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If you are having trouble trading in the settlers of catan, that's not good news because the
game of Catan is won or lost by trades or said another way.
Those who win more often are those making better trades.
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Trading is a heavily discussed topic in Catan, and you will find hundreds of articles about
trading and in doing so, see hundreds of ways that people go about it.
But ain't nobody got time for that.
Instead, I've condensed all the ideas people have about trading into the most commonly
recommended best practices and stuffed them all into
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this handy dandy reference card, which you can download to your phone to reference during
a game of Catan.
Link in the description below.
It's like a cheat sheet with carefully titled Concepts.
I will help you remember what to pay attention to when trading.
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The titles will make sense as we go through the video, and by the end of it, you'll be
able to remember the concepts at a glance.
And although this video won't win you any tournaments, it will put you well above average
when it comes to thinking about trading.
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Concept one.
Trading matters If you aren't trading, then you aren't winning, period.
And that's simply because players that are trading are getting more access to more of
the resources they want.
Meanwhile, you're sitting there waiting for the dice to be nice.
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Creating a super duper important, especially in the early game when resources are scarce
and the players that build the quickest grow the quickest, and a lot of it comes down to
politics.
The more you scratch each other's backs, the more likely you'll continue to do so later.
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And conversely, the more you make antagonizing trades where you piss someone off, the less
likely they will trade you again later.
Remember, trading is one of the best ways to get additional and inaccessible resources
throughout the game, and if you play your cards right, you can get consistent two to
one trades concept to trade for a game objectives
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. The first thing on your mind when making a trade is whether it's progressing your game
objectives.
Are you trying to build roads to expand or you try to upgrade settlements to cities?
Whatever it is, you need to focus on those resources.
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Even if you're getting two for one cards in a trade off, those two cards are useless to
your objective.
You just gave your opponent the card that's useful to them.
Always keep in mind what your next objective is and trade accordingly.
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And at the same time, this means you know what resources you don't need and can trade
away those to get the ones you want.
Hoarding won't help you.
Trying to accomplish too many goals at once will only slow you down.
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Meanwhile, another player is focusing on completing one task at a time.
one road, one settlement.
one city and is now generating more resources.
Know your game objective first, then trade concept three value check.
When you're making a trade, you'll want to know how each player values.
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The cards being discussed, but sometimes that's not obvious.
So let's start by making a baseline of what resources are objectively valuable in your
game.
Starting with the number of dots for each resource on the board, you'll want to count
these at the very start of the game and then keep a mental note of which resources are
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scarce and abundant and rank them from the most scarce to the least.
Then you'll want to give ore and wheat a slight bump in value just because of their intrinsic
value to the overall game.
That's objective value.
Now, let's get subjective.
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If you notice the person you're trading is trying to build a city than they are that
much more eager to get that offer from you.
And so you should assign more value to your card.
And the best way to do that is to notice any excess cards in their hand.
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That is more than what they need to build a city.
Those excess cards are easy pickings for two to one or even three to one deals.
You should also consider whose turn it is.
A trade is far more valuable to the person whose turn it is, as they can immediately
act on the trade.
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And as such, if you're trading someone a card on their turn, you should assign more value
to your card.
If the calculated value, if your card is hitting a lot of these check marks, then you shouldn't
hesitate to ask for two or even three cards in return.
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It's useful to remind them how valuable your card is for them to achieve their objective.
Concept for trade in your turn and terms.
Ideally, you should be trading on your turn because it gives you a lot more options.
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The biggest being that you can build on your return.
Another reason is that you are a hub for trades, which means that because you're the only person
everyone can trade with, you can be the middleman when other players are trying to trade each
other.
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But remember, you don't want to be a hub for helping other people complete their objectives,
so only propose and accept trades that progress your goals.
Proposing a trade is a lot harder than accepting someone else's trade, because proposing immediately
implies that you are the one looking for something.
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So instead, you should treat it as a friendly suggestion he can.
If you're trying to build a road there of a brick, you can use if you'd like.
This is the bread and butter approach to trade proposals.
You choose a specific player, you address them by name to establish a good relationship.
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You have already assessed their needs and are directly addressing them, and you present
a resource that is useful to them without specifying the price of that resource.
Then you give them a moment to consider.
Meanwhile, you should have a sense of how much that brick is worth to them.
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You either get a minimum of two cards or one really useful card.
Otherwise, why trade trading should always be a win lose in your favor or a win win situation.
Rarely should you accept a lose win trade.
Now, if they're taking too much time to consider, move on to the next player and offer them
the same thing
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in their context.
Hey Hayley, I have a brick you can use to finish your settlement if you like.
Ideally, you want to cause a bidding war over your resource.
This is not always possible, but something you want to look for, as it can secure you
at least two cards in a deal.
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When proposing, you should first ask the person you think is most likely to have the card
you want and then make your way around the table.
And if someone bites, you can say I can give you the brick for an offer and a throwaway
card Adobe card as any card that is not important for them to complete
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their immediate objective and thus more expendable.
Also notice we didn't call it an extra card, as that implies they're giving away too much.
If a bidding war ensues, start by raising the price, both by the number of cards or
the specific cards you are looking for.
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Always prioritize the cards you're looking for over the number of cards.
