Game: Settlers of Canaan, The

Thread: Re: 3 Settler Vets Play Canaan

Hendal — 2008-10-15T23:35:18+00:00

and they probably don't stick to my forehead on humid summer nights like Catan cities do, which ups the replayability of Catan enormously).

That rocks, I can not wait to try it, I never thought of this one, living in the rain forest where the dry season is about 92% humidity , this will work perfect.

Great review, this is now on my radar

Thread: Re: Board warping?

Salt-Man Z — 2008-06-08T18:26:45+00:00

Yeah, my copy has the plastic bits, but I absolutely love them.

Thread: Re: The Book of Settlers

tyvek — 2008-03-30T02:19:41+00:00

chrisjwmartin wrote:
[ Oh, you thumbed the thread rather than the post. Here, have some of the buckets of GG this has earnt me by way of apology! ]

1 Thine gratitude cradles the ages of time, in the bosom of her arms. As the lamb follows its shepherd, as the night follows day, as winter seeks the warmth of summer, the sailor follows the northern star, we rest easily from thine own kind giving.

2 And all the people of the Meeple rejoiced in his land.

3 Thank you.

Thread: Re: The Book of Settlers

chrisjwmartin — 2008-03-30T01:44:14+00:00

[ Oh, you thumbed the thread rather than the post. Here, have some of the buckets of GG this has earnt me by way of apology! ]

Thread: Re: The Book of Settlers

tyvek — 2008-03-30T01:41:01+00:00

chrisjwmartin wrote:
tyvek wrote:
And tho' the blessings of the sacred Thumb are few in number, they are no less holy. For thy pleaseth thee, and in thee thy pleasure is known. For it is so that this pleasure is revered that thy summon abundance in hope of thine greater Thumb-ning.

With all good Meeples, we say.
But, ummm, you didn't thumb it...

1 In seeking solace from the cares of the world, prepare thee bed for rest. When stating thee "ummm" for all to see, know that the Thumb has long passed thine test.

2 Check thee in thine own heart, to seek thy own sacred Thumb. For tho' thou sayest mine own Thumb was not thee found, need ye' speakest a greater truth. For it is in this truth that thee Thumb is most truly found.

3 When words are written on high, Thumbs like birds, naturally congregate. By seeking more truly to thine own Meeple, ye' shall find that on this day, much earlier than thou maest thinkest, the coveted Thumb from mine own hand hath appeared most assuredly in thy favor.

4 Glory, and revel in these ways.

Thread: Re: The Book of Settlers

chrisjwmartin — 2008-03-30T00:04:35+00:00

tyvek wrote:
And tho' the blessings of the sacred Thumb are few in number, they are no less holy. For thy pleaseth thee, and in thee thy pleasure is known. For it is so that this pleasure is revered that thy summon abundance in hope of thine greater Thumb-ning.

With all good Meeples, we say.
But, ummm, you didn't thumb it...

Thread: Re: The Book of Settlers

tyvek — 2008-03-29T23:32:38+00:00

And tho' the blessings of the sacred Thumb are few in number, they are no less holy. For thy pleaseth thee, and in thee thy pleasure is known. For it is so that this pleasure is revered that thy summon abundance in hope of thine greater Thumb-ning.

With all good Meeples, we say.

Thread: Re: Stones of Jerusalem worth 1VP (not 2)

Roibeard — 2008-03-26T19:08:28+00:00

I too fell foul of the tribe cards - they looked unambiguous to me, however after a couple of games, I too concluded that the stones were overpowered...

Note to self, must read 'Geek rule discussions prior to play!

Thread: Re: The Book of Settlers

amacleod — 2008-03-26T00:03:49+00:00

Geekgold hath I little, but, verily, thou dost deserveth much, for,in thine session report, the people that played in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of the Geek, upon them hath the light shined. Thou hast multiplied your Geekgold, thou hast increased my joy; my joy before thee according to the joy in gameplay, and as men rejoice when they tear the shrinkwrap.

Thread: Re: The Book of Settlers

Tycho — 2008-03-21T01:03:15+00:00

And thus did Chris, a man learned in all matters of the LORD and renowned for his Religious Studies GCSE, write these words and deliver them unto the admins of the house of Boardgamegeek.

And thus did the people of Aldie understand that the final victory point is not to the swift, nor are all bonuses to the strong, neither yet the winning strategy to the wise, nor yet the best placements to men of understanding, nor yet only favourable trades to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all.

Thread: The Book of Settlers

chrisjwmartin — 2008-03-20T15:33:38+00:00

Settlers 1

1Now these are the names of the players of Settlers of Canaan, which was placéd upon the oak-finished chipboard on the nineteenth day of the third month, in the two thousand and eighth year of the LORD Jesus Christ:
2John, who was the bringer of the game; Kingsley; Chris; and Edward, of the land of snow and ice.
3Came they these four to the place where the shipwright bore arms much lustily;
4And struggled they exceeding mightily in that place.
5Now it happened that when the chits were drawn, it was John who was chosen by the LORD to go first,
6And after him, Kingsley, and Edward, of the land of snow and ice, and last Chris, who was young in years but strong in love of the LORD.
7John, being a good and wise man, and learnéd in the ways of the LORD, taught unto the others the rules.
8Yet the game was exceeding similar to Settlers of Catan,
9And little explanation was needed, for verily all the players had Settled much in their time.
10And now the time of starting was upon them, and they were much afraid.

