Customer Reviews
Worth the price
For $3, you can't get any better than this. It adds a different dimension to the game without changing the basics. The only knock on the item is that it didn't fit precisely within the rest of my set, but if that's my biggest problem of the day I should be happy. 1st get this one, then get the fisherman mini expansion.
River Tile - great but one flaw
The River Tile is a nice, affordable accessory at about $5 (incl. shipping), and does add a new dimension to the Settlers of Catan. The River Tile adds 1/3 Point on each road, settlement, and city built along the 3-hex River Tile, so you need 3 of any kind to reward you with a point towards winning the game. However, the rules suggest playing to 12 points, rather the normal 10, to make the game run about the same duration. I'm not sure we'd use the River Tile every time, but it does makes things interesting when used every so often.
One drawback (which I have not seen mentioned by anyone else leaving reviews): the River Tile is slighly undersized, roughly 1/8", relative to the other Settlers tiles - I bought the 4th and latest Version of Settlers in April 2009 (box dated 2007) from Amazon, and the tile from a Amazon seller about 2 weeks later. They should be compatible, but aren't quite. It's not just the way the cardboard is cut - the printed graphics of the tile are just slightly smaller. Consequently, the tile is a loose fit in the Settlers board matrix, and tends to slide around when roads and settlements are placed on it. A minor nuisance. Hopefully correctable in a future release of the Tile (I'll probably end up adding some cardboard around the tile and taping along the edges to "beef" it up.). I'm curious if anyone else has found this to be the case.
Adds a nice element
The river tile adds nicely to the Settlers of Catan. It didn't change how we played the game to much and was actually relatively simple for a beginner player to learn. I had never played any of the Catan games and found the river tile to be fun and interesting.
