Custom 3D Settlers of Catan board from scrap plywood

Settlers of Catan is a family strategy boardgame for 3-4 players. It has a clever modular board that is arranged differently each time you play. Settlers has inspired many different 3D versions; the board represents an island with 6 different terrain types, so it is the perfect game to model, be it out of resin or cupcakes. Searching the wider web will reveal literally dozens of versions, many exquisitely modeled, and even a commercial version which sold for over $300. OK, Settlers is hardly chess, but it's off to a decent start.

The board described here was made from scrap plywood, wood glue, inexpensive acrylic paint and some leftover polyurethane.

Step 1: Why?

The board that comes with the 4th edition of Settlers has hexagons and a border made of light cardboard. A few boisterous kids and a little warping and the game can be pretty frustrating to play. My initial fix was to glue the border down to a large hexagon of plywood (see pictures).
We usually buy a family board game for Christmas, but this year I thought I'd try my hand at making a 3D Settlers set out of materials I had lying around. If you want to make one like it, you'll still need a copy of the game! It's easy to find online or at bookstores.

Comments

[Ward_Nox]

this defiantly give me ideas esp cause i found a template for the tiles that is the right scale

[G-Squier]

Let me start off by saying: Great instructable, I loved it!

I used your instructable to make a similar version for people who have access to a laser printer. Feel free to take a look. I mentioned your name in the instructable to give you credit.

Keep on making!

[G-Squier]

Forgot the link :)
http://www.instructables.com/id/3D-Settlers-of-Catan-Board/

[makendo]

Thanks, and nice work on the board - cutting out the hexagons in particular must be a breeze on the laser cutter, whereas it is a bit of a headache using a saw. I'll be interested to see if you end up painting it, for playability if not for aesthetics!

[pieguy780]

it was the best thing i have seen all day. very creative, how you made the brick so it looked like a heart. Its so cute! lol!

[makendo]

Ugh, yeah. Here's my image comment on that tile... "3 brick tiles. The holes are supposed to evoke a quarry. I'm very annoyed with the random shape I cut out for the central tile, because after it was painted red my daughter told me how much she loved that one because it looked like a heart. Argh!"

[sbiickert]

Yeah, when I followed along with this Instructable (see my comments above), I chose to deviate from makendo's design there. Not so much about the heart shape, I just thought that I could create a nice "hills" shape with the scroll saw and a couple thicknesses of plywood.

It's the mountains in his design that are killer. Both in that they are awesome and work so well, and in that they take quite a bit of scroll saw work to cut them out.

[sbiickert]

Thanks a million for posting this! I followed along and made my own board. The only real difference with mine is I didn't try for a round board, and I changed up the pasture and hills. Look for the sheep on the pasture!!! :-)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/43721019@N07/5814203702/

Simon

[makendo]

Simon - fantastic, it looks great! You've made my day! :)

[sbiickert]

I've done some more work, and created the sea hexes, and the other additional hexes for Seafarers of Catan:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/43721019@N07/7571138452/

I didn't create a border this time, since it would be huge... so I needed to make more hexes than the Seafarers game contains to ensure the entire game is surrounded by water. I ended up making the 19 hexes, then another 15 when I realized I overlooked this.

My original board gets lots of play, thanks again for the Instructable!

Simon

[makendo]

Great stuff again, Simon. I've been meaning to build the Seafarers expansion - I own the game, and have planned a big (!) oval board, but haven't got around to it yet. Looking at yours, perhaps the border isn't really necessary... do the hexes stay put OK?

[sbiickert]

First, I have to say that I have now gone through all of the board layouts for the nine scenarios in Seafarers for both 3 and 4 players and found that I have to make 13 more sea hexes! I seriously overlooked the variety of different ways that the board is put together. Seafarers uses the border pieces from Settlers, and adds more of its own. The Forgotten Tribe scenario is the killer: it needs 47 sea hexes if you don't have a border. It's the painting that takes the time to do it right.

Speaking of which, if you were going to make a big oval board, you would have to come up with a plan to adapt to the different sizes of board that the different scenarios have, for 3 or 4 players. And it would be humungous. Even a 3 player Seafarers board is much bigger than a Settlers game.

As for the pieces moving around, I tried putting down a felt cloth like for building jigsaw puzzles on. Once the hexes were on the mat, they didn't move a hair. I played with my eight-year-old daughter (somewhat more energetic than your average player) without any problems at all. I highly recommend this. A plus is you don't have to store a huge board. All the hexes and the mat can fit in an oversize shoebox.