Settlers 2

1And so it happened that John did found a settlement in the land of Canaan.
2It was in the north of that land, next to the copper metals in the earth.
3And Kingsley followed John's good example, but settled in the east,
4And Edward, of the land of snow and ice, settled on the southern bounds of the Sea of Chinnereth.
5Now Chris settled two areas, both in the southern area of Canaan, near to Jerusalem,
6For he was a good and pious man, and much afeared of the LORD,
7So he settled once in the land rich with rock and clay,
8Which he could put to good use in building the Holy City,
9And again he did settle in that same land, once to the east and once to the west.
10And now Edward in turn did settle once more, again clinging to the southern bounds of the Sea of Chinnereth,
11For having travelled across the sea from the land of snow and ice did he seek for a port to take him hither.
12And Kingsley and John then did both settle on the central coastal lands, Kingsley some leagues north of John.
13And the players looked at the starting positions, and saw that they were good.

Settlers 3

1And did now John take up the Holy Cubes, and did throw them on the board in his haste. And they did show a seven. And at this the people were much afraid.
2Yet did speak Chris, who was a good and pious man, Do not be afraid, for though it be not in Scripture, let us do what our forefathers and our forefathers' forefathers have done since ages past, and reroll sevens on the first round. In this way will we be righteous in the eyes of the LORD.
3And the people were much relieved by his words, and did undertake to reroll sevens on the first round.
4And John rolled a seven again, and another seven, and yet another seven was rolled. But the people were determined to continue to reroll sevens on the first round. And lo their patience was rewarded, for did John roll at length a five. And there was much rejoicing.
5And then did the game begin in earnest.
6And in this time did John build a new settlement, and did Kingsley do the same. And Edward and Chris were much afraid, for they had not built a new settlement, and did they sacrifice young lambs to the LORD, prime young lambs without blemish nor stain, and hoped that these would be worthy in the eyes of the LORD.
7And Edward did in turn build a new settlement, and paved many roads, and did he receive in much earliness the Longest Road marker, and the points of victory with which it came.
8Yet did Chris not prosper, and he did cry unto the LORD about his misfortune at having too few sheep. And his cries reached the ears of the LORD.
9And the LORD said unto his servant John, Do go now and trade with Chris one of your sheep, for he is few in sheep and in sore need. And for this shall you be mightily rewarded.
10And John did go and trade with Chris, and Chris was exceeding grateful. And Chris built out his settlement into a land more rich in wheat, and did thrive.
11Now here is the state of play in this time: that John had five settlements, two in the far north, near the copper, and three in the south, on the coast of the Great Sea;
12And that Kingsley had two settlements in the furthest east of Canaan, and on the central coast of the Great Sea he did have one settlement and one city;
13And that Edward, of the land of snow and ice, did have but three settlements strung out along the southern bounds of the Sea of Chinnereth, but that also did he have in his possession the marker of the Longest Road, and he protected this much cautiously;
14And that Chris did have only three settlements, and short roads, and few resources, and a poor position, for though he was a good and pious man who thought always of pleasing the LORD, was he also a young and foolish player, who had chose his start position ill.
15And so did John and Kingsley thrive, and Edward keep up, and Chris fall behind, with weeping and gnashing of teeth.
16Yet the LORD took pity on his servant Chris, and resolved to not let him be ashamed.

Settlers 4

1And a new turn came around, and did John roll an five. And Chris was much pleased, and cried, The LORD has favour on me this day, and He will not let his servant come to shame.
2And a new turn came around, and did Kingsley roll an eleven. And Chris was much pleased, and cried, The LORD has favour on me this day, and He will not let his servant come to shame.
3And a new turn came around, and did Edward roll an eleven. And Chris was much pleased, and cried, The LORD has favour on me this day, and He will not let his servant come to shame.
4And a new turn came around, and did Chris roll a five. And Chris was much pleased, and cried, The LORD has favour on me this day, and He will not let his servant come to shame.
5Two times did the LORD smile on Chris, and two times again; two times by two times was Chris smiled on by the LORD. And Chris was exalted in the eyes of the LORD.
6And in turn did John and Kingsley and Edward trade most gladly with Chris, for Chris had much resources, and John and Kingsley and Edward did want to share in their friend's fortune. And Chris did trade with them all, wise trades and sound, and did gain from them many varied resources with which he could serve the LORD.
7And Chris laid down upon the table his cards, and the people were much afraid. For Chris had in his hand enough resources to build two new settlements for his people, and two cities to the glory of the LORD, and to build roads to connect his lands, and finally a humble stone for the Great and Holy City of Jerusalem, and was this most sweet of all to Chris, for he was a good and pious man.
8And Chris did build his roads, and build his settlements, and build his cities, and contribute a stone to Holy Jerusalem. And in his reward he was showered with points of victory, and leapt ahead of the other players.
9He was now poor in resources, and still his poor position left him dependent upon a repeat of such fortune, but the LORD had saved him from shame.
10And the other players plotted in their secret hearts to succeed, for each wanted to be the most favoured in the eyes of the LORD. And the LORD saw their struggling and smiled upon it, for did He want His people to strive in love for Him.

Settlers 5

1And now did the battle rage in earnest. Much soon was Chris able to build two more cities, and was close to being the most belovéd of the LORD. But did Edward also contribute to Jerusalem, paying Chris his tithe, and Chris was prompted to build more stones for Jerusalem, to prove his fidelity to the LORD.
2And did Kingsley suddenly burst up also to gain eleven points, vying lustily with Chris for the LORD's favour. Yet could not Kingsley attain the twelfth point.
3And in his passion, Chris plundered the deck of the cards for development, searching for more victories to present to the LORD. But the LORD, having favoured him mightily before, withdrew his hand, and Chris found naught but ashes and Korah's Rebellion, his poor planning and over-reliance on unlikely luck proving his downfall.
4And now the LORD made good his promise to John, who though drawing fewer than Chris, drew from the deck of the cards for development full two victories, having bestowed unto him the teachings of the Ten Commandments, and finally the Divine Guidance. And the LORD repaid John for his earlier kindness to His servant Chris.
5And John did win the game, with twelve points, Kingsley and Chris being right behind in righteousness with eleven points each, and Edward being on nine points.
6And there was much rejoicing.
7This is the player which testifieth of these things, and wrote these things: and we know that his testimony is true. Amen.

