Catan Histories: Settlers of America — Trails To Rails

In the board game world, the term "settlers" brings you immediately to The Settlers of Catan. Yet, America also has its own historical tradition of settlers — the pioneers that traveled west in the 19th Century in search of fortune or fame. The rich historical backdrop of American westward expansion combined with the award-winning mechanics of Catan is the foundation for Klaus Teuber's latest entry in the historical line of Catan games: Settlers of America.

Players start with cities east of the Mississippi River at the beginning of the game, and settlers are required to travel west to city sites in order to expand. These cities expand the player's resource production, but there's an additional effect. To model the increasingly scarcity of resources in the original colonies (compared to the untapped resources out west), some of the number chips that begin the game in the east are picked up and moved out west. Players cannot rely on their eastern lands to produce at the same level throughout the game; the best and richest resources are to be found out west.

The five resources in the game include three familiar faces: lumber, grain and ore. The other two resources are livestock and coal, and gold is also included in the game. Gold becomes compensation for players who receive no resources on a turn, and can also be earned by building coastal cities. The development deck now features cattle drives, cavalry and scouts instead of knights and monopolies. Finally, there are no upgrades to the "settlements" in the game — there are simply cities that can be built on any of the city sites marked on the board.

The subtitle for the game is "Trails to Rails," and it's an apt description of one of the major themes of the game. There are no roads in the game. Instead, players build rails between cities in order to run their locomotives. You may have up to two locomotives on the board, and trains are critical to winning the game. Instead of victory points, you have goods cubes that you must deliver. Every time you build a city, a goods cube becomes available to deliver, but cubes may only be delivered to opponent's cities. Locomotives may travel on opponent's tracks, but you must pay gold for the right to travel on them.

The game is part of the Catan Histories line, but the game borrows an idea from the geographies line. The game includes an almanac that puts many of the game's components and themes into historical context. For those unfamiliar with the concept of Manifest Destiny, it's a fascinating look at some of the persons, places, and facts from the era of American expansionism.

The game has an ambitious agenda: to incorporate major themes from American history into a Catan framework, and throw in Mayfair's strong affection for rail games for good measure. Settlers of America successfully combines all of these elements into an exciting 2-hour game for 3 or 4 players. Return to the era of wagon trains and golden spikes as only Catan can!

Catan Histories: Settlers Of America - Trails To Rails

SKU#: MFG 3203

SRP: $55.00