[HN Gopher] Creator of Catan, Klaus Teuber, has died
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Creator of Catan, Klaus Teuber, has died
Author : miiiiiike
Score : 337 points
Date : 2023-04-04 18:27 UTC (4 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (www.dicebreaker.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (www.dicebreaker.com)
| krylon wrote:
| Rest in Peace.
|
| It's my favorite board game to this day.
| franze wrote:
| Rest in Catan.
| scyzoryk_xyz wrote:
| I once read an article somewhere about how he spent huge amounts
| of time thoroughly playtesting the entire game with his children.
| This is what made the game balanced and easy to grasp.
|
| My favorite mechanic is the way each dice roll potentially gives
| everyone at the table some sort of payoff. This keeps everyone at
| the table engaged and paying attention.
|
| You only come up with mechanics like this if you put in the time
| playtesting.
|
| [*] RIP
| SkyPuncher wrote:
| > My favorite mechanic is the way each dice roll potentially
| gives everyone at the table some sort of payoff. This keeps
| everyone at the table engaged and paying attention.
|
| We've actually found this to be very off-putting. It often ends
| up with certain players remaining stuck in long droughts, often
| unable to do anything.
|
| As a result, we tend to play with "welfare". Essentially, a
| secondary currency system that can be exchanged for any
| resource. Cost scales with the amount of victory points you
| have, so it becomes less valuable as you advanced closer to
| victory.
|
| We've found this helps create a bit of balance and ensure that
| everyone has a chance to stay engaged.
| thefringthing wrote:
| Some people play by drawing from a deck of dice rolls without
| replacement in order to reduce the variance.
| [deleted]
| joemi wrote:
| RIP. Settlers Of Catan and Uwe Rosenberg's Bohnanza were my intro
| to boardgames beyond Monopoly. I always hated Monopoly, and all
| board games by extension. Thanks to Catan and Bohnanza I
| discovered that board games didn't have to be bad/boring.
| dgacmu wrote:
| Bohnanza is a quite remarkable game. Ruthlessly mathematical in
| a way that you don't need to process to play and have fun. (I
| like it. But I don't like to play too often or it starts to
| feel like work. )
| tinco wrote:
| Implementing Bohnanza was the main project of the advanced
| programming class at my Uni. Was really fun, we were allowed to
| pick any programming language and had to incorporate one or
| more of the "advanced" techniques the professor taught. I
| picked CoffeeScript and aspect oriented programming and it was
| so much fun. Still one of my best programming experiences. AOP
| lends itself perfectly to boardgames.
| marcod wrote:
| I'm guessing you know by now that monopoly was built to be
| frustrating :)
|
| Love Bonanza too!
| mLuby wrote:
| Very sad news.
|
| Unrelated, the website claims this cookie is "legitimate
| interest" and so can't be disabled: Receive and
| use automatically-sent device characteristics for identification:
| Always Active
|
| Why do they need to identify a logged out visitor?
| Y_Y wrote:
| Why did we let the website itself be the arbiter of what
| interests are "legitimate"?
| mgaunard wrote:
| "Catan Settlers" is what I call it.
| midiguy wrote:
| I call it the _Anglo-Saxon pioneers who take advantage of their
| Protestant work-ethic to procure long roads and prudently
| engage in trade_ of Catan
| InitialLastName wrote:
| I call it "the first loser gets to pick the winner".
| s_m_t wrote:
| Catan's trading is a mistake in game design for sure
| 2muchcoffeeman wrote:
| I played another game fairly recently where people could
| negotiate trades for resources. Also a mistake in game
| design. I want to say it was Moonrakers?
| [deleted]
| InitialLastName wrote:
| It's a difficult issue because I think the trading is
| also the core of what makes the game interesting; it's
| hard to force players to cooperate with their competitors
| while avoiding the kingmaker issue.
| etothepii wrote:
| Absolutely not. The trading is the whole point. You talk
| to each other, you negotiate, it's interactive. Sure it
| means the same person always wins, but it's the
| interaction that keeps it alive.
| morelisp wrote:
| Yeah, uh, they are not Protestant.
|
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Settlers_of_Catan_(novel)
|
| _The Elasunders encounter a large flock of white ravens,
| which they ecstatically interpret as a good omen from the god
| Odin. The white ravens evoke their well-known Legend of
| Catan, leading them to believe that Catan is the shore they
| now walk upon._
|
| _Shortly after landing, Candamir 's slave-girl Gunda bears
| him his first-born child, Nils, whom he names after his
| sister Asta's deceased husband._
|
| _... Osmund and Candamir both are attracted to Siglind, but
| she has devoted herself to the Christian God. Osmund proposes
| marriage to her, but she refuses, saying she has sworn off
| all men._
|
| _Osmund instead marries Inga, a 13-year-old girl. Brigitta,
| Osmund 's grandmother-in-law from his first marriage, deems
| them anointed and secretly prophesies to them that their
| firstborn will be king of Catan. Furthermore, Inga is to one
| day take Brigitta's place as the priestess of their religion,
| while Osmund will be ruler of the island._
| svachalek wrote:
| Wow, there was a novel... that sounds pretty awful tbph.