Thread: New players seem to win.

rongammer — 2008-02-28T17:03:42+00:00

It seems that the last two or three times I played the game with new players, the new players won even though they didn't really know what they were doing. Maybe they won because they don't play the numbers game. That is I always look for the spaces that add up to the largest number. (add the dots around any space and the higher the number, the more you should get on this space, or so goes the logic.) I have played a couple of games trying this, but lost. So I'm back to playing on the 10 wheat,8 wood,9 sheep (12) and anywhere around the lower 6 brick (which adds up to 11).

Thread: Re: Board warping?

tromed2 — 2008-02-19T10:51:38+00:00

My game board came slightly warped. I imagine it will only get worse.

Thread: Re: Session Report

Enoch52 — 2008-02-13T15:59:47+00:00

Don't forget that players cut off from Jerusalem can "tag on" to another player's network and contribute stones that way, though they have to pay a resource to the other player.

Thread: Re: A good game of Canaan-settling

Enoch52 — 2008-02-13T15:54:08+00:00

I've actually had some success on the right side of the board- in fact, my last game I swept the other two players. They got their first point just before I won. Granted, with this kind of imbalance there was a lot of luck involved, but ...

I started SE of the sea and spread my starting settlements among the brick and wood hexes there. I like to start that way, so I can quickly build roads and get half of what I need for settlements. I then expanded up to the wood port, and eventually continued the road up to the sheep port- a couple of good rolls made that an effective strategy.

Thread: Re: Stones of Jerusalem worth 1VP (not 2)

Enoch52 — 2008-02-11T13:51:03+00:00

Yeah, the two points is a one-time thing: and you lose those points if someone else builds more stones than you. It works very much like the longest road and most priests.

Thread: Re: This game was totally boring

johnclark — 2008-01-31T22:53:03+00:00

Some thoughts:

1. The game should never go for more than an hour.

2. The game is chock full of 'interesting decisions'! This is what makes it so good! The problem is that it takes a few games to understand all of those decisions and to realise that what you once thought was an obvious decision is in fact a poor decision. If you have the inclination, read this strategy article and my session report with commentary from the Australian Championships:

http://www.boardgamegeek.com/thread/197511

http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/1550263#1550263

I hope that these will convince you that Catan is indeed a "thinking man's game".

3. Settlers of Catan is different from Settlers of Canaan for several reasons, the most important being that Canaan will almost always produce tons of resources for everyone - there are plenty of spaces to go and provided the dice don't misbehave too badly you will rarely be short of stuff. This means that the game will seem to go very fast. Catan, on the other hand, is much tighter - early mistakes in placement will be punished and some resources may be very rare. Basically, Canaan is a family fun game, where everyone will have a nice time and everyone will finish within one or two points of each other, even if they have never played before. Catan is a better game, in my opinion, because you have to learn what to do and the mistakes you can make - new players will generally struggle, and that is good. Catan is a bit like San Juan, in that there is a learning curve which you have to tread. Catan is also a brutal game when played by people who know what they are doing - there is high drama and tension - consistently more than in any other game I play, which includes Shogun, Puerto Rico, Risk, Nexus Ops and others.

4. The situation you describe, where one resource is rare (wood) is a common case for new players giving up on the game, since they just sit there and moan about it. If they simply put their settlements in bad places then they should simply do better next time. However, people who can't get a certain resource are generally also not trading properly. New players will often refuse trades unless it is obviously very beneficial to them, such as: I will give you a Sheep if you give me two Ore. If you are short of wood, then offer two or ever three or your resources for a wood.

5. The game should never go for more than an hour.

Anyway, I hope that you try it again. It really is a great game, especially when played with experienced people.

Thread: I've never had a bad play.

Great_Mazinga — 2008-01-31T16:45:41+00:00

I play this pretty regularly, and more frequently the Settlers Original variant. They play very similarly. If anything, I think the Canann adds some more interesting bits, like the copper resource, building on the temple. We like it because it can be strategic, but no one ever gets eliminated and left out, unlike so may build and hoard war games like Conquest O' Empire, etc.

If you take the brain power to think ahead, strategy does pay off, making this more than a no brain dice thrower. It matters where you place settlements, roads can block others trade routes, settlements can disect competing settlers trade routes for longest road, plagues can hamper your competition so it's best to think you hit with it, and what resource you deny them. Bartering is important and adds a social component to the game.

Still it's accessible and light enough that non-gamers will play and enjoy this game with me, somewhat like carcassone in that respect. Most non-gamers don't seem to enjoy confrontational games (my favorite!), so these are good to have around for them, also.

Perhaps, this is just a good game, but not meant for everyone. It's possible it's just not your cup of tea, and that's alright.

I think if you could play with our group you would find it more enjoyable.

Thread: Re: No longer any promo cards with Settlers of Canaan?

The Schaef — 2008-01-31T14:59:58+00:00

I still prefer wooden bits.

Thread: Re: This game was totally boring

The Schaef — 2008-01-31T14:58:08+00:00

I also find the long play time a bit odd. One of the nice things about the static board is that the numbers have been somewhat reasonably spread out, such that if you are quite selective in your first-round settlement placement, you can get a pretty good spread of resources and die rolls, such that you have a fair shot at collecting on a high percentage of the rolls. I consider this an advantage over the modular Catan board which can be subject to "clustering" at times.

Although, on a second reading of your session, wood is such a critical aspect of early development that I can see how the game ground to a halt. I typically fight people over copper spaces, then my next priority is high-percentage wood and/or stone, and then I look to make sure I've got a good spread of numbers and resources. Lastly, I look to the wall and getting a build there fairly early, but this stems mostly from the fact that the wall is neglected by most of my opponents, so it's two easy points for me.

