algorithms

Would love to see a Risk video

nice wrap up

Really good vidio 👏👏

I will Watch all the videos on catan to ruin game nights with the family 😄

we making it out the family Christmas dinners with this one.

Another handy tip is picking your strategy based on how rich the board is in producing the required resource. Eg. don’t go for a City/dev card strategy if the ore tiles have low numbers.

Great video, if you do another, please cover cities and knights

I love playing this game against my parents. My strategy is getting the most numbers. Its very nice if you have like 8 or 9 out of the 10 available numbers... Sometimes its just better to settle for a beginner spot 2-3-4 and one 8-10-11 and then try to get 5-9-12 later on. I always try to get at least 5 different numbers at the start. You also might get lucky a few times with like 2-3-11-12... And I like if your last and 2 players have like 8 and there is a spot open on that tile just go with it. if you are all 3 on that tile no-one will block it... or if they do they also get them self

As a house rule to shake things up we usually play with dice roll indicators face down during initial placement. It takes away dice odds as an initial consideration and often ends up forcing you into a strategy you weren't planning to play due to resource scarcity. Unfortunately it can occasionally mean that one or more players end up extremely lucky/unlucky when the indicators are flipped, but that's life I guess. Plus with enough games played, eventually even the less savvy players will luck out with a really good placement and odds. Worth a try if you and your group are settler heads looking for a twist!

I voted for this. Thank you 🤩

One of my strategies has to do with initial placement. Sometimes you can get the perfect spots that give you 2 wood, 2 clay, a wheat and sheep. This is ideal because immediately make another settlement essentially starting the game with 3. Sometimes I’ll take less desirable spots for that early expansion and it starts a snowball that’s hard for others to overcome.

I have never played Catan but watched the entire video

Great video

Cities and knights or seafarers would be great!!

I use the a mix of strategies to win. Strong numbers on wood, brick and another resource for the first village placement. On the second village try o pick up the strongest numbers on ore and wheat. When I start branching out with roads I try to get numbers that I do not already have. A great start is having 6 of the 10 numbers. Getting to a port and connecting roads together is my next objective. Double villages on numbers are also a goal. This allows me to win most games.

Ive always sucked at catan, thx for this

Very helpful

Hexagons, are actually, in fact, the bestagons

I remember my first game of this so well Idk how I came up with this strategy on the fly but the way the board was set up, a 6 and 8 space of ore and wheat were on the outside ring, with the desert removing their appeal (I am pretty sure the tiles were not setup correctly) I built on an 8 ore, 6 wheat, desert space And a 8 ore, 4 brick, sheep ocean port As all the sheep were clumped up on the other side of the board. And on my turn I offered if anyone wanted to trade 3 sheep for anything I would use my port to help them with the deal I got to keep one sheep I even made some moves that put me at a minor disadvantage helping other players Then in late game I cut off access to the port Slapped down 4 solders, a road building and 1 victory point and won with 2 desert cities and a settlement on wood and more wheat I dont think my parents knew how to play that well back then either

I would love to see a cities and knights version

Good stuff

My family likes playing what we call "explorer mode" your two first settlements HAVE to be on a coastline. The second one doesn't have to be on the coast, but it does have to connect to the first. And we have all the tiles/numbers flipped upside down at the start, and everyone has to explore inwards It's also fun to have the robber actually steal the resources for the player that places it, instead of just deleting the resources. I've found that this house rule decreases the usefulness of the robber for the leading player, as they don't get as much value as a "poorer" player

Please do a video on the cities and knights expansion

Cool video, next you can make guide to sailors expansion

question - aren’t cities worth 2 points each? so for a wood brick strategy, you’d need: LR - 2pts 2 Cities - 4pts 4 Settlements - 4pts at least i think so?

I don’t know if this is normal but the house rule I play with places the numbers after the initial house placement

I would be interested into a video about the ship expansion set!!

I accidentally picked up the 5-6 player expansion for Explorers and Pirates without owning the base expansion. Could you do a video on that one so I can tell if I should buy it?

Thanks bro

Not gonna lie, this video is very basic and explains strategies that most people would've figured out after their 2nd or 3rd game. In fact, this is nearly all the strategy there is in base game Catan. The game is pretty shallow without expansions.

sure do love me some settlin'

Thanks

I have Seafarer's expansion, could you do a vid on that?

Very cool

Great vid!