The instructions include several board layout suggestions that players can copy if they chose. Personally, I like the options that allow some randomness to the layouts because that is the aspect that I found so appealing in the Settlers of Catan game: the fact that the board is never the same.

My word of warning is that Seafarers of Catan does add length to the play time. I find our games typically last about 2 hours. Of course, there is the expansion pack to the Seafarers game as well. Man I would have loved to have created this game! They sure are making some serious bucks with all the expansions and add-ons!

Worthy expansion to the original game (Rating: 5.00)
Review : Seafarers is a wonderful expansion, in that it adds new material to Settlers of Catan without destroying the wonderful game that it is. The ability to build ships as ocean-bound roads and "sail" to far away islands is great, and fits perfectly within the fictional world of Catan. You won't stop playing the original game, but rather you'll probably prefer a nice mix of original Settlers and Seafarers.

Seafarers simultaneously adds some wonderful balance to Settlers while destroying one of its strengths - the 5 resources are now fully balanced, and victory can come from many strategies. Wool is now an important resource, roads and ships are necessary through the very end of the game, and gold adds an important "super resource" element to the game. But the nature of Seafarers "ocean/island" maps means that most games require a pre-established scenario instead of a random map. While the scenarios are beautiful and very ingenius, playing them a few times makes them too familiar. I wish Mayfair would release more scenarios for people who own this expansion, because otherwise it is money well spent.

Makes Settlers even better (Rating: 5.00)
Review : If you're reading this, you no doubt are already a fan of Settlers of Catan. You're deliberating, trying to decide if you want to shell out more $ for this expansion. "Is it worth it?", you ask.

As one Settlers fan to another, allow me to encourage you. Yes, it is definitely worth it!

Seafarers adds additional water and land tiles, as well as an additional land type: Gold Field. Gold field works like every other resource, except that when the number comes up you get to pick *any* resource card.

The game also includes little ships, of four colors. These ships function just like roads, and can be joined to roads through a settlement. You use them to explore from the mainland of Catan in search of additional lands (and additional resources).

The rulebook contains several scenarios, accomadating 3 or 4 players. Some scenarios start with all lands revealed, other scenarios include an exploration element. In these scenarios, only the mainland is revealed: the surrounding seas and the other land tiles are placed face down. These are turned over when a ship reaches them, revealing either a sea, in which case exploration must continue, or a land, in which case the discovering player gets one card of that land's resource.

You can see that one of the best things about Settlers, the random board setup, is made even better by hiding the concealing the nature of the unexplored tiles.

My only complaint is that the rulebook, which contains diagrams of specific tile layouts for each scenario, is printed in such a way that it is hard to read. The text is understood easilly enough, but the board layouts are dark and indistinct.

But this complaint is minor, and with practice is easilly remedied. Seafarers is a terrific expansion that makes the already great game of Settlers even better.

Our Families Favorite Game (Rating: 0.00)
Review : The Catan Games are worth the money that you put into them. It is an exciting game that changes every time you set it up, both by plan and by chance. Our 9 year old plays at times by herself and at times with her dad to learn better strategy. This is THE game we play whenever we have time to play.
Catan, itself, is a great game with the strategy of planning and building. Adding the ships and islands through Seafarers only bumps up the strategy of the game which adds more excitement and opportunities. The best part...no matter the game, it generally takes about 2 hours to finish. Not like Civilizations which is an all day game!

A new dimension for Settlers of Catan (Rating: 0.00)
Review : This is an expansion for the Settlers Of Catan game and offers some new dimensions to the fascinating game.

With Seafarers, players have the ability to travel by sea to other islands instead of just being confined to the main island of Catan.

As with the original game, the actual board changes with each game played. Unlike the original, there are different island setups. With the additional islands, there are scenarios where players not only need a power base, but also a certain presence among the islands.

Seafarers adds new dimensions to Settlers of Catan, and thus it also adds a little to the length of the game (although some scenarios are faster than others), but the fun remains the same as in the original.