Canaan is basically Catan with a static board and the wall, so the entire premise is development and trading. Since the wall IMO adds another dimension of strategic choices, I'd say the chances are pretty good that you and your friends may not be keen on the Catan experience as a whole. Though if you have an opportunity, I'm told Catan plus Seafarers is a good mix.

I am also a big fan of the Catan card game, which is only for two players, but you can get it with all six expansions fairly inexpensive (for example, from the web stores of certain persons posting in this thread), and there are a lot of really cool buildings and other things that give the game a lot of variety. A word of caution, I have found the typical Catan card game really does run for as much as two hours.

Thread: Re: This game was totally boring

Sagrilarus — 2008-01-31T14:11:03+00:00

    As I read your report I was guessing it was a matter of "different strokes for different folks." But then you said this --

We played for 2 hours until we just called it.

    That is one very long game -- ours usually run under an hour. I am concerned that either you missed something in the rules or concepts, or were abducted by aliens for a short period of time. Granted, with kids in the mix (even when they're not playing) games can stretch. But two hours is really long for this game.

    I prefer Catan to Canaan but have played both. Most gamers find both games engaging for at least their first few plays so it may be worth a quick reread of the rules just to be sure. If you were playing correctly then it might not just be for you. Consider moving on to Ark.

             Sag.

Thread: This game was totally boring

adam.skinner — 2008-01-31T12:13:07+00:00

The Superbowl is coming up this Sunday, apparently. It's not something I get into. I do know that the Patriots and the Giants are playing. This is pretty much only because the youth pastor at my local church announced that he'd have his head shaved in front of everyone if the Giants won. So I'm pretty much rooting for the Giants.

Anyway, at my church we also do a "Chili Cookoff" before the superbowl. Everyone gathers in the church and we all sample a bunch of different home made chilies home cooked by our members. Last year the aforementioned youth pastor won the competition with a very tasty venison chili.

Again, I could care less about the "big game" but I've got some gamer friends at church and (should the game arrive in time) we're planning on requisitioning one of the large tables to play Conquest of the Empire (euro style) on. There's a fair chance we'll be playing this with 6.

Anyway, as a backup, I thought it might be nice to do a biblically themed game. The last time I did something like this I taught Ark of the Covenant and it went over well. I've played Settlers of Canaan once before with 2p, and it didn't really strike me as fun. I'd never played Settlers of Catan at the time, and so didn't know how to compare it. I've since played Settlers, and I didn't really "get it". Not that I didn't understand how the game was played, the mechanics are simple enough. I just didn't get why people liked it.

I've seen this before. Ingenious is a good example of a game I was like "whatever, this is lame" about and then after more plays began to appreciate the finer aspects of it. Blue Moon is another example of a game that flowers after repeated plays.

So I was hoping that I just needed a couple more plays of this "Catan" thing before the wonderful world of Catan opened before me. I know that it's a good gateway, and so I figure I can teach it and people will have fun. Regardless of my experience with Settlers of Canaan last night, I realise that this will likely still be the case! There will be at least one person who is very unlikely to have fun, however: me.

I was going to head over to the New Haven Meetup.com gathering to play some games, but on the way I'd given my friends John and Melissa (gamers that go to my church and I'm planning on playing games with on Superbowl Sunday) a call and Melissa was like "So what are you doing tonight? We should get together and play some games..." so I went over there instead.

We started the night with a couple games of Sticheln with 3, and while I won the first I got hammered the second and third (though never going negative!). We set up Settlers of Canaan and went over the basic rules before Melissa had to jet to pick up her kids from a church activity. While she was gone John and I played a dramatic game of Blue Moon (the best one I've played thus far!).

Upon her return, we started back up with Settlers of Canaan. I'd placed my guys near the center and up top (fairly far away from the wall) in variable numbers and diverse resources. I neglected to get adjacency to wood, however, and this prohibited my growth significantly. In fact, both Melissa and John only had one wood, and it was the same one between them.

This could have been what made the game move so slowly and be so darned boring, but I'm not sure I can attribute it to just that. I was sitting there wondering "Why do people like this game?" and I couldn't come up with an answer.

I asked the question of John, and he was like "Well, it's simple... it's easy to learn..."

I nodded, thinking "But there's nothing going on! There are literally no interesting decisions to be made." He went on to liken it to Monopoly.

Is Catan a thinking man's game? I recently had someone enthuse to me about it (a non-gamer) and how she just loved it. Granted, I'd given her Lost Cities to play with her husband a while back and she adores that as well (the poor man).

We played for 2 hours until we just called it.

I'm a glutton for punishment. I'm willing to give this one another shot starting resources in mind. But I wanted to throw myself on my sword near the end, even when I'd finally gotten a settlement near wood. The game was just boring. This boringness was only exacerbated by it's atypically long playing time. I'm calling the next one after 1h15m though!

Thread: Re: Poor quality materials, fun game. A 2 player review

amacleod — 2008-01-30T19:37:01+00:00

Good review!
Not that the quality of the original Settlers of Canaan was stellar, but it was a LOT better than the new edition.
You said, Dylan, that, not having read the Bible, you may have missed the full "feel" of the setting. Well, speaking as both a Christian and as an ordained minister, let me assure you: you probably have already got the full feel of the setting of the game! The religious content of Settlers of Canaan is a very thin veneer; it's about as Christian or Jewish as the phone book.

Thread: Re: Poor quality materials, fun game. A 2 player review

droma — 2008-01-30T19:24:00+00:00

Yeah. I kinda exaggerated my dislike of the materials a little, but I was still disappointed in the quality. I dont think theres any game out there that I could play and really say "wow, these are awesome." Im pretty good at finding something I don't like about everything. Im just glad people are reading my jumbled review.

