On this Thoughty2 video, Arran tells the fascinating tale of Bermeja, an allegedly 80 square kilometers island indicated on many maps, starting in the 16th and 17th centuries. The problem is, it doesn't appear to actually exist. Many theories abound about what could have happened to it or why it would be on so many old maps if it never existed. — Read the rest

Jonas Pedersen captured the beauty and danger of cave diving in this haunting footage at El Toh.

One year ago today

Struggle for Catan: cutthroat card game for family fun/fights: Similar to the Settlers of Catan, except there's no board, and no pieces to accidentally knock around (which is my 9-year-old daughter's special skill).

Five years ago today

Another London photographer arrested for "terrorism" (i.e. — Read the rest

Betabrand's "Socks of Catan" are coming in October, at $14 a pair.

Leafcutter ants are fascinating tropical creatures that farm fungus gardens, require access to certain resources in order to survive and grow, and are constantly splitting off from the pack to form new colonies with connections to the old. Which, of course, makes them the perfect species to adapt into a version of Settlers of Catan, as entomologist M.L. — Read the rest

Laura sez, "My sister, who works for how about we & is an avid gaming fan, got an amazing proposal from her now-fiance. Pete, with the help of a crafty friend, created a new development card and sat playing for 2 hours until he could purchase the 'proposal' development card and play it! — Read the rest

In the latest episode of Bullseye with Jesse Thorn I talked about two cards games I've been enjoying with my family lately:

The Struggle for Catan, a spin-off of the colony-building board game Settlers of Catan. He also plugs Anomia, a crazy-fast word game that "makes your brain confuse being first with being the loudest."

A couple of weeks ago my family started playing the card game Anomia. We are enjoying our gaming nights so much that we started playing a new card game called The Struggle for Catan. It's similar to the Settlers of Catan, except there's no board, and no pieces to accidentally knock around (which is my 9-year-old daughter's special skill). — Read the rest

SeenOnTableTop reviews Catan Junior, a streamlined, simplified pirate-themed version of beloved Boing Boing favorite Settlers of Catan aimed at kids six and up. My daughter's just getting to the age where she's willing to play games with rules (without demanding that the rules be changed halfway through to ensure that she wins!), — Read the rest

Shapeways user Tedparsec has created a wide assortment of 3D printed, colorized Settlers of Catan tiles that you can have printed and shipped to you in a wide variety of materials. He's also got a good line on handcrafted, 3D printed RPG miniatures. — Read the rest

[Video Link] Here's the book trailer for the new novelization of the game Settlers of Catan. The 620-page novel was written by Rebecca Gable and is published by Amazon. I just started reading an advance copy (got sidetracked by the Jobs biography) but have enjoyed the small amount I've read so far! — Read the rest

If you play Settlers of Catan and/or if you're interested in the hard decisions we have to make about energy, you'll likely be as excited as I am about this new (free!) scenario for the classic board game. Catan: Oil Springs allows you to develop faster by collecting black gold—at the expense of short-term and long-term safety risks. — Read the rest

I've reviewed the Settlers of Catan and the Settlers of Catan Portable Edition. The nice thing about the portable edition's board is that it's not wont to fall apart like the standard edition's is. SJ Brown is taking a different approach to the flimsy Catan board problem by creating a beautiful wooden gameboard accessory for Catan. — Read the rest

A couple of weeks ago I wrote about my enthusiasm for the best-selling board game, Settlers of Catan. My family and I like Catan so much that we bought the portable edition to bring with us on our vacation to Hawaii last week. — Read the rest

Photo by Nathan Jongewaard. Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.

(Read my earlier post about the game Carcassonne, and my dislike of most boardgames.)

The board game Settlers of Catan has been around since 1995, and has been awarded many prizes. — Read the rest

When a Thingiverse contributor uploaded 3D-print-ready homebrew tiles for German superboardgame Settlers of Catan, it raised a bunch of interesting legal questions. Is it illegal to make your own Settlers tiles? To download 3D files describing these tiles? To host the files? — Read the rest

If you asked people in the street to name three new books, films, TV shows or music they've enjoyed in the past 20 years, you'll soon have hundreds of different answers. Ask them to name three boardgames, and you will likely only hear "Monopoly, Scrabble & Cluedo" (aka Clue)*. — Read the rest

The spooky video below was recorded by a security guard at the upscale El Palacio de Hierro department store in Mexico City department store. According to the security guard, he was making his 2am rounds when he came across several Amazon Alexa smart speakers praying. — Read the rest

The U.S. State Department is warning people about traveling to Mexico, Jamaica, and the Bahamas, citing increases in recent reports of muggings and murders in tourist areas.

Here's what the State Department says about these places:

The Bahamas (Level 2: Exercise Increased Caution):  "In Nassau, practice increased vigilance in the 'Over the Hill' area (south of Shirley Street) where gang-on-gang violence has resulted in a high homicide rate primarily affecting the local population. — Read the rest

I find this couple simply delightful. Meet the Alessio and Jessi Pasini, who are an Italian (Alessio) and American (Jessi) couple currently living in the United States. They post sweet and funny videos centered around their cultural differences and focused on Alessio's endearing reactions to various aspects of US American culture. — Read the rest