Players build settlements, cities, and roads to connect them as they settle the island. The players in the game represent settlers establishing colonies on the island of Catan. The game involves large amounts of strategy, while still being fairly simple to learn, making it perfect for those who wish to enter the world of strategic boardgames. A 2012 American documentary film titled Going Cardboard (featuring Klaus Teuber) is about this game's impact on American gaming communities and what came of it. It is popular in the United States where it has been called "the board game of our time" by The Washington Post. The game has been translated into 30 languages. As of 2015, more than 22 million copies in 30 languages were sold. The Settlers of Catan was one of the first German-style board games to achieve popularity outside of Europe. The game and its many expansions are also published by Mayfair Games, Filosofia, Capcom, 999 Games, Κάισσα, and Devir. Players are rewarded points as their settlements grow the first to reach a set number of points, typically 10, is the winner. Players assume the roles of settlers, each attempting to build and develop holdings while trading and acquiring resources.
The Settlers of Catan, sometimes shortened to just Catan, is a multiplayer board game designed by Klaus Teuber and first published in 1995 inGermany by Franckh-Kosmos Verlag (Kosmos) as Die Siedler von Catan.