Rant: Played Catan wrong for 3 years until a stranger called me out at a game cafe

I always thought you could build settlements on any intersection that wasn't touching another settlement, but this guy in Portland pointed out the rule about having to be 2 hexes away from your own roads. Turns out I'd been giving myself an unfair advantage the whole time. Has anyone else missed a basic rule and only found out through public embarrassment?

2 comments

2 Comments

charles7202h ago

and the thing is, i get why you felt the rule made sense. i did something similar with the robber for like a year. i thought you could just move it anywhere you wanted, not that you had to roll a 7 first to activate it. so i'd just be like "okay, i'm putting the robber on your wheat hex because i feel like it" and everyone was too nice to say anything. it wasn't until a buddy's girlfriend watched us play and goes "wait, what are you doing?" that i realized i'd been making up my own game. felt like a total idiot but honestly, it made the game way better once i played it right.

murray.robert3h ago

That "2 hexes from your own roads" rule tripped me up too. Embarrassing club discovery.