I can remember playing games as long as I can remember doing much of anything. Monopoly, Scrabble, Hi-ho Cheerio, Rack-O, Boggle, Spades, Hearts, Dominoes-I could go on and on. As a child I loved time around a board game with family and friends. This continued well into my young adult days-I played Magic and Dungeons and Dragons in college and created some awesome memories from that. As a young married couple my wife and I often hosted game nights with Cranium, Risk, Yahtzee and yep, even still a game or two of Monopoly.
Then one day, some years ago my sister introduced me to a game that her friends had shown her. She brought it over, we played and I immediately fell in love with it. Like head over heels what the heck is this game and where can I get it kind of love. And yes, like many of you out there this game was The Settlers of Catan. And boy did I fall right in. I had to have every expansion and module and extra add-on I could find. The state maps, the plushies, the t-shirt, the bumper sticker and the extra tokens and the whole thing became who and what I was. Catan became a way of life.
This progressed into me peeking behind a curtain and seeing a whole new world of hobby board games. My next purchase was Carcassonne, followed closely by Dominion. And then the floodgates opened to so many amazing games. Catan set me on a path to finding Tabletop by Wil Wheaton and opening my eyes to so many other games. This in turn helped me to find like-minded people who played games and we joined together around a table, playing games and building the foundations of strong friendships that still stand today. From here I found an outlet to content creation for a competitive game and then ultimately to where I stand today talking about ” The Games We Like With The People We Love” at Gaming with Sidekicks.
I can recall some amazing moments in my life that Catan was a part of. Suprise Birthday cupcakes made by my wife to look like the map. I still talk about the day I saw my game swept into a box after a play without actually putting it away and the feeling that brought on lol. I remember teaching my kids how to play, playing it with family and so many different friends. Exploring all the expansions and learning how a game can come in so many different versions and iterations. I remember going to Origins Game Fair to play the giant version for the first time that has now become a tradition at Origins years after no longer playing the game actively.
Today I get to enjoy the world of board games because of giants like Klaus Teuber who gave us The Settlers of Catan. He injected life into the board game world and allowed us to be where we are and opened a niche world up to the masses. Every game I play, every new and exciting thing-it all comes back to the root of Catan. Today I can be involved in the amazing board game community that is full of so many wonderful people. This place I am in now with games all started when I first learned about trading sheep, wood and ore and worried about a robber all with the simple roll of a pair of dice. There would be no Gaming with Sidekicks and many friendships I hold dear today without Klaus.
So today I want to say thank you to Klaus, thank you for creating a game and opening up a world that I would have never been a part of it wasn’t for The Settlers of Catan. Your contributions to the game we all know and love has become iconic and a part of our gaming culture. While my box of Catan goodness sits mostly unplayed nowadays I am certain there are hordes of new gamers enjoying it for the first time this very day. So Klaus-may your gaming legacy be forever, may your creation continue to live in the hearts and on the tables of all the board gamers who knew or are just now finding Catan as their first love.
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