Catan Geographies: Germany is a spin-off of the Settlers of Catan series of German-style board games by Klaus Teuber, released in 2008 by publisher Kosmos in German and Mayfair Games in English. It is an adaptation of the Settlers of Catan gameplay to a historical map of Germany.
The game is set during an unspecified point in German history; the middle-to-late ages is presumed. Evidence as to the time period may also be taken from the figure of Götz von Berlichingen, who has the same function as the Settlers robber; he lived from approximately 1480-1562. The board was mapped as closely as possible to actual cities and landmarks in Germany, while other elements of the game are taken from different parts of Germany.
The 28 cities in the game are represented are as follows:
The 12 landmarks in the game are represented as follows:
Other noteworthy references to Germany:
Gameplay
The game starts on a map of Germany, populated by several towns. At the start of the game, each player begins with three towns. On a player's turn, two dice are rolled, and resources are collected in the same manner as Settlers: any player with a town next to a hex matching the result will collect one resource; if a 7 is rolled, the renegade artisan Götz von Berlichingen, the Germany version of the Settlers robber, can be moved used to steal resources from another player. Before the end of the player's turn, the player may choose to trade with other players or with the bank, purchase new roads, town halls, and development cards.
As in Settlers, roads may be built to extend a player's territory. However, unlike Settlers, new towns may be built on townsites (there are 28 total) that are not claimed by other players, and players may not expand their road network past unclaimed townsites or a series of landmark intersections unless said landmark has previously been built. Any player may choose to build a landmark that is connected to their road network: when the landmark is built, the player is rewarded (the reward depending on the landmark that has been built.
Development cards are similar to those found in Settlers: the "Mercenary" cards allow Götz to be moved similar to "Knight" cards in Settlers, while Victory Point cards award victory points when played. Other cards may allow favorable trading rates with the bank, free resources, or free road building. A player may keep Development cards in reserve, but, with the exception of Victory Point cards, may only play one per turn.
Each town and landmark a player has built scores one victory point for the player; while two scoring bonuses, "Largest Army" and "Longest Road", award two points each to the player having played the most Mercenary development cards or having the longest unbroken road network, respectively. A player wins when, during their turn, they have 12 victory points.