Thread: Re: Poor quality materials, fun game. A 2 player review

The Schaef — 2008-01-30T15:02:54+00:00

I know what you mean about the material, although I only sort-of agree. I wasn't as concerned about the box, but what I ended up doing was taking my original print of the game, and a second-edition print, and combined the new board, new tiles and old wooden pieces into one game, and then donated the old board, old tiles and plastic pieces copy to my church.

I was really bummed about the second edition not having wooden pieces or I would have recommended it very highly. The best possible version of Canaan requires the mix-and-match I described above, but I can't in good conscience ask people to buy two copies to get one set of decent-quality components.

At least the game is fun.

Thread: Re: Poor quality materials, fun game. A 2 player review

rsjrev — 2008-01-30T14:13:03+00:00

Good review!

We enjoy the game immensely. my 10 year old taught me the rules, and I teach him the Bible history.

I had no issue with the game components, but i agree about the box. Ours is heavily reinforced with strapping tape.

Thread: Poor quality materials, fun game. A 2 player review

droma — 2008-01-30T03:09:33+00:00

So here we are, my first review for bgg. I decided on Settlers of Canaan as my first review pretty much at random. The game came in the mail today and my roomate and I played three solid games and I decided to put my thoughts up here for others to see.

I recently moved into a new apartment (im in college) with a roomate who doesnt play alot of games. Having played and loved Cataan I decided to get Canaan for us to play, as I wanted an out of the box 2 player game with quick setup.

First Impressions / Pre Game:

This part is going to be a bit negative, so watch out. The first thing I noticed on touching the game box was that it felt a bit flimsy and wasn't as sturdily made as many other game boxes I own. It is made of a cheap glossy material folded into two box halves. This wasn't that big of a deal to me, but really set the mood for things to come. Next I opened the box and things got a little worse. The first thing I saw was a big white piece of paper with Ooops written on it in big bold letters. "Great," I thought, "what now?" It seems my stone tiles are incorrectly sized and will not fit on my gameboard. "Ok, what are stone tiles?" The notice went on to say that if I wanted them to fit I could take an X-acto knife and trim them down myself. "No thanks." On the plus side (not really) I can get $5 dollars off my next purchase with Cactus Games. "No thanks." Now we get to my favourite part. The "bits." I LOVE lots of bits. I removed the gameboard and set aside for later inspection and gloried in the mess that was the interior of my box. A handful of resource cards were scattered about the small storage "trench" in the middle of my box, having escaped their rubber-band restraints. Further, about half of my roads, cities, and settlements also escaped from their bag. I sighed in disgust and gathered the components on my gaming table. (this could easily be the fault of poor shipping, so I dont really blame the game itself here) Now I actually was pleasantly surprised. I was lucky enough to recieve wooden pieces instead of the plastic/resin pieces of later publications. So thats a plus. Unfortunately the white player's pieces seem to have needed a coat or two more of paint as a large amount of wood is seen peeking through. Further, a few settlements have small pits in them. Now we move on to the resource/victory point cards. These are printed on nice enough material but do have sharp (non rounded) corners, something I personally dont care for. Unfortunately the graphics on the cards, as on the gameboard are rather dull and unpleasant. Further, the stone resource cards have for their icon a piece of rock in a red backround, which can make it look a bit like a clay resource. "Okay, so far not great, but not horrible." Thats about when both rubber bands that came with the cards broke and needed replacing. Then I noticed the dice. Wood dice, that feel like they're made of unweighted balsawood. So, replacement dice were in order here. Now to the board. The board itself is interesting, as it is non modular (to conform to the historical geographic locations I suppose) with resources and values fixed. I knew this going in, so I wasn't surprised here. (Although I do prefer the modular nature of Cataan's board, Canaan's board does make for easy setup. Finally my board when folded for storage is a bit warped, but opened it lays flat. After punching out the stone counters, and other punchables I surveyed my new game. "Bleh, lets hope its fun."

The Game:

Having played Settlers of Cataan a good 3 dozen times or more both my roomate and I were pretty well of as far as the rules go, but with the new mechanics I decided to breeze through the few pages that made up the manual. (A great break after reading the 40 odd page jumble that is the Starcraft manual.) Im not going to go into too much depth here, as I will assume the reader has played Settlers of Cataan. But for the uninformed i've provided this breif summary:
In Settlers of Canaan each player plays one of the tribes of Israel competing for dominance of the territory of Canaan. Players begin by placing a predetermined (depends on how many people are playing) number of settlements on the gameboard at the conjunction of a number of hexes. Each hex on the board is labeled with a resource type, a number, and possibly a port of trade (which allows for more benificial trades with the bank.) When the number on the hex is rolled a player gets resources from that territory if they have an adjacent settlement or city. Resources are used to upgrate settlements to cities, allowing for more resource gathering. Further you can build roads to connect settlements and cities, and additional settlements. You can also purchase a pick-a-card which have random beneficial effects. Lastly unique to Canaan, you may buy a stone for Jerusalem. The city of Jerusalem acts as a countdown timer, for when it is full the game is over. Also the player with the most stones in Jerusalem gets extra "victory points" (needed to win) and gets a special 2:1 trade ratio on a resource of his choice. If a 7 is rolled however, no resources are gathered and the rolling player moves the "plague" to a resource location and steals a resource from a player with presence there. No resources can be gathered from this hex until the plague is moved. Further when a seven is rolled, a black stone counter is placed in the ciy of Jerusalem. (this helps speed up the game.) To win the game, a player must amass 12 victory points. Each settlement is worth 1 VP, cities are worth 2VP, the player with the most priests or longest road also gets 2VP. Thats basically how the game works. Theres much more detail and strategy involved but this is its essence.

