#2: Settlers of Catan
My husband was absolutely aghast upon reading that I dubbed "book recommendations" #3. And I don't exactly have a lot of evidence to back up why that came out as high as it did. I'll even confess that there are times I much prefer an Olive Garden breadstick over someone telling me what to read. But I'm making it up as I go, and I'm trying. And in that season, during that week, book recommendations was warming my heart. I can't justify it with any more solidity than the ESPN Top Ten Ranker who put a half-court sinker over a Stanley Cup buzzer beater. To be honest, I've watched ESPN Top Ten Rankings almost every day for a year, thanks to the Planet Fitness treadmill I keep happening to choose at the time I keep happening to go with the TV happening to be on that channel. Sometimes, #8 feels even more impressive than #1. Now, I understand why.
But I have to press on. I can't quit now. I certainly think my husband will agree with me more on this one. After all, we just tore down the decorations from his Catan-themed surprise birthday party, complete with mozzarella sticks that looked like wood and rice krispies in the shape of bricks. The game is an obsession for him, which, by its strangely contagious nature, has made it an obsession for me.
The premise, for normal people who don't biweekly nerd out over settling cities and robbing wheat, is simple: Place your settlements on certain numbered resources. When that number is rolled, pick up said resource. Collect, trade, steal, connive, until you have enough resources to build a road, and then a settlement, and then a city, all the way up to ten. As I wrote in a post not long ago, the emotional rollercoaster of sitting your friends around a Catan board is a risk - it turns them to enemies and the reconciliation isn't always immediate when the game is cleaned up. I'm serious, there are grudges. And multiple times, I've had to ask Joe for forgiveness hours after my anger cooled off and I was ready to face him again. And I have to try to make my plea a little more, "sorry for being so competitive" and a little less "I will literally never trade sheep with you again."
But I also think, as a retired athlete, that this is what makes me love it so much. It's not a friendly board game. Not even close. It's also not a quick win by any means. I've played multiple games where the person who looks like they'll never build a road rolls enough wheat and ore to conquer Catan in the final round. It often comes down to the last point, a matter of who can pick up a Victory card first. And it's always, always a race.
No one gets eliminated, so you have to claw your way up from the ashes if you get a bad start. And no one wins without ten points, so if you start strong, you have to maintain that momentum despite being heavily targeted by wannabe city-builders. I didn't really like board games until I got my first Catan win. Then, I never wanted to stop.
We've brought a myriad of friends around the table to wage war in the little cardboard Kingdom. Usually with Bublys, often with cookies, always with tons of joyful (yet hostile) intensity. It's my favorite way to fellowship. There's enough time for conversation, but also an explicit goal and an understanding that we aren't just here to hang. I like when there's a mission. I can handle small talk for about an hour, but when we drift toward the "welps" and "hmms," we know it's go time.
I don't know if I can accurately sum up what, exactly, I love so much about this game. It's strangely addicting. It's so rare to garner consecutive wins that everyone maintains a constant hunger to return to the game board and seek revenge. Anyone can play. No one is held back by ailments or bad weather. And though it temporarily tears us apart, it's a fun way to bring people together.
I think the passion with which I just cranked out this blog post confirms that its placement proves true. #2, Settlers of Catan.