In my fourth blog post, I originally wanted to present the Introductory Game. However, it will still take some more time to finish all cards of the Introductory Game, and Michael Menzel sent me an interesting report on the development of the card “City.” So I spontaneously decided to dedicate my fourth blog post to the history of Catan and the card illustrations influenced by this history.

The Fictitious History of Catan

When I developed the Card Game in 1995, I didn’t think much about the illustrations. Sure, the game was meant to have a medieval setting, and the card titles were already chosen. But there weren’t any further specifications for Franz Vohwinkel, the illustrator of the old Card Game.

The Settlers of Catan - The Novel

Now it’s 15 years later, and many things have happened since. The novel “Die Siedler von Catan” (The Settlers of Catan) by Rebecca Gablé gave Catan its storyline – or at least the story of its discovery and first settlement in the 9th century by men and women who were expelled from the coast of Norway.
In the novel, the story ends with the settlers being in discord and separating. Candamir and his followers found a new settlement in the island’s south, while Osmund and his loyal ones stay in the north.
Of course, many wanted to know how the story continues, and I was no exception. So I thought about it from time to time and outlined the further course of the history of Catan.

Except for its large active volcano and occasional earthquakes, Catan was paradise for the settlers. Fertile fields and pastures, an abundance of building materials, and ore deposits in the mountains allowed the settlements to prosper. A hundred years later, the two settlements had spawned many settlements on the plains and in the valleys of the island.

The island in the Atlantic Ocean was big enough for everyone; therefore, despite religious differences between the devotees of Odin in the north and the Christians in the south, almost no conflicts occurred. This period of the first Catanians is the topic of the Introductory Game. The cities do not have expansions yet, and the buildings look similar to the houses that the Catanians’ forebears used to build in their Nordic home country. There weren’t any knights either – only heroines and heroes such as Siglind, Osmund, Candamir, or Harald, which some of you may already have met in Rebecca Gablé’s tale.

If Catan were a large island in the area of today’s Azores (the Azores were not discovered until 1427), chances would not have been too bad for other seafarers to reach the island. And indeed, in 960 the Viking prince Carl Gabelbart lands with a large fleet on the shores of Catan. Carl didn’t actually want to sail to Catan but was on a Viking journey heading south; however, a storm set in and carried his longships filled with warriors off course, far to the west.
Carl is impressed by Catan’s beauty and fertility and decides to conquer the island and become its ruler. But first it is necessary to boost his men’s morale and satisfy their most important need: women.
One can imagine that this need led to conflict with the Catanians. Therefore, cards such as Carl Gabelbart, Traitor, Arsonist, Feud, and Riots characterize the Theme Set “Times of Turmoil.” After the Carl Gabelbart episode is over, the Catanians rebuild their destroyed farms and villages. The brisk shipping traffic between the north and the south is an expression of the reinvigorated trade, and after a couple of years the horrors of Carl’s attack are a thing of the past. Now the era of gold begins, which is reflected in the Theme Set of the same name.

In subsequent sets such as “The Era of Progress” or “The Era of the Merchant Princes,” Catan has contact with continental Europe. On the one hand, the new relations are beneficial for Catan’s development, but on the other hand, they also entail the danger of being attacked by gold-hungry barbarians who are quite similar to the Spanish conquistadores. The history of Catan ends at the beginning of the 16th century. Whether or not it ends with the island being conquered by Spanish soldiers of fortune – that is something we ourselves decide in each game of “Cities & Knights” or in the subsequent Theme Game “The Era of the Barbarians.”

Catanian Architecture

Well, I don’t want to delve further into the fictitious history of Catan. Ultimately, I wanted to show that the history of Catan – divided into eras – is reflected in the Theme Games. And this brings me back to the artwork, because it is meant to visually bring Catan’s fictitious historical background to life. While the buildings of the settlements are still simple and follow the Viking or Nordic architecture, it can be assumed that a unique architecture arose in the cities that later developed on Catan. How could such an architecture have looked like? I got together with Michael Menzel, and we conjointly developed the basics of a Catanian architecture. We opted for some Gothic mixed with typically Viking elements such as gable crosses or dragon heads and roof constructions that reminded of longships or also of Nordic stave churches. On the not yet finished card at the right (the text box will look different) you can see the mix of the different stylistic elements. The hexagon typical for Catan also found a place at the front of the town hall.

Catanian Fog

The Card game actually isn’t a card game. It’s basically a game with cards that are placed side by side on the table – meaning that it is more a tile-based game with the characteristics of a strategy game. Placing the cards on the table creates a settlement structure. We wanted this structure to result in a harmonious whole or, respectively, to convey the impression of a continuous landscape. Therefore, each card motif appears out of the fog. The cards are the relevant segments of a principality. In reality, there may be large distances between the cards. However, since we are not interested in the areas between the cards they disappear in the fog.

The following illustration shows that the placed cards – by means of the fog, the depiction of the buildings in isometric perspective and the approximately identical size of all buildings – convey the impression of a continuous settlement structure. The “6″ on the regions is only a placeholder, and the transparent text boxes on the Foundry, the Abbey, and the Garrison are still missing.