So thats that. There are a few changes from traditional "Settlers" games, mainly the Jerusalem stones and the non-modular nature of the board. Further there is a copper mine hex, which when a 10 is rolled, adjacent players can choose the resource they wish to take. The switch from Knights to Priests seem standard enough, (though why is the priest stealing from people?) Another change is the fact that matching "longest road" or "most priests" means a cancellation of the bonus.

The Summary:

In the three, quickly paced, games my roomate and I played, I decided I liked Canaan just about as much as Cataan. Being a History Major (well, a secondary education/history major) I enjoyed the historical aspect (the little there was) of the game. Not ever having read all the bible neither my roomate or I might not have gotten the full feel of the setting, but it was interesting enough. The "timer feature" (Jerusalem stones) of the game was nice, as the second game we played progressed rather slowly due to atrociously poor dice rolls, and this helped move a slightly dead game along. I could see this mechanic being much more exciting in a 4 player game with lots of 7's rolled.

Score:

I bought this game for a good Cataan 2 player, out-of-the-box experience and thats exactly what I got. The board makes setup a breeze, if not as fun as the modular Cataan boards. This would have garnered a 9 from me if only the components had been of better quality. If you're looking for a 2-4 player "Cataan"-like game thats slightly different this is your game. The new mechanics and different (though similar to expansions) pick-a-cards make for an interestingly new if not fresh game. Just be prepared to switch out the dice, and cut your stone counters to fit (or be lazy and not care. Like me.) As it is, I look forward to playing this for years to come.

Thread: Re: Board warping?

johnweldy — 2008-01-21T12:18:32+00:00

Yes. Canaan has the most warped board of any game I own. Absolutely terrible.

Thread: Re: Board warping?

amacleod — 2008-01-21T00:40:36+00:00

No, no problems here, and we've had Canaan since the spring of '04, I believe, and have played it many times. From what I've read lately, it seems that the more recent edition of Settlers of Canaan might be of lesser quality than the original. For example, my copy has Euro-style wooden bits, and I guess the new one has plastic.

Thread: Board warping?

Salt-Man Z — 2008-01-20T17:13:58+00:00

I've had Canaan for over a year, but only played it one time. I took it out last night to show to some friends, and the board is completely warped! Even when folded up, the top and bottom sections curve drastically out and away from the rest of the other folded-up sections!

Has anyone else's board done this?

Thread: Re: 3 Settler Vets Play Canaan

Hikaro — 2008-01-05T09:55:27+00:00

timsteen wrote:

I see the thematic changes with the Priests and Plague, but why do Priests get to move the Plague, and get a resource from the poor afflicted soul? Not very Priest-like!

A similar question is in my mind for Catan:

I see that you can use your Soldiers as policemen (martial law!) and thus can chase the Robber out of your land, but why do you get to choose where to put it, and why does the Robber suddenly feel so remorseful that he gives a resource to whoever chases him off?

Good review/session report, btw.

~David

Thread: Re: 3 Settler Vets Play Canaan

timsteen — 2008-01-04T17:53:24+00:00

ColtsFan76 wrote:

1) Leaving the resources printed as the are on the board, how imbalnaced would it make the game if you randomly placed the values from Catan? Would this make the game more interesting?

As mentioned elsewhere, one other difference is that the resource numbers are "friendlier"--there are 3 of each number but only 1 two and twelve.
So you would need the 5-6 player expansion in order to have enough chits.

My gut reaction is that as long as the copper mine is given a 10, the rest of the board could be randomized. Being a rectangle with odd sections because of the geography, you would need to work out how to distribute the numbers--the alphabetical system wouldn't necessarily work. There could also be some situations where the locations of the ports, with the right numbers, would be an overpowering strategy, but that can happen from time to time with Catan too.

ColtsFan76 wrote:

2) I have looked at this game for a while but keep shrugging it off as too static and not introducing too many new things. How easy would it be to transform Catan and it's expansions into a scenario that resembles Canaan? It seems all the pieces are already there - just set up the board and numbers in the same way. Probably need to borrow the brick pieces from Roads and Boats to round things off. How different are the Development cards?

I was struck by the similarity of Roads & Boats as well. I think you could do this easily. Take a gold tile from Seafarers, get the right mix of other tiles from the expansions, and you could recreate it just fine. The development cards are mostly taken from Cities & Knights--I can't remember exactly what each was but maybe only 1 was something completely new. I wouldn't say that any of them were especially picked to complement the nuances of the game changes, but seemed geared to find thematic tie-ins ("Ark of the Covenant" "Caleb's Blessing" and such.)

Thread: Re: 3 Settler Vets Play Canaan

Paul King — 2008-01-04T14:45:24+00:00

"murky, bland computer generated" graphics sounds like the early Mayfair editions (1st and 2nd). They were ugly.

Thread: Re: 3 Settler Vets Play Canaan

Melsana — 2008-01-04T14:25:05+00:00

I have both this game and the original Catan. I like this one if you are shorter on time, and don't want to bother with the set up or if you want a less cut throat game. I find that the number distribution on this map to be a bit more friendly than in the original catan. There are more 6, 8's, and I think more hexes in total.

I also agree that the wall of Jerusalem is an interesting mechanic to make this game different enough from Clasic Catan to warrent owning both. One differnece between Catan and Canaan that you didn't mention is that the Most Preiest(Soldier) and Longest Road cards have different rules about when a player looses them.

IRC
In Catan you must Pass the player to take the card from them and give it to yourself, in Canaan you just need to match the player to take card away so nobody gets the points from it.

Thread: Re: 3 Settler Vets Play Canaan

henk.rolleman — 2008-01-04T12:31:24+00:00

waza wrote:
timsteen wrote:

2. the bits...plastic Settlers just feels wrong. they have a strange feel to them, it isn't just a soft plastic but almost some sort of resin. they clink. might be OK...they play fine...but doesn't sit right.
Thats strange. My Settlers of Canaan came with wooden ones identical to my Catan. They must have changed them recently.

