Cubicle Cafe

Last night we tried out Settlers of Catan’s new Oil Springs Scenario which can be downloaded and printed for free from that website, along with an educators guide.

The game provides a really interesting opportunity to experience the tragedy of the commons. I used my first bits of oil when the “disaster counter” was low, so I wouldn’t be causing a natural disaster on the island by cashing in my oil to build a settlement or two. The natural disasters caused by oil usage in the game included wiping out settlements in coastal spots (which didn’t end up happening in our game) or making hexs unproductive, not just till the next disaster, but forever, which happened quite a bit (see picture 6).

I remember playing simulation games on my computer when I was in high school and wanted to play them with my own values (developing public transportation and parks or not waging war, depending on the game) which never seemed to work out to my advantage. It was similar in this game, I took some oil out of circulation in order to gain some victory points, but I also spent a fair amount to gain resources.

Finally, gameplay wise, the oil provided a few new bits of unpredictability to the game, which were fun. Players with less victory points cashed in on the oil once it seemed less likely that they could win, and had less to lose, and rolling that dice to determine which hex would be killed by a natural disaster was exciting (and worked out well for me, because it ended up hurting my opponents more than me). Overall, I think we’ll try it again, for a good change to the game that seemed less complicated than other expansions to Catan I’ve played.