Development of the Catanian City

How is a card developed? How does the illustrator proceed? I’m sure these are questions that you, dear reader, are also interested in. Who could be more qualified to satisfy our curiosity than the illustrator himself? I’m pleased that Michael Menzel has agreed to show us, in the following, the individual steps in the development of the card “City” and to comment on it.

I’m pleased to be able to write some brief explanations for you regarding the development of the city of “Die Fürsten von Catan” (The Princes of Catan).
For my work, I use Photoshop and a graphics tablet. Photoshop allows painting in various layers. The term “layer” will be used a couple of times in the following text. You can imagine those layers as various sheets of tracing paper stacked on top of each other.

In the first sketch, I’m trying to “find” the right shapes. This can be done with a pencil on paper or digitally, as I did here. I gradually approach the right shape of the houses, so to speak.
All buildings of the Card Game are drawn at the same angle. There is no foreshortening, meaning that the buildings in the foreground are of the same size as the ones in the background. This “Iso” perspective can often be seen in the area of computer games. That way, all cards visually fit together when placed side by side. During the course of the game, the cards thus become a large continuous landscape. To be able to always keep the same orientation, I draw the angle on a separate layer (light blue). This serves me as a reference during illustration.
As soon as the drawing is good enough, I apply colors in an approximate fashion. At this point, sharp contrasts shouldn’t be used yet. The result is a “swampy patchwork of colors.” In Photoshop, it is possible to paint on a layer below the sketch and, thus, to not paint over the lines of the sketch.
From now on, I also consider the position of the light source. It is important to always maintain the same illumination and make sure that the shadows are always cast in the same fashion, so that afterwards the impression of a large landscape can be created.
Now the finishing touches can be added. At this moment, I zoom in closely and model the right contours out of the “swampy patchwork of colors.” Now I add hard shadows and highlights. This process is very akin to painting. Here, computer, program, and graphics tablet are simply new tools for painting.
Afterwards, the color contrast is increased in Photoshop and matched with other, already existing regions and buildings.

Then I add small human figures to the city. These “miniature people” are not just for decoration. I think that they are the ingredient that makes the city a city. They give it sounds and liveliness. Finally, I draw the flags. They add wind and movement to the picture and nice splashes of color that make the picture more enjoyable.

The entire process takes between 3 and 6 hours, depending on the motif’s richness of detail.

Michael Menzel

In my next blog post, I will present all the cards of the Introductory Game “The First Catanians.”

Klaus Teuber

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During the second half of 2008, when the future of the Card Game seemed uncertain due to decreasing sales figures, I thought about what could be improved to lay the foundations to reposition the Card Game.

I often had given the Card Game as a present during the past years – primarily to couples who usually didn’t play very often, and when they did, they played among themselves. The feedback I had received from the presentees gave me an idea where the problems were arising in the Card Game and where to begin in order to improve it. I arrived at the following conclusions:

1. The game takes too long for beginners
   The first games may easily take 2 hours. That way, the gaming night is basically over for many players, and a second round is rather unlikely. Even if the players have mastered the game, it still may take up to 90 minutes to finish it, which for some players is also too long.
   Objective: Shorten the duration of the game in general, and in particular for beginners.
2. High complexity due to card variety
   A player who plays the Card Game for the first time is confronted with a great number of cards whose function often is not understood until the second or third game.
   Objective: Beginners should initially be faced with less cards.
3. Game slowdown
   Many cards may not be played during the first third of the game. For instance, City Expansion Cards and most Action Cards may initially not be used. This causes the flow of the game to slow down. A beginner who, for example, receives only red City Expansion Cards and non-playable Action Cards will feel less motivated to continue the game.
   Objective: Beginners should be able to play all cards from the start, and all cards should be immediately usable.
4. Potential to provoke irritation
   There are some destructive cards such as Arsonist, The Black Knight, and Civil War that may lead to unpleasant surprises and irritation, especially in the first game, when players do not yet know how the cards interact.
   Objective: Beginners shouldn’t have to deal with too strong “irritation cards.”
5. Extensive rule
   Some rule details, such as the requirement for the trade advantage, are not intuitive. To receive the trade advantage, a player must have more Commerce Points and must also have built a city. Many players are not aware that a city is required.
   Some rules are not necessary, such as the rules of how to trade with one’s opponent. In practice, experienced players do not trade with each other in the Card Game.
   Objective: Unnecessary rule details should be removed.

Each item of this list reduces the fun of playing the game already on the first try. To properly reform the Card Game, I had to find ways of designing it in a more beginner-friendly fashion – without taking away its appeal as a game. I knew that this wouldn’t be an easy thing to do.
The basic idea for the first concept I developed was to offer, in one game box, a simple Introductory Game for beginners and three Theme Games for advanced players. I needed around 180 cards for this. When choosing the cards, at first I only considered the cards of the Basic Game and of the old Tournament Set.