[Feelthbrz]

I love the simplicity of the abstraction. I think it works really well for a game like settlers. I see a lot of the laser etched boards and find them overly complicated. This is something I would make and play.

[makendo]

Thanks; yeah, I'm still really happy with how it turned out. I like the looks of the laser-etched ones, but I'm not so sure they'd be easy to play on.

[Celestianpower]

This is amazing! I'm currently in the process of making my own (though I'm cheating and getting the hexagons cut for me...) I'll upload a picture when I'm done! Thanks for inspiring me!

[makendo]

Thanks, & good luck with the build. Good idea to get the hexagons cut - they're the trickiest bit to get right, for sure.

[Spaceman Spiff]

Now I need to buy an Indiana Jones Lego piece! "That belongs in a museum!" Ha Ha.

[makendo]

Yep, he'll save you having to set your death ray blaster to Deep Fat Fry.

[careforapint]

Wow, Very inspirational! Thanks for posting.

[Eye Poker]

I'm done with the hexes, terrain and base coat of paint!

[makendo]

Awesome! I'd love to see it... post a picture if you can.

[nolte919]

Could you make the tiles round?  It would be tons easier and it seems you could put the settlements in the spaces between circles.  I might be missing something, I've never played the game.  Although thanks to this 'ible I ordered one. :-)

[Eye Poker]

I imagine that if you made a large hexagonal base with a lip cut to just the right size the circular tiles would fit in it tight to make the board.

[makendo]

Absolutely! In fact when I first thought about making this board, I was going to make something that looked like one of those fancy wine racks. However, the reality of making perfectly aligned circular holes in a board, then making circles that fitted them exactly, proved beyond me. A laser would be be ideal, but to do it conventionally would have required me buying a drill press and some hole cutters. If you just close-pack the circles without putting them in holes, I think you'd have issues with the settlements dropping out of sight.
It's a great game, glad to hear you bought a copy. Enjoy!

[Eye Poker]

All you need to do is find a circle the size you want. Use it as a template with a round off bit on your router to make as many circles as you want.

[makendo]

Agreed, but cutting the circles wasn't the problem I envisaged - it was cutting the holes in the sheet. The problem with just having a bunch of discs pushed together is that putting down the roads/settlements/cities is likely to be problematic.

[Eye Poker]

The rads would balance in between the circles. There would be a small open space between the circle where the cities would go.

[thepelton]

I made some hexes for a friend using my Epilog laser. I hope this attaches their file to the comment. I have to find out how I can make them without running afoul of a copyright, otherwise, I would make them for anyone.

[makendo]

Nice interlocking lasercut tiles for Settlers of Catan have recently been posted on Thingiverse, including the cutting file.

[thepelton]

As soon as I leave the library where I am doing these comments on instructables, I plan to go to the local Woodcraft store and get some dyes or paints for those hexes. I will rephotograph them when I am done, and show it off here.

[thepelton]

The waveform pieces are all on the backs of the other pieces, except for the one desert piece.

[makendo]

Good way to cut perfect hexagons. I don't think you need to be concerned about copyright; you'll still need a copy of the game to play on your new board.

[thepelton]

On those hexes, one has waveforms on it so it can be ocean, and another has brick pattern on it for a clay brick deposit.

[RedBeardatXMission]

(removed by author or community request)

[thepelton]

I prevent kick back on cross cutting with a table saw by screwing a long cheap board to the cross cut guide which will support both pieces of the wood before and after cross cutting. I also wait until the blade is stopped before reaching for the wood, to save my cut wood pieces, not to mention my fingers.

[EmmettO]

 I've taken shop classes and I regularly cut without any guards in place. Knowledge and training does not ensure adherence to that training.

Now excuse me as I sit too close to the TV and then later I've got a running with scissors engagement to go to!

[Jayefuu]

That wasn't the most tactful way of saying that....

[makendo]

Don't panic; the guard, anti-kickback devices, riving knife and pushstick are all out of shot. You can see them all in place here. 
For those of us less experienced than Redbeard,  en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Table_saw has lots of sound safety exhortations.

[AngryRedhead]

Have you thought about making a silicon mold of the pieces just for the heck of it?

 

[thepelton]

Someone was making silicon molds for catan pieces in another Instructable. Just look around.