With the release of Dawn of Humankind, we have another old Catan game that has been updated and re-released. This article is my brief way to compare the old and the new, ie Catan: Dawn of Humankind (2022) vs The Settlers of the Stone Age (v1 2002, v2 2008)
The five basic Catan resources used in the standard game have gone though a few artwork changes over the first 25 years of Catan. I am sure they will again in the future too.
Even though I am surrounded by hundreds of Catan set in my office, I decided I also wanted my computer to be Catan themed too. I run 3 x Samsung 32" monitors linked into a single desktop. So I have created a three panel wallpaper for my computer.
Today I have purchased an unusual 4th edition Catan set from Mayfair... or is it???
I have some spare 3D hexes from buying an incomplete 2005 3D set when adding 5/6/7 players, to my original 2005 3D play set, I decided to use some of these spare hexes and start modifying them to add special hexes from the 2D set into the 3D game. My first attempt is this volcano hex.
Does this explain the missing second printing of the 4th edition 5/6 player seafarers box?
In 2007 the 4th edition of Catan was released. The Base, C&K and Seafarers expansions, along with the 5/6 player extensions, were all released with the new 4th edition artwork and with the boxes containing the copyright date of 2007.