MDA of ‘Settlers of Catan’
A game that a played a lot during quarantine was Settlers of Catan, which is a board game that revolves around building settlers settlement, roads, and cities on an island. To build these, you need to obtain the essential resources, (ore, wheat, wood, sheep and brick) which you gain by the luck of two dice.
The Game Board
There are many mechanics in Catan that are common in other games like the idea of collecting resources or rolling dice, but a specific mechanic that I want to hone in on is the game board itself.
The foundation of this game is the layout of the island. The game board is made up of many hexagonal pieces. Each piece is one of the five resources and there are multiple of each resource on the board. Each hexagonal piece/resource has a number 2–12 associated with each so when a certain number is rolled, that means a player gets that resource. To get a number, you must roll two die and that determines what resources are given out.
This mechanic leads to the dynamic of players relying on randomness to collect resources. Depending on how the board is set up and how the dice is rolled, players might get overwhelmed with a set of resources, or maybe experience a drought of a specific resource. This game board leads to strategy of where to place settlements and where to build. The game board is ultimately where the bulk of the strategy comes from. The hexagonal shape of the tile pieces leads to strategic placement of certain roads, allows people to block others and hoard a resource.
The main aesthetic associated with this is the visual appeal to this game, or sensation as the video described it. The visual of the wooden roads, cities and settlements give this old-time exploration feel to the game. This with the illustration of the game cards, board and pieces also add to the overall visual appeal.
These in combination really create the foundation of the game. It’s not just the mechanics that create the rules, all three together create a perfect settler’s world that involve socialization, deception, strategy and luck to create such a fun game.
