Catan-mania!

Shhh... don't tell anyone, but we're kind of hooked on a slightly nerdy board game.

We blame our pal Tim, who gave Settlers of Catan as a gift to his wife Fleur's family for Christmas. They all started playing and couldn't stop. Then Adrian arrived in Oz and stayed at their house for a week in February, and played Catan all week. Instant convert.

Dayle was a little more skeptical - only slightly - but in less than the time it takes to play a game (like an hour or two), she was a Catan junkie as well. Soon there were many Settlers of Catan afternoons and evenings happening between the four of us, meanwhile we probably should have been out enjoying the beach, or strolling through the eucalyptus forests. (But whatever! We didn't come back to Oz for beach or exotic trees... right?) And then our friends (and now housemates) Megan and Justin came to visit, and we spread the Catan love to them too (and have since hooked their friends). It's like a disease or something!

Rufus the cat and Fleur face off

So, in case you're looking for a new pastime, and going to the movies/watching sports/going bowling just isn't doing it for you anymore, we'd have to say it's time to check out Settlers of Catan. It's nerdy enough that we had to buy ours in Mind Games, that store that's filled with Magic Cards and stuff. But it's also really fun! It's something like Risk, in that you need to expand your empire turn by turn, but it's a little like Monopoly where you build houses and hotels (well, settlements and cities, but close enough) once you collect enough "resources". There's a lot of strategy and a lot of trading and shifty deals happening. And did we mention it can get pretty nasty?

Anyway, it seems there are others out there like us - Tim has discovered there's a somewhat-secret Catan club at his workplace! And when Adrian discovered and downloaded the iPhone game for Catan, it was the best $5 he'd ever spent. No more boredom on 2-hour train rides, laundromat waits, or evenings when there's nothing on TV. We think you should check it out, if you haven't already....

Rufus contemplates his next move