I often hear others and sometimes myself say something to the effect of “It’s just a game, bro.” But the truth is when you’re playing a game, it’s rarely “just a game.” In these moments of gameplay, it becomes the only thing that matters to you. And oftentimes you’re so focused on winning the game that you tilt and rage when something goes wrong, which is exactly what happens when my friends and I play “Catan,” my favorite board game.

“Catan” is a game about building stuff and expanding your territory on this island called Catan. The goal is to build enough stuff like roads, settlements and cities to reach 10 “victory points.” Each player starts off with two settlements and two roads for free, and they have the chance to acquire different “resource cards,” which are required to continue building more stuff, based on which map tiles the settlements are on. Each map tile is assigned a number ranging from two to 12 except seven (more on this later), and each player rolls a pair of dice on their turn. The outcome then determines who gets what resource cards. For example, if I have a settlement on a map tile that produces wood and is assigned the number four, I can take a wood resource card every time four is thrown, regardless of whose turn it is. To make sure the game isn’t too luck-based, the turn player can trade with other players however they like. But I don’t think gifting them is allowed, not that anyone would do it. I absolutely love this gameplay loop. There are a lot of choices to make and a lot of interactivity outside your own turn. It feels so rewarding to finally assemble the necessary resource cards to build more stuff and start snowballing. But most importantly, you can make other players really mad and revel in their misery.   

There is already room for conflict when the game starts. Inevitably, some locations on the map are just better than the rest, and people obviously want to build on these spots to get a good start. But, alas, this is a turn-based game, and someone is bound to get to them first. But my girlfriend, who has a very low opinion of my character, likes to think that I’m always out to get her and ruin her game plan when I get to a good spot first. (Sometimes she’s right though.) Then she’ll slap my shoulder, scream at me in this very high pitch and complain that I “always do this,” which is extremely entertaining and makes me want to actually mess with her. Then she’ll go through the five stages of grief and say in a defeated voice, “I already lost! You’re gonna win!” A similar situation also happened to a pair of friends with whom we regularly play, but things got seriously heated and bitter as they argued back and forth about whether there actually was any malice involved. I still found that incredibly entertaining though.

The most rage-inducing element of this game has to be “the robber.” When a seven is thrown, which is very likely, any player with more than seven cards must discard half of their hand (if they have an odd number of cards, round down the number by one). Then the turn player must move the robber to any map tile that it does not occupy. A map tile with a robber on it prevents players from getting any resources from it until the robber is moved to another place, and the turn player can steal one random resource card from a player whose settlement or city is on that tile. I just played a game right before writing this review, and I made my friend miserable by stealing that crucial resource card that she could have used to build a city on her turn. Damn, it feels good. 

The evils of the robber don’t stop there: Players can purchase “development cards” to really mess you up. These cards have various abilities, but most of them are “knight” cards that allow players to move the robber without rolling a seven, though you wouldn’t have to discard half your hand in this case. Usually, the player with the most victory points becomes the target of the robber, and the experience of being targeted by three other players is not good, to say the least. I was unfortunate enough to be subjected to this kind of treatment in high school. All three of my opponents just kept using their knight cards on me turn after turn, stealing most of my hand and blocking the resources that I desperately needed. This was the only time in recent years that I lost my cool and rage quit. 

Another development card that is also very toxic is the “monopoly” card. The player who plays this card declares one type of resource card, and all other players must give them every copy of that resource card. I must admit, I’m an expert on using the monopoly card. Before playing it, I’ll pretend to look for trades and ask who has what resources to maximize its value and inflict maximum damage. I collected about 10 cards with this friendly strategy one time, and I utterly ruined my girlfriend’s turn, which was about to take place right after mine. I think you can imagine her reaction. 

I’m so happy when people get mad playing “Catan” partly because I’m a nasty person, but mostly because this means that they’re really enjoying the game by being so emotionally invested. At that moment, the game meant the world to them. This level of immersion is probably one of the highest praises you can ever give to a game. I recommend this one to every couple or group of friends looking for something fun to do.