In contrast, these new 3D printed pieces are not officially licensed. Settlers of Catan has successfully spun off numerous officially licensed expansion packs, card games, and digital versions (you can play on an Xbox360, a Playstation3, various Apple iProducts, and even a Microsoft Surface table). Also, players are rarely out of the running until the very last turn.

One of its most attractive features is that, unlike traditional boardgames like Monopoly, a game of Settlers is usually completed in around an hour.

It has been heralded by mainstream publications like the Washington Post and generally enjoyed as a fun, easy to learn game. This development raises the question: is this illegal? If it isn’t, should it be?įor the uninitiated, Settlers of Catan is a wildly popular board game created by a German game designer named Klaus Teuber in 1995. Certain corners of the Internet were abuzz this week with the news that a user named Sublime had uploaded design files to Thingiverse that allow people to 3D print pieces to the wildly popular board game Settlers of Catan.

Resin catan board