Product Description
Settlers of Canaan takes place in the territory of Canaan off the coast of the Great Sea. Each Player represents a tribe of Israel as they seek to settle the land of Canaan. The time period of the game spans the time of Joshua's conquests of Canaan (Joshua), the turbulent years ruled by judges (Judges) through the choosing and crowning of King David (I & II Samuel). For 2 to 4 players ages 10 and up. Playing Time 45-60 minutes. Components: Rules Book 60 roads (15ea white, red, orange, blue) 20 Settlements (5ea white, red, orange, blue) 16 Cities (4ea white, red, orange, blue) 4 Building Costs Cards 1 Plague Marker 1 Fixed Game Map Board of Canaan 115 Resource Cards (23ea Bricks, Wool, Lumber, Grain, Ore) 35 Development Cards (20 Priests, 11 Events, 4 Victory Point) 3 Special Cards - Longest Road, Most Priests, King's Blessing 80 Building Stone Markers 4 Victory Point Markers 2 Dice
Customer Reviews
A modern classic game, recast in the Holy Land
I have enjoyed Settlers of Cataan for many years, and when I became Youth Minister at my church, one of the first things I bought was this game. It is much like the originial Settlers of Cataan series, but is set in Biblical Israel. Consequently, the development cards are scripturally themed, and instead of having a robber steal cards, a plague (which can be sent away by priests) blocks other players' resouces.
Although it can seem difficult to learn at first, it is actually easy to pick up once you begin playing, as it is a very intuitive game. Now that the youth group knows how to play, we can usually play a game in about an hour, or a little more. A minor drawback is that it only has pieces for four players, but the board is large enough to accomdate more, so if you are up to making or improvising more pieces, five or six (or possibly more) can play.
For those already familar with the Settlers series, this game has a large fixed board, with the five familiar resources and all the old harbour types, as well as one space representing a copper mine (much like the gold mines of Seafarers) that produces any resource the owner desires. There are more types of development cards, and players can also gain victory points by building stones for Jerusalem (for one brick and one ore), thus contributing to Solomon's temple. Whoever adds the most stones gets two extra victory points and can trade one resource at 2:1 (as at a specialty harbour). To make up for this extra source of victory points, the game is played to twelve points instead of ten.
If you already own Settlers, this game does not have much new, but it is still fun and a nice activity for church groups. If you do not own any form of Settlers, but enjoy building games with a nice social aspect, this is a great game for you.
Represent One of the Tribes and Build the Temple
Another great addition to the Settlers of Catan family of games. Many players will only be familiar with the original Settlers of Catan and some of its expansions where the board is made up of hexagonal tiles that change with each play of the game. But this one is much closer to the Historical Scenario Catan sets (particularly The Great Pyramid and The Great Wall).
Players settle areas of a map and begin gathering resources from their surrounding lands. Resources are used to expand by building roads and other settlements as well as improving existing settlements.
Each player represents one of the Twelve Tribes of Israel and is trying to become the most successful tribe. This is done in two ways. One is by expanding as mentioned above. The other is by contributing to the building of the Great Temple. The raider/robber/barbarians have been replaced by the more biblical plagues (you need priests to stop these instead of the original knights).
Fun play and a good scenario make this a great game. It is a pleasure to find such an entertaining game set in the Old Testament.
Fantastic Game
My brother-in-law played it at a friend's house, and then he bought a copy. My wife and I were over once and played it and we became hooked just like him. So now we bought it and are playing it with our friends.
It's an intelligent game, where knowing arcane facts and being able to draw with your eyes closed won't help you any. You have to plan, negotiate, and see what your opponents are doing. The intital curve is rough, but I think it's much easier to explain game as it goes on than to expect someone to absorb it all at once.
The game says it's for 2-4 players, but the two-player game isn't all that great -- the rules need a little tweaking there. You also need a big table to keep all the cards, etc. The pieces are small and could be easily lost (especially the roads). But, hey, it's an adult game, not for the kids.
As far as the Christian theme . . . yeah, it's great and accurate, but it doesn't take away from the gameplay at all.
I think this is a perfect game for family game night if your children are older (junior high on up). It's also a great after-dinner game when friends are over.
