Where’s The Best Place To Start In Catan?
Settlers of Catan is a modern classic. Launched in 1995, and designed by Klaus Teuber, Catan (better known by its former name: “Settlers of Catan”) now graces the shelves of board game lovers all over the world. It is widely regarded as the resource trading game, and has won more awards than Kanye West has diamonds in his teeth.
The problem is, it can be so difficult to figure out where to start in order to have the best opportunity to score points early in Settlers of Catan. We’ve all been there, with one player taking three days to pick a position that they believe will be the most optimal place to start. In the meantime we all slowly die of boredom and stare longingly at empty Pringles packets, wishing they were full again.
Obviously, the tiles are random each game, so it’s impossible to give definite rulings as to where to place; however, we can use a little bit of mathematics and psychology to come up with a few guidelines as to where is best to place your starting settlements and roads.
Since publishing this article, I have written a second article going into more detail about specific starting strategies. You can find that article here: Catan Strategy: 8 Different Ways To Start.
So Where Is The Best Place To Start In Catan?
Okay, so the easiest way to explore this is probably through bullet points, so let the bullet points commence!
- Go For Wheat/Grain. Wheat/Grain (whatever you want to call it) is the most valuable resource in Settlers of Catan. Believe it or not, Catan is not a balanced game when it comes down the resources. Instead, grain has the best resource to point ratio. Let me explain.In order to guarantee two points with roads, you have to build 15 roads to ensure you get the longest road. This is a 15/1 ratio (well, 30/2, but we’re simplifying) of resource to points since you need both a wood and a brick to build said road. You start off with two roads, which brings this down to 13/1, but this is still not a great investment.
For Development cards, there is 15/1 ratio – namely, there are 5 victory point cards in the deck of 25 cards. So, you have a 1/5 chance to pick a victory point card. This means you need 5 cards on average to get a victory point. At three resources a piece (sheep, grain, and ore) this means you will need 15 resources to get a potential one victory point. Yes, you could get largest army in this as well, which would be 15/3 points which is better, but the odds are against you. It’s possible but unlikely.
It’s not 100% as simple as that with development cards, but it is close enough to make no odds when talking about the initial placement.
For settlements and cities, you need 4/1 and 5/1 resources to points. Cities are the only way of getting points in the game with more than one resource of a specific type.
The way this works out is like the table above. As you can see, although ore and grain are both needed about the same, grain (or wheat, whatever you want to call it) is useful for the most.
What this means is that if there is a 6 or 8 on a grain, you should definitely go for that grain. Place a settlement there and you shouldn’t regret it.
If the law of averages was completely fair at low numbers, we would expect is for 7 to come up most often, when in reality 6 did. We would also expect 2 to only be rolled twice, but in reality it came out a whopping 7 times. I mean, talk about snake-eyes!
So, where I am not saying disregard the law of averages, I am saying that it shouldn’t be taken as a hard and fast rule. The dice will not be rolled enough times for the averages to really be taken into account.
So…Where Is The Best Place To Start In Catan???
To be blunt, it entirely depends on the board. Yes, there are six concepts above that make it easier to know where the best place to start in Catan is; however, there is no hard and fast rule. Instead, it comes down to intuition…and a little bit of maths. Don’t start on a 12 if you can avoid it and if there is nothing good around it. Don’t box yourself in by the desert. Don’t get trapped in a corner. Otherwise, you should have a good game if the dice allow. It’s that simple really.
What do you think? What advice would you give someone as to where to place their first settlements in Catan? Post it in the comments below!
Other Catan Articles:
Catan Longest Road Strategy and Exploration
8 Different Ways To Start in Catan
The Five Personalities of the Robber
Is Catan a Real Place?
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You can try my wife’s strategy of using magical powers that I can barely fathom to make dice rolls that she likes. I think I’ve only ever beaten her once. I think it’s because i put too much importance on the 6 and 8 tiles while underestimating the other numbers that are not 2 and 12
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Ah yes, magic, the other way to win in Catan 😛 yeah, logic can let us down sometimes – we once had a game where a player was consistently rolling 11. Always, turn after turn, 11. It wasn’t anyone else either, just him, and he was the one who benefitted from it. To this day I still have no idea how it happened.
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Secret kenetic powers
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Just general witchcraft…
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It’s the only way really
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Better than 7, after 7, after 7! 😉
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Haha agreed there!
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Go for 5’s and 9’s, less likely to get the robber. Look for most scarce resources in terms of numbers to roll to get, and monopolize them
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Monopolising can be dangerous, as other players can get irritated quickly. Assuming you can keep them happy enough to trade with you then great advice!
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Trading is overrated, and irritated players trade more easily because you have what they need! I only trade when it advantages me, and that works!
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Ahh, the entrepreneurial approach to Catan – I like it!
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Love that strategy mark. Good on you, speak soon.
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We’ve had odd dice results during games, where 6s and 7s were barely rolled. So it’s a really good idea to know the dice you are using. I tend to always win with Longest Road, and it usually isn’t my grand goal. We’ve seen a number of people win by adopting the ‘Sheep Herder’ strategy. Sometimes as a ‘Wheat Farmer’. But if you can get some good sheep tiles and the sheep port, it can be game over.
I’ve also seen the most wins by placing your starting settlements at opposite ends. It would seem like a losing strategy, but it’s been pretty effective in our games. Especially if you can nab a key port, which will let you cash in the resources if you’re raking them in.
A lot of people will go for Wood and Brick spots at the start, as they are important beginning resources for branching out. I think you’re better off looking for resources with common numbers. Especially if you can make trades early on.
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I’d say the TOP tip is to assess what resource is going to be lacking in a game. If most of the Wool are on poor numbers, make sure you get the only good number, as everyone will want to trade with you for your wool, meaning you can demand what you need.
You’ve got to take into consideration the ports. If there is an excess of a resource, everyone will be getting rid of it in trading meaning you an easily turn it into what you want via the ports 2 for 1 trade. If all Ore is on good numbers, it’s a valid placement to use your first placement to corner off the Ore port and tactically place for most ore production. I’ve once won a game by placing my first settlement on TWO tiles, the best Ore and a good second resource, and my second settlement on ONE tile, and extreme coastal position on a good Ore tile which was also on an Ore port (hampering someone else who was eyeing the port up).
I disagree that wheat is the most important resource. Wood is, with clay a close second. If you can’t build roads at the start (or trade through a port soon after the start) you can’t really make progress, and people won’t be interested in your wheat until 1/4 of the way into the game, so you will be stuck with only being able to trade with the bank 4 wheat for wood or clay. Clay is less valuable in the last 1/3 of the game unless you’re competing for longest road, but wood always holds value because you can invest in development cards if no one will trade with you. It’s value is proven by the fact that the slowest Setters games you will ever play is when all the wood is on poor numbers – with consensus, we often veto the scenario at the start and reset the board…
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If following the card how to set up the game, in our game I always try settle close to the 2 for one sheep dock. Because there are 4 sheep tiles and it is the only one that has 2 tiles next to that port. Seems to work out good most games.
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