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The Event Cards replace the dice in Settlers of Catan. The deck consists of 36 dice cards to represent the 36 different combinations that can be rolled with 2 dice. This means that number "rolls" are evenly distributed according to its probability.

Now, to add an element of randomness to the dice deck, a New Year card is added on top of the bottom 5 cards. When this card is flipped, the deck is immediately shuffled again - meaning that 5 cards will not be used.

What I like most about the event cards is the special events. I particularly like that a few cards send the robber back to the dessert, which means that the chance of the robber severely handicapping a player is limited.

My only concern for the Event Cards is that I think it may turn out to be too predicable after repeated plays. In my first game, I already found myself "counting" the Event Cards. This influenced which resources I chose when freebies were given as a result of a special event and where I placed the robber. The predictability of the game, however, may not be a bad thing either since you'll be able to strategize and plan more effectively. Only time will tell!

For a more random effect, I may try a game where the New Year card is shuffled randomly into the deck rather than placed near the bottom.

I will dearly miss one aspect of a luck-based, dice game of Catan though. There will be no more lucky streaks or hot numbers! The exhiliration of collecting big off a hot 3/4/10/11 just won't happen anymore. Some of the most enjoyable and memorable games is when this occurs. And it's always a 3 am hoot when you start that next game and strategize based on last game's luck. (Oh, put the robber on the 4 resource, that was hot last game! And for some silly reason, that 4 will still come up more often than it should.)
David Chapman
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alita_4b wrote:
My only concern for the Event Cards is that I think it may turn out to be too predicable after repeated plays.


God forbid that playing Settlers should require any skill beyond the ability to count dots during initial setup.
Matt Liguori
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alita_4b wrote:
I will dearly miss one aspect of a luck-based, dice game of Catan though. There will be no more lucky streaks or hot numbers! The exhiliration of collecting big off a hot 3/4/10/11 just won't happen anymore.


This is exactly why my gaming group refuses to use them.
Sebastian
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0708
Jedit wrote:
God forbid that playing Settlers should require any skill beyond the ability to count dots during initial setup.

In my old wooden german Settlers-version there are no dots on the numbertokens!
Clarence Risher
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alita_4b wrote:
In my first game, I already found myself "counting" the Event Cards. This influenced which resources I chose when freebies were given as a result of a special event and where I placed the robber. The predictability of the game, however, may not be a bad thing either since you'll be able to strategize and plan more effectively. Only time will tell!

...

I will dearly miss one aspect of a luck-based, dice game of Catan though. There will be no more lucky streaks or hot numbers! The exhiliration of collecting big off a hot 3/4/10/11 just won't happen anymore.


Played my first game with the cards with effects tonight. The predictability issue came up once, about our 4th time through the deck all but one of the 7s came up in the first dozen cards, making card hoarding a serious problem until the end of the game (which came soon with people holding 15-25 cards in their hands).

As to streaks, I have to disagree. Tonight someone called a 3 on an Alchemist, then we drew both 3-cards in the next four cards. 3 3's in the span of 5 turns, that's as streak-y as any game with dice :)
 
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