Ki made a new Catan Map. He fashioned it from the picture on the back of the card. I added a 3-tile island under the dessert region. At first I wondered if it would be too difficult with the resources clumped, but it turns out, if you build at a 2:1 port for your Main Resource then it works pretty well. Since the only ship route was to that 1 small island we didn't bother with the pirate.
We also had a change in rules; which made the game interesting, but got Ki to participate.
We also had a change in rules; which made the game interesting, but got Ki to participate.
See Ki up there? He played the Robber and the Banker. So we called him the IRS.When someone rolled a 7 they placed the Robber marker. Then Ki (robber/banker/IRS) took a card at random from one of the players on that hex tile. When we were losing 1/2 our cards on 7, Ki got those cards.
We were doing play testing. We found that people were getting so many cards after a while and Ki seemed to always choose Gavin when he could and Ki used his resources for development cards- So I had a turn, the Robber got a play (but no roll), then it was Gavin. We decided that the player before the Robber should instigate "Special Builds". So after I took my turn, I called "Special Build" and the players could build with their resources one last chance before the IRS swooped in and devastated them.
They asked to play to 15 VPs, but it was too long that way. We ran out of Cities and stacked settlements on boats- as a City. Then I ran out of roads and used boats. SO- 13 VPs should have been the limit.
All in All, it was fun. Next Time:
-only 13VPs
-Start Special Builds earlier
Our other rule was if the robber got up to half the settlements/cities as the players, he had to become a player. Ki just built 1 settlement on a GOLD. Actually in the beginning we said if he got to 2 Settlements/2 Roads- b/c that is about what we had. But I think the rule for that is when the Robber has 1/2 the Settlements/Cities as the players (the least)- then he becomes a player.
In order to get to play games we have to do crazy things like this- let him change everything all around with future options.
**Actually, Connor made our first 'made up map'. In the Seafarers, he took all the tiles (land & water) in the normal game map, but shuffled them and put them out randomly. That was fun!
2 comments:
One of my favorite things about Catan is the ease with which we can personalize the game. We have a few "robber rules," too. Our favorite, for speeding up the game and breathing life into stale hands, is our "Robin Hood Rule." Whenever a seven is rolled, all original rules apply. PLUS, every player takes one of EVERY type of card from the bank - Robin Hood! :)
Have you tried the Fog Island scenario? I like that one, too, 'cause you never know what hides behind that murky gray...
The IRS....hee hee hee!
Post a Comment