You are the leader of settlers who have discovered new lands. Using powerful artifacts, you will explore terrains, hunt monsters, construct buildings, and create outposts. Collect diamonds and gold and welcome mighty heroes to make your settlement the most famous one!
In more detail, in Settlement you need to effectively manage settlers and resources. The goal of the game is to score as many victory points as possible by the end of the last round. Each round, players take turns in clockwise order, beginning with the starting player. On your turn, you can invite a hero or use one of your settlers to take one of these seven actions:
1. Construct a building
2. Explore a terrain
3. Hunt a monster
4. Build an outpost
5. Activate a region
6. Activate a street
7. Activate an outpost
On your turn, if you have the required resources, you may spend them to invite a hero in your settlement. Heroes are useful because they bring you victory points. Sometimes, a hero's score depends on your buildings, terrains, or outposts; some heroes also provide you with extra settlers. You may pass immediately after playing your turn if you're ready to end the current round. If you cannot do anything on your turn, then you must pass. Take a new artifact among the available ones, then return your previous artifact. Once all players have passed, the round ends.
At the end of the sixth round, the game ends, and you sum points from your hero cards and buildings. The player with the most victory points wins, and their settlement becomes the main outpost of the land!
—description from designer
- beautiful production and visual presentation
- rules are easy to learn
- artifact tiles introduce some variety
- depth is limited; relatively light
- solo mode feels like a muted variant of the multiplayer
- interaction between players is minimal
- engine-building to assemble a small settlement; exploration of regions and artifacts
- lightweight city-building / settlement-building euro game
- procedural, rules-light, accessible
- Pillars of the Earth
- Gaia Project
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- artifact_tiles — Artifacts provide round-by-round bonuses and strategic choices.
- engine-building — Players develop a small personal engine of actions to gain resources and build structures.
- resource_management — Players collect resources to construct buildings and recruit heroes.
- solo_mode — Solo mode is a minor variant of the multiplayer rules.
- tile_reveal_exploration — Regions are explored or flipped to reveal bonuses or monsters.
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- it's clearly dated
- stupid design
- the last gun shield combo basically nukes an entire area
- this is a mega game ... 67 hours
- the prediction mechanic is insane
- six to seven hours and it's for a six-player game; it doesn't need to be like that
References (from this video)
- Strong pedigree (Mysterium developers) and proven design lineage
- Gorgeous production vibe and thematic depth
- Early impression shows a lot; final rule clarifications will matter
- settlers, resource management, terrain exploration, and heroes
- euro-style settlement-building with exploration, monsters, and outposts
- mythic, expansive with rich world-building
- Mysterium lineage games
- Euro-style exploration and building titles
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- euro-style engine-building with hero cards — use resources to acquire heroes and activate various features
- exploration and combat/monster interactions — terrain exploration and monster encounters add risk/reward
- outposts, regions, streets, and active scoring — various region activations and scoring opportunities
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- I love games that have time tracks.
- the components in this game look great.
- I am a sucker for creative use of components.
- folding the corners over as you are playing the game.
- this one is suddenly a game that I am very interested in.