| chimeracoder wrote:
| Settlers of Catan is the perfect "bridge game" - accessible
| enough to people who are used to playing Monopoly, but
| complicated and fun enough that it gets people interested in more
| involved German-style board games.
|
| Most board game aficionados end up not playing Catan very much,
| but it's hard to think of a game that has introduced more people
| to the genre successfully.
| nicoburns wrote:
| I'd consider myself pretty into board games. My family played
| them (and card games) regularly when I growing up. And it's now
| something I do with friends regularly (and still with family).
| But I have a strong preference for games in this "bridge"
| category. Games that are interesting and have an element of
| strategy but
|
| - take 30-90 minutes on average, not hours or days
|
| - have a relatively simple set of rules without too many
| special cases
|
| I'd suggest that the super complicated/involved are just one
| niche that some people are into. And much like books or movies,
| different people are different things.
| Semaphor wrote:
| Took the words out of my mouth. I love complex boardgames
| taking hours (twilight imperium is probably my favorite), but I
| can play settlers. My parents like games with few rules (not
| necessarily simple ones), but they also can do settlers, so
| that is where the family meets.
| vlunkr wrote:
| One thing I love about Catan is how short the games are.
| Losing isn't so devastating because you aren't as deeply
| invested.
| philwelch wrote:
| More's the pity, IMO. I really like Catan, but I'm not really
| interested in becoming a board game hipster and learning a new
| board game every time I play.
| cooperadymas wrote:
| I'm what most would probably consider a hardcore gamer or a
| "board game hipster", sitting here with 70 or so board games
| on my shelf. (IMO I'm not really that hardcore or hipstery
| about it for many reasons. It's all relative in the end.)
|
| I like long complex games that make Catan look like Go Fish.
|
| I have played regularly with a group of friends for years now
| both in person and online. They're slightly less hardcore.
|
| Catan is one of the games we constantly have running turn
| based. It never gets old.
|
| It's the perfect balance of strategy, luck, complexity, and
| fun.
| lmm wrote:
| It got old for me after a lot of playing with family. But
| not quickly.
| mikmoila wrote:
| Rest in peace Klaus! Thanks for giving us a hope!
| Havoc wrote:
| Pretty epic life if the measuring stick is bringing happiness to
| people.
|
| Well played
| looping8 wrote:
| RIP, this man's creation helped me and my friends make many
| boring evening better. Also lead to arguments but that's okay,
| was part of the fun. He really left a huge legacy.
| kiernanmcgowan wrote:
| I'll give you two sheep for the stone I need to build his
| mausoleum.
| jakespencer wrote:
| Catan, and the many other games made possible after it's success,
| have brought me a lot of happiness over the years. I'm thankful
| for the life and work of Mr. Teuber.
| eligro91 wrote:
| R.I.P
|
| One of the best games, I enjoy playing that l for hours with my
| kids.
| cableshaft wrote:
| Catan helped show me that board games had evolved beyond the
| games of my youth.
|
| Went down a huge rabbit hole afterwards and most of my closest
| friends today I've met through game nights, and I've designed
| several games since that will eventually get out there (one is
| signed by a publisher but not yet released, hoping to get two
| more signed this year).
|
| If not for that I'd probably still exclusively be working on
| video games in my spare time.
|
| Thanks Klaus, for having such a massive influence on the hobby
| that the industry has had an incredible period of growth and many
| cool and interesting games that almost certainly wouldn't exist
| otherwise. RIP.
| CatWChainsaw wrote:
| Catan is the gateway drug of board games.
|
| Gonna have to gather together a group to play a round in his
| honor.
| luckystarr wrote:
| RIP. Thanks Klaus!
|
| In the 90s when "Die Siedler" was released, we played it until we
| literally dropped due to exhaustion. :) It is still so much fun.
| Settlers is one of the all time classics which I guess will still
| be played in a 100 years.
| charlieyu1 wrote:
| The game that marks the starting point of modern boardgaming.
| libraryatnight wrote:
| As I've gotten older I've had to pick and choose from time
| intensive hobbies I've collected over the years, and board games
| that rank on board game geek and - in the same way folks serious
| about their movies use 'film' - often get referred to not as
| board games but 'tabletop' are something I don't spend time with
| as much anymore (with real humans, digital editions have been
| nice). But I can still play Catan and get people to play with me.
|
| Catan is game that scratches my game geek itch, but is fun and
| learnable by most people interested in a board game at a holiday.
| I am thankful for Catan. Thank you Klaus Teuber for bringing us
| Catan.
| drewcoo wrote:
| > board games that rank on board game geek and - in the same
| way folks serious about their movies use 'film' - often get
| referred to not as board games but 'tabletop'
|
| There are lots of games that are "tabletop games" and not
| "board games," and not because anyone's being a snob.
|
| Dominoes, cards, miniatures, for example. If you actually dig
| deeper into BGG than the links of new hotness, you can find
| many more types.
