How To Play Settlers Of Catan Via Video Chat During Self Isolation

Last updated on 19 January 2024

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We’re all in self isolation, but that doesn’t mean we can’t play Catan

While we realise there’s an online version of Catan available (check out Catan Universe on Steam, Google Play, Apple or Browser), we thought it would be a lot more fun to try and play a four-player game via video chat. Most people who I told of our plan replied with ”how are you going to do that?!”, but it was actually pretty easy.

For all you board game lovers out there stuck with the same people (who may or may not like board games) and would like to play with your usual board game crew, you’ve probably already figured out the best way to do these sorts of things. But for everyone else who perhaps doesn’t play that often or thinks now’s the perfect opportunity to pull Catan from the cupboard, this is for you.

Before you play Catan via video chat

You’re going to need a few things before you start playing, but only a few:

Everyone playing in different houses needs Settlers of Catan
A way to video chat (Facebook Messenger, Google Hangouts etc)
Possibly a way to hold your phone or laptop in a place where others can see both you and the board (although not essential – mostly we could just see each other’s faces, with very little board, as it’ll be the same board you’re looking at)
Snacks (essential)

The setup

Because you need to have the exact same set-up for the board, have one person set up their board with the hexagon plots and Number tiles. Be sure to have all the ports in the same place. I mention this because one of our players had an older board so they had to put in the ports themselves rather than have the ports lined up around the edge pieces like in more recent versions.

Once one person has the board set up as you would usually do, have them take a photo of it so the rest of the players can copy it exactly. This includes all the number of tiles you place onto the hexagons. The picture below is how one of our players set the board up. She has indicated where the 1 and 2 edge pieces are (they all have numbers on them so you put them in the right place) and has indicated where she swapped the C and M tiles around. We don’t like to have the majority of the red numbers on the edge, so we tend to switch things around a little bit.

Each player will have their own stacks of resource cards to draw from.

Decide what colour everyone will be and make sure everyone is clear on who is who. I found it easiest to place the piles of the other colours (not me) in order of play, so there were as few ‘who’s turn is it?’ questions as possible.

Agree on any house rules you may or may not have.

As usual, roll the dice to see who places first.

Playing Catan via video chat

Now you just play as usual but with a few adjustments, due to being distant:

Development cards: Have one person be in charge of the development card pile. They use their own deck and draw from the top whenever someone wants a development card. Have them (without looking at the card themselves) draw the card for another player, and hold it up to the camera. All other players except the player who is buying the card closes their eyes. This way only the person who is buying the card sees what it is. They then find the card in their own deck of development cards and put it into their hand. The person in charge of development cards then places (without looking) the card in a discard pile.
Trading: When trading cards, simply agree on the trade and then discard to your own resource piles the card you are ‘giving away’ and then pick up from your own resource piles the card that you are ‘receiving’. Yes, honesty is key.
Taking a card from someone: At times you’ll need to ‘take a card from another player’. In this instance, we held up our fanned out hand of cards to the camera (backs facing the camera so no one can see your hand), and then the person ‘taking the card’ tells you what card they want (e.g. third from the end on your right). You then show them that card (again, every else looks away), you discard it, and they pick up that same card from their resource piles.
Largest Army and Longest Road: If someone gets either of these, I found it easiest to place my Largest Army and Longest Road tiles next to their coloured pieces around the edge of my own board so I knew who had what.

Tips and tricks to playing Catan via video chat

Obviously it’s a bit different playing like this, but after a few rounds, you get the hang of it.

One thing we found really helpful was making use of the letters on the Number tiles. The letters A through to R are on all the Number tiles which you place on the hexagons. When we were placing settlements or cities, we said things like “I’m putting a settlement on ALK, and I’m placing a road between L and A, facing B” or something along those lines. It made it a lot easier to know where people were placing their pieces so our boards were always the same. It also helped when moving the robber; “I’m putting the robber on P and taking a card from Anjali”.

We had a lot of fun playing ‘alone together’ and it worked really well. We’re keen to try some other games that we all have. If you’ve played any games like this with your friends when you’ve been in self-isolation for coronavirus (COVID-19) then do let me know! I would love some more ideas and any tips and tricks you have!