In 2007 they had a new print run with plastic figures the colour of the sea is also different on the map. The first edition was with wooded pieces. I also like the wooded pieces but I also have the plastic figures

Thread: Re: 3 Settler Vets Play Canaan

ColtsFan76 — 2008-01-04T05:55:48+00:00

Couple questions.....

1) Leaving the resources printed as the are on the board, how imbalnaced would it make the game if you randomly placed the values from Catan? Would this make the game more interesting?

2) I have looked at this game for a while but keep shrugging it off as too static and not introducing too many new things. How easy would it be to transform Catan and it's expansions into a scenario that resembles Canaan? It seems all the pieces are already there - just set up the board and numbers in the same way. Probably need to borrow the brick pieces from Roads and Boats to round things off. How different are the Development cards?

Thread: Re: 3 Settler Vets Play Canaan

waza — 2008-01-04T05:27:38+00:00

timsteen wrote:

2. the bits...plastic Settlers just feels wrong. they have a strange feel to them, it isn't just a soft plastic but almost some sort of resin. they clink. might be OK...they play fine...but doesn't sit right.
Thats strange. My Settlers of Canaan came with wooden ones identical to my Catan. They must have changed them recently.

Thread: 3 Settler Vets Play Canaan

timsteen — 2008-01-04T04:37:03+00:00

NOTE: intended this to be a session report, and while it is a summary of one play session it does seem that I managed to encompass an entire review here, so I've moved it...

My brother and sister-in-law unexpectedly gave me Settlers of Canaan for Christmas. Well, I guess they were expecting it; it was I that was surprised. I've read just enough to know of the existence of the game, but it never entered my radar. Which is weird because my family are big Settlers fans, and I've always been jealous of the various variants possible in the German language.

So of course we sat down and played it: my wife, my brother and I. I studied the rules a bit more than I expected to, mostly because I was wondering what else might be different than vanilla Catan. The answer: not much. The score track, the wall of Jerusalem (you can build this when a settlement is located on the wall, it takes a brick and an ore for one wall piece, every time a 7 is rolled a neutral wall is built, and if the wall fills up the game ends), the power from building the most wall (King's Blessing: 2 VP and the ability to trade 1 resource of your choice at 2:1), the development card powers (more variety but same ideas), playing to 12 points (not much longer than Catan because resources are more plentiful and the wall timing mechanism), and calling the soldiers Priests and the robber the Plague. There is a copper resource tile which is like gold from Seafarers (take a resource of your choice, this tile is located in the north, away from the wall of Jerusalem). That's it: if you've played Catan before you are now ready to play Canaan.

Opening up the board there are definitely some disappointments...
1. the map layout, resources, ports, and number chits are predetermined and unchangeable. I suppose it works out...it is a little bit historically/geographically (would that be social-studiesally?) accurate and perhaps gives you the chance to explore and master a definitive playspace rather than the variable board. But it is certainly a sub-optimal layout, with all the resources bunched up into patterns and weird number distribution.
(of course, I thought I had the perfect 2 places to start, and we'll see how that worked out for me...)

2. the bits...plastic Settlers just feels wrong. they have a strange feel to them--it isn't just a soft plastic but almost some sort of resin. they clink. might be OK...they play fine...but doesn't sit right.
(and they probably don't stick to my forehead on humid summer nights like Catan cities do, which ups the replayability of Catan enormously). the resource cards were shiny and thick, which I mean as a bad thing--they felt cheap. You got the idea that this is bargain-bin Settlers.

3. the graphics. maybe these graphics were borrowed from the original german design? they were the murky, bland computer generated stuff. I sure wish a bit more attention went into these.

The game quickly redeemed itself, though. There were some really interesting things going on.

Most of the changes were no big deal, but the Jerusalem wall was really a nice mechanic: you place neutral markers on the Jerusalem wall when a 7 is rolled. If nothing else, this provides a neat visual for those games when "it feels like a 7 is ALWAYS being rolled." This gives you something to chart that against. In this game, this was used A LOT.
But in addition to that, the timing mechanism was very neat. Right when we were building points 9 & 10 (out of 12, remember), the spaces on the wall were filling up. The timing, at least in this session, was perfect. It gave me the opportunity, as the person in last place by about 2 points, to try for a neat strategy: if I could fill up the last wall spaces, I could tie for Largest Wall, and take away 2 points from the leader...if I can do this and at the same time tie longest road, I can win simply by taking points away from the others and triggering the "wall is filled" ending condition. I really enjoyed that. Oh, I failed to do it, but it was something to dream about.
This alternate end game also forces you to be a bit more thoughtful about revealing your point cards...wait too long and you'll lose them, but too soon and you waste the element of surprise.
Overall, I was very impressed with this seemingly minor tweak.

The Copper tile being a 10 felt right.
The development card powers were basically ideas from other Catan expansions but gave more variety.
The score track was fine...unnecessary bookkeeping for vets but I can see the appeal.
I see the thematic changes with the Priests and Plague, but why do Priests get to move the Plague, and get a resource from the poor afflicted soul? Not very Priest-like!

This particular game was a bit strange...ore was scarce and what little I got went to a couple wall pieces and dev cards...only 1 player had cities right up until the end game. That was my wife: she was leading the whole way, the game got very close again at the end, and then she won by filling up the remaining wall spaces to make sure no one caught her. I was stuck at a paltry 3 points the whole game (OK, not the whole game, but it felt like it) despite starting with a perfect number and resource distribution. Of course, if you know Settlers, you know and either like or hate the die rolls. My family...we like it.

I can see playing this a good number more times. I'm pleased with it, except maybe I'll pull out the wooden bits.