The Introductory Game

For the Introductory Game, I selected Action Cards without requirements and omitted City Expansion Cards. That way, all cards could be played without restrictions from the very beginning.
I stocked the four Expansion Card stacks with 36 cards (versus 62 cards in the old Basic Game). Each stack, therefore, consisted of only 9 cards, which should be enough for beginners.
I decided the victory condition to be 7 victory points. I expected this to provide a substantial reduction in the duration of the game, and I was right on target. Subsequent tests revealed that the Introductory Game mostly took between 25 and 30 minutes.
After two or three Introductory Games, players should be sufficiently familiar with the basic cards and rules of the Card Game and thus be ready for the actual game with its larger number of cards and more victory points required for winning. However, the way I saw it now was that the “actual game” should no longer be one game but three games on equal footing that are clearly differentiated in terms of theme and strategy.

The Theme Games

And so the Theme Games took the place of the old Basic Game and the expanded Basic Games. I took the cards I hadn’t used for the Introductory Game and some entirely new cards to put together three thematically different Theme Sets. At the current state of development, they were called “The Era of Gold,” “The Era of Heroes,” and “The Era of Progress.”
When choosing the cards, I didn’t include those that had proven unattractive in the old Card Game. I modified existing cards or also developed new ones to obtain a smoother game flow and strengthen the selected theme. For example, some mighty knights were scrapped.

I provided each Theme Set with 24 cards for the Expansion Card stacks and also with some Event Cards. Playing a Theme Game required the cards of the Introductory Game and the cards of the respective Theme Set. The supply of Expansion Cards and Action Cards for both players consisted of five card stacks. The three stacks with the cards of the Introductory Game as well as the two stacks with the cards of the respective Theme Set contained 12 cards each.

A Theme Game, therefore, had a total of 60 cards making up its Expansion Card stacks, 2 cards less than the old Basic Game (which contained 62 cards) and many cards less than the old expanded Basic Game (which contained 85 cards and more). These numbers are currently still unchanged.
The following tests showed that it mostly took between 45 and 60 minutes to finish a Theme Game. Even the more aggressive Theme Game “The Era of Heroes” often took no longer than one hour. This was owed to the fact that the cards were more target-oriented and that some accelerating game elements were also added while developing the game.

Development

I felt that I had reached my objectives, and at the end of 2008 I presented my concept to the publisher Kosmos. It was accepted, and so the course was set for repositioning the Card Game. Our American Catan partner Mayfair also liked the concept, meaning that the future of the Card Game could now be shaped for English-speaking countries too. I was happy that I could use my experience of the last 12 years to, in a way, redevelop the Card Game.

The relaunch was supposed to occur in two phases. The German publication of the Card Game under the title of “Die Fürsten von Catan” (The Princes of Catan) containing the Introductory Game and three Theme Sets was scheduled for fall 2010, and an expansion containing all other Theme Sets was planned for 2011.
Sebastian Rapp at Kosmos and I agreed that we should get some reinforcement for the editorial work. We asked Dr. Reiner Düren and Peter Gustav Bartschat – both of them experienced Card Game players from day one – if they wanted to join our team. I was very glad they agreed, because when people work together for an extended period of time, not only expertise is required – the chemistry between those involved must be right too.

So I crafted 7 prototypes based on my concept. Three of them I sent to my team members, one went to Michael Menzel, the illustrator who would create new illustrations for the Card Game, and Arnd Beenen and Sebastian Mellin each received another one. While Arnd was drawing up an adaptation of the game for the Catan Online World, it was Sebastian’s task to program the game.
The year 2009 was all about development. Each time one of us had tested the game and written a test report, we discussed the strengths and weaknesses of individual cards in our forum. Some cards were modified, and some also were canceled and substituted by new ones. Afterwards, I sent the modified cards to my team members for more testing.
Maybe some of you will now ask themselves, “And what’s happening with the Tournament Game?” Well, the Tournament Game wasn’t our first preference during development, but we always kept an eye on it. It certainly is possible to play the Tournament Game with the cards of “The Princes of Catan.” However, it is likely that the attractiveness of the game will fully reveal itself only after the expansion containing additional cards comes out in 2011.

Two princes in a test duel during the Catan Weekend 2009 in Bilstein, Germany (Photography by Roland Hülsmann)

During development, a new, alternative way to play the game emerged that may very well be regarded as a precursor of the Tournament Game. We have called it the “Duel of the Princes.” More information on this alternative will follow in one of my next blog posts.

Meanwhile, we have finished development of the Card Game for now, and I have started with the concept for the expansion. Until April, Sebastian Mellin will have completed programming. Then we will have sufficient time to test “The Princes of Catan” online with a larger circle of people and to make some smaller modifications before the finalized cards go to press.

In my next blog post I’ll present the cards and rules of the new Introductory Game, and I’ll also show you some illustrations.

Card game reform: Road and settlement

To begin with, I am presenting you, dear reader, the new road and settlement that in the future will provide the basic framework of the new Card Game. Please don’t be surprised about the settlement without victory point. The victory point will definitely be added.

Klaus Teuber

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