Die Siedler von Catan - Der große Fluss
Der Große Fluss (The Big River) is a scenario for The Settlers of Cantan (Die Siedler von Catan) and its' extensions. The scenario was a free giveaway during the Spiel 2005 in Essen. If you live in Europe, another way of obtaining a copy freely, is by ordering something else from Catan Shop (They put it on top of any order, as long as supply lasts).
The scenario consists of three connected hexagons, replacing three tiles from the original game: The Big River springs from the mountains, runs through the hills, branches out in the swamp as a Delta and finally reaches the sea. As the river is rich in gold players want to build as many streets and settlements on the river banks. Ultimately, the collected gold helps scoring additional victory points.
Game preparation
Place the expansion with its' delta adjacent to the sea (edge of frame). Remove the following tiles from the base game: 1 mountain, 1 brick and the desert and put them back into the game box. The remaining tiles are used to setup the game regularly. However, instead of placing a number, the swamp field is the starting field in which the robbers start. No settlement max be founded adjacent to the swamp during the Gründungs phase.
The Game
The regular rules apply. Additionally, each road built on a river tile as well as each settlement and city built on an intersection with a river tile receives one gold point. A settlement or a city at the placed on the very end of the Delta (where the gold nugget is located) receives two gold points. Each player receives one victory point for every three gold points. To win the game, 12 victory points are required.
Seafarers
In addition, a ship adjacing the delta receives one gold point, as long as it is not moved. If a player loses one gold point by moving the ship, this may also cause the loss of the corresponding victory point. To win the game, an additional 2 victory points are required.
Cities and Knights
Knights on intersections at the river tiles do not earn a gold point. Otherwise, the Seafarer rules apply also to streets, if the "Diplomat" is in play. To win the game, an additional 2 victory points are required.
Naturelich my opinion
Der grosse Fluss is a neat addition to the rich Catan universe. It does not add something spectatcular. Nor does it change gameplay substantially. It moves the desert to the border and makes it more attractive to build a settlement there. I could live without owning this extension. Only if you are a hardcore Catan collector you should hurry and order something from Catan Shop or look for a copy on ebay.
The main purpose of this scenario unfolds if you have a friend who is a die-hard Catan-fan. If he does not own this, The Big River scenario is a nice small christmas or birthday present. Something which nicely adds to a major present and makes the unwrapping process more exciting for any Catan fan...