Our Catan game stalled because no one could agree on sheep trades

Last Saturday, my usual group got together for some board games. We decided to play Catan, and everything was going fine until a trade dispute erupted. Mike insisted that trading sheep for ore had to be at a 2:1 ratio, but Sarah remembered it as 3:1. The rulebook was unclear, so we spent the next hour arguing while the game board sat untouched. I joked that we should have a lawyer on standby for future sessions. Eventually, we looked it up online and found out we were both wrong, it's actually 4:1 for that port. We made a house rule to avoid this mess again, and now we have a printed cheat sheet. Honestly, it's moments like these that make me proud to be a board game geek, even if it means pointless debates.

3 comments

3 Comments

ruby_reed4810d ago

My friend Jake had a similar mess during a game of Monopoly where nobody could agree on auction rules. They actually tore the rulebook in half by accident during the argument, which is kind of impressive. I get what @quinnm46 means now, because their group just made a house rule that the banker runs all auctions to avoid fights. Sometimes you just have to make your own rules to keep the peace, right?

quinnm4610d ago

I used to think house rules were dumb, but this makes sense.

jessica_bailey5d ago

Wait, you guys actually spent an hour arguing about sheep in Catan? I get @quinnm46's point about house rules, but maybe just flip a coin next time, it's just a game.