Image

henk.rolleman — 2007-12-21T11:00:45+00:00

Where the Jordan River Flows into the Salt Sea

Image

henk.rolleman — 2007-12-21T10:58:01+00:00

Couting the Points during the Game

Image

henk.rolleman — 2007-12-21T10:49:07+00:00

The Open Box from Cactus Game Design Co

Image

henk.rolleman — 2007-12-21T10:46:04+00:00

Close up from the Board

Image

henk.rolleman — 2007-12-21T10:43:54+00:00

Building the Stones of Jerusalem

Image

henk.rolleman — 2007-12-21T10:30:02+00:00

The Victory Point Markers

Thread: Re: No longer any promo cards with Settlers of Canaan?

Salt-Man Z — 2007-12-11T22:13:53+00:00

Actually, the plastic seems quite dense; they're probably at least as heavy as the wooden bits, if not heavier. So they certainly don't feel cheap. And the colors are quite vibrant, since it's colored plastic, and not paint.

Thread: Re: A good game of Canaan-settling

rongammer — 2007-11-28T01:49:53+00:00

I like to start with a port, either the brick port or the wheat port. The wheat port is nice because you have so much wheat around it, and that 9 ore. I have done well on the 10,4 and 9 up at the top left of the board. Then I usually build my first road toward the brick port (that is when I don't actually start on the brick port). I have had nights when I was on 3's and 4's and did really well, (my friend was on better numbers that didn't roll so well). It really all depends on that tricky dice. Some games we roll a seven almost every other roll. Other games its other numbers. We have tried different starting strategies (even starting east of Galilee) and having a port really helps. If you don't start with a port, at least build your first road toward getting a port. (Well that's my bit of gamming
wisdom, hope it helps.)

I really do like this game better than the other settlers games, you're right about the better development cards in this one.

Thread: I like Canaan better than Catan

rongammer — 2007-11-23T05:40:25+00:00

I don't know about any of you out there, but I have both settlers games, and I enjoy playing both, but I do enjoy Canaan better.
I enjoy the fact that there is little to no set up, I like the kings blessing because that acts as a two to one port for you and gives you two victory points. My friend almost always starts a two player game with the wheat port, and I almost always start the two player game with a brick port. He builds around all the wheat that he can, and I build around all the brick that I can. The game can then go either way, Usually whoever can get their rolls the most wins.

On another note, you can go over to the settlers of Catan files and download harbor master, as that would work with Canaan.

Image

zeruf — 2007-10-01T21:48:27+00:00

back of cards

Image

zeruf — 2007-10-01T21:46:47+00:00

tribe cards

Image

zeruf — 2007-10-01T21:46:06+00:00

cards

Image

zeruf — 2007-10-01T21:44:10+00:00

roads

Thread: Re: Stones of Jerusalem worth 1VP (not 2)

johnweldy — 2007-07-30T19:01:37+00:00

Right. I can see how you could make this mistake, though. It's pretty misleading on the tribe cards.

Thread: Re: Stones of Jerusalem worth 1VP (not 2)

quozl — 2007-07-30T17:14:45+00:00

You don't get points for each stone. You get points for having the most stones.

Thread: Re: 3:1 trades with any harbor?

ColtsFan76 — 2007-07-30T11:49:56+00:00

No. Obtaining a resource specific harbor only allows you to tradde that resource at the special 2:1 bargain. To trade any other resource with the game, you still have to do the 4:1 trade. In order to get the 3:1, you need the 3:1 harbor.

Thread: Stones of Jerusalem worth 1VP (not 2)

vonkraus — 2007-07-30T11:17:05+00:00

If each stone of Jeruselem (SoJ) is worth 2 VP and you are playing a 3 player game, the only strategy that has any chance of winning it building the most SoJ's because someone will always get to 12 VP long before the temple is rebuilt. We've found that the game is much more interesting if the SoJ's are only worth 1 VP each. It makes the alternate strategies (lots of settlements up north, or development card victory) much more competative.

Thread: 3:1 trades with any harbor?

vonkraus — 2007-07-30T11:11:34+00:00

If you have a settlement on a stone harbor, for example, can you still trade other (not stone) resources at 3:1?

Thread: Re: Harbors in Settlers of Canaan

Koldfoot — 2007-07-22T05:17:02+00:00

When in doubt check the examples, and all shall be made clear, except to the most obnoxious of rules lawyers. (BTW the examples are on the next page.)

Unlike other versions of Settlers, this particular version not only has the resource pictured on the port, but has pictures of docks on the appropriate hexside of each port. This would be an additional clue.

I have tried to let my fellow players let me perform maritime trade from a landlocked city, but so far no one has allowed it.

Thread: Re: Harbors in Settlers of Canaan

ZombyDawg — 2007-07-22T02:24:40+00:00

flowerkin wrote:
We play that you have to be touching the harbor hex on the marked part of the tile. It makes it to easy any other way. IMHO. I like a challenge.

That's the way I see it. That way you control the harbor and nobody else gets to use it.

Thread: Re: Harbors in Settlers of Canaan

flowerkin — 2007-07-22T00:15:37+00:00

We play that you have to be touching the harbor hex on the marked part of the tile. It makes it to easy any other way. IMHO. I like a challenge.

Thread: Harbors in Settlers of Canaan

ZombyDawg — 2007-07-21T22:29:59+00:00

In most of the Settlers games I've played harbor control and usage is always determined by having a settlement or city on one of the two intersections (or corners) of the harbor. In Settlers of Canaan the rules say: "If you have a settlement or city on a harbor hex, you are said to 'have a harbor' and the trade ratio is more favorable." I'm wondering do people play this as in the other Settlers games (ie. on an intersection or corner) or do they play it that if you have a settlement or city on the hex they "have a harbor"?

We have decided to play it the way it is in the other Catan games but I wanted to know how others play it or if someone knows what the designer intended.