The Explorers
Tonight we spend the evening setting out from safe harbors and navigating dangerously high seas to discover new places and enrich our communities.
Tonight… is game night.
ADVENTURE ART CLUB | DAY 26 | 9.26
AMONG FRIENDS
MISSOULA, MONTANA
You haven’t lived until you’ve spent a fun few hours playing the “Explorers and Pirates” expanded version of the game of Catan with family, friends, or neighbors. (If that sentiment makes me a “nerd”, then so be it….) Tonight, my husband and I have been invited to our dear friends’ house for a dinner and game night. They live in our neighborhood, so we get to see them often, but it’s been a while. We’ve been looking forward to catching up with them!
The late afternoon sunlight is slowly fading as we sit down to eat in their lovely home, warm bowls of homemade vegetable curry made with fresh local ingredients steaming before each of us. We sip beer from our favorite local brewery and talk about their travels and our house projects, among many other topics. The conversation is easy and comfortable. We’ve known each other for a long time. We marvel at how big their daughter is getting and then say goodnight, as she goes to bed early. Eventually, dessert and wine is consumed and cleared, and the table is set for the game.
In case you’ve never played Catan before, here’s a brief synopsis:
Catan is a game of strategy and resource trading that differs every time you play the game. The board itself is made of parts that are placed at random, so the imaginary land itself is new every time. In the original version, players place settlement pieces that represent towns and build roads between them to earn resource cards which correspond to resources on the board and can be traded (whether among players in side deal maneuvers or to the bank at a set rate) to continue developing individual “empires”, of sorts. There are extra incentives to earn, such as the “longest road” or “largest army”, as well and random chance cards that can be purchased along the way to give you additional points. The objective of everything is to win with a certain number of “victory points”. That’s how you win. Building up your world gives you more points, and there are many many ways to get this accomplished.
The “Explorers and Pirates” expansion that we’ve brought to our friends’ home tonight takes the initial game to an entirely new level. The board is three times as large.
In this version, players place “harbors” near the water at the front edge of the island (that represents the old version of the Catan world), from which they sail their ships out across the water to “discover” bits of land that build out new worlds across the sea. These worlds are inhabited by pirates in lairs that players can conquer. They are filled with spice caches you can pick up for advantages in the game. Fishing grounds pop up here and there, and players can roll the die to put fish on the board and deliver them to the main harbor. Each of these endeavors gains you more points toward your total, as does building out your world with more harbors and settlements around the board. What you build, when, where, and how all become part of your strategy to beat your opponents. Much of this depends on luck, as a roll of the die brings you resources each round.
If all that sounds complicated… it is! But that is the beauty of this game. Depending on who you play with, the tone of the game can change dramatically. Every person has a different outlook. Some players spend their time building communities. Others seek dramatic adventure and go for the pirate wars almost exclusively. Some choose commerce and set about collecting and trading resources. Some players play open-handed and are nice to each other. Others play the game in more cutthroat ways. House rules prevail. The board itself shifts and changes every time it is made. Catan is never the same, and so, every game is an adventure. It can be played endlessly.
A word to all brave adventurers: this version of Catan lasts for hours and hours (usually). The world is immersive and engaging. Conversation and strategizing takes forethought and time. You can lose hours to the world you are building together, before someone finally wins. And at the end…..it’s all over. You pack the adventure pieces back into their box and store the game away…waiting for the next group to take to the sea.
Tonight, we play the game together long into the night, forgetting all sense of time, before our friend, who loves Catan but is playing this version for the very first time, wins the whole game entirely. We all agree this would be a fun game to spend an afternoon playing leisurely at the brewery, conversing over a few beers together. As we walk out the door to our car to head home, I reflect on that sense of time blindness that a good game can offer us.
I feel that same time travel when I’m in the studio creating or deeply engaged with my writing. I’ve felt it in the forest when I’m exploring off trail, looking closely and discovering. It’s a sense of being totally present in the moment, focused on what is directly in front of you, and forgetting all other concerns completely. This flow allows me to step out of time. It’s a kind of paradox, by which I forget myself completely while also becoming fully embodied in the task at hand.
Maybe that’s why we love games, among many reasons. They transport us. They bring us out of our life for a time and into a mutually imagined world. They allow us to focus on clear objectives, to play out scenarios, to harness our imaginations, to find creative solutions. They compel us to craft strategies and look ahead while remaining utterly present. They allow us to connect over shared emotions, quarrels, and laughter. They bring out our personalities. They help us get to know each other. Games are tiny little adventures (or certain kinds of experiences) pre-packaged and waiting for us, whenever we choose to engage. They set a tone and encourage us to explore. They give us a chance to get over our serious selves and just play.
I, for one, can’t wait to play again soon.
Love & Gratitude,
- Christina
