Catan Exp: Traders & Barbarians Board Game Expansion by Catan Studio

Catan Exp: Traders & Barbarians Board Game Expansion by Catan Studio

While expansion is the hallmark of Seafarers and Cities & Knights stands out because of its intricacy, Traders & Barbarians is characterized by variation.

This Expansion Works With:

Expansion Pack

Setup Time
15 Mins
Play Time
90-120 Mins
Players
2 to 4
Age Level
10 and Up
Our Reviews
$78.95 CAD
$78.95 CAD

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Our Reviews Details What's in the Box? How To Play Rule Book Reviews and Questions

Catan - A Family Review

“Want to play a game of Catan?”

Friends of board gamers have heard this sentence for nearly thirty years. Maybe you always suggested something else, or maybe you didn’t think you’d have fun. But it keeps coming up—and now you’re curious.

Any collector worth their salt (or sheep, in this case—you trade sheep in the game quite a lot), has Catan on their shelf. It’s the Monopoly of hobby board games, and like Monopoly, it lends itself to longer game sessions. Evenings full of laughter and frustration and triumph. Catan is great at keeping everybody at the table engaged on every roll and nearly every turn, and if you want to win, you have to get in there with everybody else—trading and haggling with the best of them.

The main fun of the game is in bartering with other players (I’m looking for two wood and want to trade sheep. Anybody?) then strategically placing your roads and settlements to corner markets and score points. You have to strike at the right time though, because other players can block you with their own builds. Which definitely causes vendettas. Friendly ones, but definitely vendettas.

11yo: I loved the betrayal and bartering and making up stories about my settlements.

It’s a competitive game with only one winner, and with your hand of hidden cards, nobody is ever 100% sure who’s in the lead until everything is revealed at the end.

As hobby games go, the turns are pretty simple but can lend themselves to a bit of decision paralysis. We found that we had to remind the kids to make a choice and pass the turn or else they’d get stuck on finding the perfect thing they needed. The box says 10+ for age, and that’s pretty accurate. Our 9yo really enjoyed himself, but he wasn’t thinking a couple turns ahead—he was going after what seemed valuable on each turn.

This game is fantastic for a family with teenagers—older kids who want to plan big swings, make clever moves, and reveal a master strategy or get the best possible exchange at the right time. It’s a cool way to get a little competitive in a fun environment. Even when your plans fall through or you make a bad trade, you can bounce back within a turn or two.

The dice rolls keep players on a roughly even footing, so it’s manageable to play with people of varying skills and investment, and as competitive strategy games go, you won’t find many that fall into the hour-or-two range rather than the two-to-four hour range.

Want to be a little cutthroat and competitive around the table and all in good fun? Catan is the game for you.

Helpful Hints

  • Trading can get confusing. Work on your shorthand for who is offering what and looking for what
  • Catan Junior is a much stronger fit for a younger group

Description

5 Challenging New Scenarios:

  • The Fishermen of Catan- Fish in the great lake or try casting in rich coastal shoals. A fresh, expanded, and updated version!
  • The Rivers of Catan- Not one, but two great rivers invite flourishing commerce. Bridge them en route to glory and wealth.
  • The Caravans- Nomads of the oasis seek wool and grain. Camel caravans offer rich trade opportunities.
  • Barbarian Attack- Eager for booty, vile barbarians land and occupy Catan's fertile shores. Brave knights unite and ride to battle against the invaders.
  • Traders & Barbarians- Your wagons transport fine marble, glass, tools, and sand to help restore Catan's great castle.

Combine these novel scenarios to create a refreshing, compelling campaign!

A game Expansion for 3-4 players ages 12 and older.

Delve deep into Catan! In Catan: Traders & Barbarians you'll find lots of cool new ways to explore Klaus Teuber's award-winning game series. You can now play with just 2 players! Add a harbormaster, a friendly robber, or special events. Play with a wealth of new wooden pieces, board tiles, and capabilities. Even link your games to create an intriguing campaign. Use these 4 variants and 5 scenarios to reinvent your Catan experience!

Well-tried variants such as CATAN Event Cards, Harbormaster, and Catan for Two offer alternatives for customizing the game to your own needs. In addition, the 2-player variant allows you to play the Base Game as well as all scenarios of this expansion against only one opponent.

Over the course of a campaign with five scenarios, the story is told of how things develop on Catan after the first settlements and cities are built.

As the Fishermen of Catan we experience how fishing not only adds to the menu but also opens up completely new tactical possibilities.

In the second scenario, The Rivers of Catan, the rivers prove to be true lifelines. If you build roads and settlements adjacent to the rivers, you can easily make a fortune. If you arrive too late, you may well become a poor settler and have a hard time trying to get rid of this disadvantage.

In the third scenario, nomads have settled in the oasis. Since they are lacking wool and grain, they send out caravans to barter for the coveted resources. Of course, everybody wants to profit from the Caravans, but sending the caravans to one’s own settlements isn't all that easy.

Catan’s wealth doesn’t go unnoticed. And thus it doesn’t take long until the Barbarian Attack descends upon Catan’s coasts. Now it is imperative that the Catanians close ranks and train knights. The knights rally for battle - not altogether selflessly, because each captured barbarian is worth half a victory point.

The last scenario is titled Traders & Barbarians. The barbarians have been driven off, and now it’s time to repair the damage. Soon, Catan’s roads and paths are bustling with baggage trains - marble and glass must be delivered to the castle, sand to the glassworks, and tools to the marble quarry. Successfully carrying out a delivery is awarded with a victory point and gold. Unfortunately, some scattered barbarians interrupt the smooth flow of the transports…

What's in the Box

  • 24 wooden knights
  • 12 wooden bridges
  • 22 wooden camels
  • 4 wooden wagons
  • 36 wooden barbarians
  • 40 coin counters
  • 14 new terrain and water tiles
  • 120 new cards
  • Special victory point cards and tokens
  • Variants & scenarios

How to Play

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