Uncle’s Games WWCC PQ: Eastern Regional Report 1

Congratulations to Brian Saccomanno and Chris Nickell! Uncle’s Games 1st Eastern Washington Regional Qualifier started off strong. We had 16 players show up to play and compete for a seat at GenCon Indy 2010. The decks were shuffled and the boards set up to find a shortage in ore for the first round, and the second. Players were scrambling to find the precious ore needed to upgrade their Settlements to the coveted City status. Spirits were high throughout the day as players attempted to satisfy their cravings for Settlers (is that even possible?). Of the 16 players only two had what it took to progress onward to the Easter Washington Championship game. Brian Saccomanno and Chris Nickell took first and second with 2 wins, 37 & 36 points respectively. If you missed out on the fun there are still 4 more opportunities for you to secure yourself a spot at Washington State Championship Qualifier.

PlayCatan Exceeds 35K Players

The Catan Online World community is growing! A message from Catan LLC: “We are pleased to announce that the population of the Catan Online World has reached over 35,000 registered users! Thanks to everyone who has taken the time to come visit us so far. We look look forward to growing and improving the Catan Online World in 2010.” Visit the Catan Online World at the link below: PlayCatan.com

Facebook Settlers Tourney!

The Facebook Settlers of Catan Tourney II wrapped up last night! Facebook Settlers of Catan Tourney II FINALS Sarah Smith of Facebook has been organizing Catan tournaments over there this year. Last night was the final for the second tournament this year! Three competitors from three different departments competed in Facebook’s CafeX. In the end, Kari Lee of search was victorious. Sarah and the Facebook tourney’s were also recently featured in the front page Wall Street Journal article that just came out! Here’s the tournament details: 27 original competitors, 3 departments remaining, 1 Wall Street Journal article with 10 points between them, and the championship. Who will win? Kari Lee did!

Settlers of Catan in the Wall Street Journal

The Settlers of Catan was on the front page of The Wall Street Journal yesterday! A wonderful article in The Wall Street Journal by Pui-Wing Tam, called “An Old-School Board Game Goes Viral Among Silicon Valley’s Techie Crowd ,” was on the front page of the publication December 17th! We were very excited to learn about Catan’s popularity in Silicon Valley. It appears Facebook, LinkedIn, Mozilla, and others are all having a blast throwing tournaments. Is it possible we’ll start seeing some more contestants from the high-tech crowd in the WWCC this up coming year? Read this article at the link below: “An Old-School Board Game Goes Viral Among Silicon Valley’s Techie Crowd” by Pui-Wing Tam

Catan World Record

 

 

Six players set the Longest Board Game Marathon Record with The Settlers of Catan!

Six Settlers of Catan players set a world record for the Longest Board Game Marathon on January 16, 2009 in Langley, British Columbia, Canada. Their record has now been certified. The players completed 12 games of Settlers of Catan: Cities and Knights and were partially through a thirteenth game when they reached the fifty hour mark. The previous record was 42 hours, 48 minutes set in September of 2006 by four players playing Carcassonne. The six players used the event not only to break a world record but to raise awareness and funds for the Canadian Cancer Society.

This is not the first time Settlers of Catan has been played while setting a world record. On September 10, 2005 in Tietz Hall in Chemnitz, Germany, a specially designed Settlers board was used for 816 players to play a game at the same time. Each section of the board was used by two players. Each player could trade with the person on either side of them as well as the three people across from them.

In Silicon Valley, Catan is the New Golf!

According to this article from the “Summation” blog, they don’t play golf in Silicon Valley, they play The Settlers of Catan!

From Auren Hoffman, writer of the Summation Blog:” In Silicon Valley, golf is mostly dead. It is a game that a few people enjoy and the rest of us have heard of but probably haven’t played. The Settlers of Catan (or “Settlers,” as it’s often called) is booming and is quickly becoming the activity of choice for entrepreneurs here in the Valley. I got into Settlers because Reid Hoffman, the founder of LinkedIn, had been telling me about what a great game it is for over a year. Then one day, some of the engineers at Rapleaf (most of whom had been playing Settlers since college) challenged me to play with them, and I’ve been hooked ever since.”

Read the rest of his blog post here:

In Silicon Valley, Setters is the New Golf by Auren Hoffman

Catan in The Seattle Times!

The Seattle Times interviews Blue Highway Games. They talk rainy days, games, and Catan!

Connie McDougall writes a special report for The Seattle Times about the growing popularity of European Games in the US. She interviews game store owner Scott Cooper of Blue Highway Games in Queen Anne, WA to get the inside scoop on this growing trend. Follow the link below to read the article:

The Seattle Times: It’s raining, it’s boring…what to do? Let the games begin

Eureka Puzzles WWCC Pre-Qualifier!

Eureka Puzzles hosts Worldwide Catan Championshiop Pre-Qualifier Tournaments on November 12th and 19th!

Eureka Puzzles, in Brookline, MA, will be hosting a Worldwide Catan Championship pre-qualifier on Thursday, November 12 and Thursday, November 19 at 6:30 p.m. The winner of this pre-qualifying tournament will be guaranteed a semifinal seat at the Origins Game Fair in Columbus, OH on June 23-27, 2010.

The winners of the Origins Game Fair semi-finals will be awarded a trip to Burg Wildenstein Castle in Leibertingen, Germany to represent the U.S. and compete in the Worldwide Catan Championships on September 17 – 20, 2010. Airfare and hotel will be provided by Mayfair Games, the publisher of Settlers of Catan. Settlers of Catan is an award-winning, international best selling game.

The November 12 and 19 tournament will take place at the Courtyard Marriott, 40 Webster St. Coolidge Corner, Brookline, MA. Tournament registration and additional information is available by contacting Eureka Puzzles, 1349 Beacon St., Brookline, MA. The phone number is 617.7Eureka. The website is: www.eurekapuzzles.com.

Read about more Player Events or Catan WWCC Events.

Catan for iPhone!

The brand new implementation of The Settlers of Catan for Apple’s iPhone and iPod touch is now available in the App Store! “Catan: The First Island” is a great way to play Catan anywhere and anytime when you don’t have have any opponents to play with. To purchase the App and learn more about Catan: The First Island visit the link below:

Catan for iPhone

Play Catan in your Web Browser

Play and Learn immediately! The Catan – Introductory Game for your web browser provides a instant access to the Catan base game. Play against two virtual opponents for a fun and fast game! The Catan – Introductory game is ideal for beginners and it is a great way to introduce new players to the game.

* Free
* Ideal for beginners
* No sign-up required
* Runs in your web browser

Play here: http://introgame.playcatan.com/