Catan Scenarios: Santa Claus and Catan 5th Edition

Game play quality: 5 stars.Manufacturing Quality: 2 stars.I really wish you could buy this by itself without a copy of the base game. We don’t need another copy of the game. That said, we’re keeping it as a future present to be given. Catan always makes a great gift.PROS:The game play this adds is awesome. It is actually my favorite small Catan expansion. During setup, the tile with a number 2 is replaced with the Santa hex. The number 2 is then moved to the hex with a 12 on it, therefore making that hex active on the roll of a 12 or a 2. On your turn, you may pay 1 sheep to move Santa to a hex without the robber on it. Everyone on that hex gets a present. You may pay 2 sheep to move him to a hex with the robber, in which case you get the Santa benefit plus the robber gets returned to the dessert. If Santa is moved to the Santa hex, players with a settlement there get 2 presents. When a player has 2 presents they must turn them in for a resource of their choice.This adds a lot of fun to the game, in my opinion. There are so many benefits:1) Building on the Santa hex is basically a wildcard. Since if you move Santa there everyone there gets two presents which must then immediately be traded for a resource. So now, if you built there, every turn you can play a sheep to move Santa there and get whatever resource you want.2) Sheep, the least valuable resource is now, possibly, the most valuable resource. In the normal game, sheep are pretty worthless late game as they are not needed to upgrade to cities or to build roads. Now they act like knight cards and give you resources.3) Easier to chase away the Robber. Before you had to wait for a 7 to be rolled or pay 3 resources to buy a development card and hope for a Knight. Now you can get rid of the robber with 2 sheep cards.4) A way to get those rare resources. Some games you end up with a resource that is very rare. Either it only has crappy roll numbers or no one settled on it. Now, Santa’s presents give you any resource you want (for 2 presents). I will beg for bricks no more!5) Obviously they game tested this. There is a rule that, once you have 2 presents, you must trade them in for a resource. Why is this important? Because there are a limited number of presents. This keeps strategic players from hoarding all the presents to starve them from other players.6) Tiny foot print means it fits in the game box.CONS:1) Requires purchase of another base game.2) All the pieces are cardboard. I hate this because every other Catan game or expansion has nice wooden pieces. Would love to see a wooden Santa a la the Robber or the Merchant painted red. Also I’d like wooden tokens for the presents. I’d gladly pay more.3) No box. This game is stored in an envelope. A very cheap flimsy envelope at that. To make the best of the situation, here’s what I did: Get a better envelope. This fits perfectly in a 5x7 card envelope. The one they send is trash, use a better one. I cut out the Name of the expansion from the punch card and taped it to the front for a label. I cut a length of the punch card to stick in the bottom of the envelope to prevent accidental folding or crumpling mishaps. To avoid pieces falling out, tuck them into the “Christmas Card” instructions and then insert the card open end down in the envelope. Add a not-too-tight rubber band and you’re ready to add this to you game shelf or travel bag.4) It’s totally a marketing grab. First, you have to buy a copy of the base game to get it. Then, the “Presents” are just cardboard cutouts of all the various Catan expansions. It’s super tacky.

The Santa edition is a great way to spice up Catan around the holiday season. Santa gives gifts which can be traded for resources. Fun! Overpriced at $50 however.

Santa makes wool worth a bunch! It was so much fun to add Santa for play at Christmas.

Super fun addition to a classic game!

good family gave, easy to play and interesting

We love this game