|
| Also, anyone who's into Catan hasn't earned their snob status
| yet. ;-)
| libraryatnight wrote:
| Yeah, you guys :D
| mathgeek wrote:
| There are (unfortunately) at least two common connotations
| when it comes to "tabletop games". One is what you're saying,
| but the term is also used to specifically mean games like D&D
| (when using minis), Warhammer, and Battletech. Gloomhaven is
| one such game that rates highly on BGG and brings with it
| some controversy around what qualifies as a board game.
|
| Thankfully this whole hobby is as strong as it ever has been,
| giving folks lots of options that suit their tastes.
| Jimmc414 wrote:
| Settlers of Catan: where friendships are shattered by a well-
| placed robber
| koolba wrote:
| A well placed road does more lasting damage.
| Arrath wrote:
| Oh absolutely
| yamtaddle wrote:
| Road placement can knock one or two players out in the first
| round or two, on random boards with unfortunate initial
| placement and four players. Probably the weakest thing about
| the game--sometimes you pick the best spots available at
| placement, but are effectively doomed from the start unless
| other players screw up really badly, and it's that _extremely
| bad_ kind of losing-early where you 're technically still
| playing but also can't do much. Like, if you want to make
| other people's experience as bad as yours, you can just give
| resources to someone to play kingmaker rather than futilely
| trying to build stuff, which is surely more entertaining than
| doing nothing, but is also not exactly a _positive_ kind of
| entertainment.
|
| Playing with three mostly fixes it, but then there are fewer
| people to trade with. Using a set, balanced board layout can
| help, but IMO gets kinda boring.
| wadadadad wrote:
| My family tends to play with the 5-6 player expansion with
| only four players, which I think tends to mitigate your
| mentioned issue somewhat; on the other hand, having that
| much space also leads to a lot of 'solo play', where you
| don't need to trade as much as everyone can generally get
| the resources they need and you're just waiting for the
| resources. The expansion-with-four-players certainly feels
| less cut-throat/competitive, for good or bad.
| falsenapkin wrote:
| It's a bit of fun to see the losing position early and
| become a nuisance. I can't normally role play or act, but
| catch me knowing I have no recovery in Catan...
| ted_bunny wrote:
| House rules for balance:
|
| - Robber can only target equal or higher VPs
|
| - Building a road within 2 lengths of opponent's
| settlement, and not in equal proximity to yours, induces a
| toll of one resource.
| andrepd wrote:
| > Playing with three mostly fixes it
|
| Or with the seafarers expansion! It's an almost perfect
| expansion to an already excellent game.
| emmelaich wrote:
| Are the other expansions any good? I've only played
| seafarers a few times. Almost exclusively the originals
| only.
| tchock23 wrote:
| I play with a friend who makes it his only goal to divide the
| map with the longest road. It's infuriating.
| bombcar wrote:
| Right-robber is always the correct choice; fight me.
| bokchoi wrote:
| I haven't played catan in a long time. What is "right-
| robber"?
| shagie wrote:
| https://boardgames.stackexchange.com/questions/7097/what-
| is-...
|
| All other things being equal, the optimal placement of the
| robber is to impact the person on your right. This makes it
| longer before the person can retaliate against you (if
| retaliation is part of the way people play).
| msluyter wrote:
| This is why I no longer play it -- it also suffers from a
| severe kingmaker problem. But like others have noted, for me,
| Settlers was sort of a gateway game that led me into wider
| world of eurogames and many years of enjoyment & camaraderie
| with my gaming group.
| princevegeta89 wrote:
| Or by trade deals where trading in one card gets you back five.
| chx wrote:
| Catan needs a super important kind of meta rule, I refuse to
| play it without: you can only trade in game items.
|
| I had a couple trading dishwashing chores for sheep. No.
| sandyarmstrong wrote:
| The rules are pretty clear that you can only trade resource
| cards. When they say things like "However, you cannot give
| away cards, or trade matching resources ("trade" 3 ore for 1
| ore, for example)" and "You cannot trade or give away
| development cards", it's pretty obvious what the intent is.
| ipqk wrote:
| My group were very casual gamers and I destroyed the group by
| making a hail-mary trade.
|
| It was my turn and it was clear that one person would win
| this round if no one won before him. So I made a hail-mary
| trade with someone else that gave me the slightest chance of
| winning, but it failed to do so. And of course, that person I
| made the trade with ended up winning because of my trade. We
| never played again.
| SkyPuncher wrote:
| I have never, ever heard anyone say you can trade anything
| other than resource cards.
| acheron wrote:
| RIP. I first played Settlers 20 years ago and now play it with my
| kids sometimes.
|
| Not sure what is special about "dicebreaker.com" but here's an
| official announcement from the Catan site
| https://www.catan.com/catan-fans/news/we-mourn-passing-klaus...
| as well as a memorial on the Spiel des Jahres site
| https://www.spiel-des-jahres.de/trauer-um-klaus-teuber/ though
| that one is in German.
| ponytech wrote:
| Catan is the game that got me into modern board games 20 years
| ago. Following board game nights made me meet people who are
| still close friends today and introduced me to the mother of my
| children.
|
| My life would have been so different without Mr Teuber creations.
| Thank you and reset in peace.
| toomuchtodo wrote:
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Klaus_Teuber
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