If a bidding war doesn't start or go well, you can reluctantly bring out the big guns.
And I mean, reluctantly, I was hoping we can do a trade deal because I don't want to use
a night to steal from you.
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This might change their mind, but it's not always follow through with your threat and
night, though just don't present it as a threat.
Encourage them again by reminding them that the night will stop them from getting a lot
of resources, and that this trade would just make things easier.
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This should be a last resort as it will antagonize the player and make trading harder with them
later.
Let's talk ports real quick.
If you have a two to one port, you can use it on your turn to trade with other players.
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If someone wants to use my sheep port, you can give me two sheep and an ore for whatever
card you want.
This is assuming you are looking for.
This basically has your opponent pay for the cost of your sheep port, and both of you get
a resource you want.
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Just be careful to check who's getting the better side of this deal if they are.
You can suggest to sheep and or and a throw away card to balance the deal.
This is still easier for them than trying to trade four of a kind to the bank.
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As a side note, try to prioritize trades with people that are losing as they are less of
a threat to you.
And if deals with them don't go well.
It's not a big deal.
Oh, and after a successful trade, leave a positive review on the trade with the player.
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This encourages smoother future trading and suddenly builds a sense of alliance.
And if nothing else, remember this.
The most important part of trading is knowing what is important to the other player.
If a player is lacking in wood and they're in a race for the longest road, they will
pay more for a wood.
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If a player has a two to one port and easy access to resources, then it's much harder
to trade with them.
And if a player publicly announces all I need is a wheat, then they're easy pickings for
good deals.
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Concept five Trade denial Now, as you turn in, so does your incentive to trade, but not
completely.
Now's the time to get defensive.
If another player is racing you to a settlement position that you consider important, then
you must deny them getting the trades they want to make that happen, even if it means
you do a lose
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win trade.
It's OK to give away cars do this because your position is more important than losing
a card or two.
Besides, your turn just ended, which means you have several more turns of dice rolls
to get some more cards back.
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Keep an eye on the players who are a threat to your position and what cards they're looking
for.
If an offer comes up with those resources, be the first to reply so that you get first
dibs.
You can respond with a quick, Oh, you're treating a brick and then wait and see if the opponent
tries to interject
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. If they do immediately give the person who proposed the trade a better offer, like a
two to one with throwaway cards to stop your opponent from getting that resource even if
they don't take the trade, the price of the trade has now increased and will cost your
opponent more to get that resource from them.
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And finally, collusion trading.
If a competitor is a threat to your board position, then you need to find their competitor
and be an ally to them.
The enemy of my enemy is my friend, sort of thing.
Concept six.
Being offered trades.
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If someone directly proposes a trade with you on their turn, it's OK to say no if it's
not appealing to you.
But frame it as a yes.
Yeah, for sure.
We can do that on my turn.
This allows you more options as your turn comes around, and you may not need to trade
them, after all.
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If someone directly proposes a trade with you on their turn like my would for your wheat
and that would is a card you want, you want to quickly reply with something like that.
Sounds good.
What are you going to do with that wheat?
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This puts them on the back foot, and now they must answer to you.
They have already stated their want for wheat.
Now it is a matter of how valuable that lead us to them compared to how valuable the wood
is to you.
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Don't be too combative about trades because you want people to be open to trading with
you, and you won't always get the perfect trade concept.
seven Handshake Trades.
This is an assortment of trading ideas that you can use as trading incentives.
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None of these are in the rules and are more of a handshake agreement, but you should use
them sparingly and wisely as they could lead to diplomatic disasters, but they can also
be strong incentives if you really need to secure a trade.
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These are especially good early in the game and resources are scarce and you need to secure
early trades, for example.
In addition to the break, I can also promise to move the robber off of you the next time
a night or roll a seven.
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I can also promise I won't robber or night to you the next to my night or all, or seven.
I can also promise to trade you a bonus card the next time we trade.
I can also promise to not trade can so that he can't build a road there.
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I can also promise I will build away from you if you give me that word.
I can also promise to let you use my port for cheap for the rest of the game and so
on.
If you have ideas for handshake trades, be sure to share them in the comments.
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Concept eight Game Winning Trades The closer you are to winning the game, the harder it
is for you to get favorable trades.
And as such, you should expect to have more lose win trades as long as it helps you achieve
your objectives.
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Don't fall for desperation traps.
The closer you get to winning, the more anxious you get, and you might take a deal without
realizing the consequences of that deal.
Cards are in abundance at this point, and circulation might be wild and crazy or completely
dead.
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Either way, pay close attention to what you need to win.
What is the least number of resources needed to secure victory?
And what are they exactly?
Everything else is a throwaway resource that you can trade.
To get that final resource, you need to get a victory points.
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Now, this might seem like a lot, but it's not something you have to memorize.
It's more of an awareness game.
Are you aware of your next objective?
Are you aware of the value of the resources in play?
Are you aware of what your opponent is going for?
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Keep this in mind when you're trading and the game will play out in your favor.
Unlike dice rolls in my right, the dice in Canton are notorious for never landing on
your numbers, and that's annoying to a lot of players.
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Watch this video for a bunch of fun and interesting ideas on how to fix the randomness in time.
Until next time, happy trading!