The official website for
the world of Catan

In his blog posting, Guido already commented about how challenging it is for him to give people he meets a description of his work. I can definitely relate to that – the same thing happens to me. It’s even a little worse, because the next thing for me to explain is my function in this company, given the fact that I’m apparently not a game author. …

“What does your father do all day long as a game inventor?” People have asked me different versions of this question all my life. Everyone who has ever used a rolling pin more or less knows how a baker works, and you don’t need to have a green thumb to know how the workday of a gardener might look like. …

If someone had asked me this question roughly half a year ago, I would have answered: Of course it has to be as good as possible. A computer opponent can never be a substitute for a human player in a Catan game on a real game board, so it should at least be able to play well. What’s missing in a game against computer opponents are emotions: …

Early in my childhood, I was extremely fascinated by discovery stories. Since I began designing board games, I felt the desire to experience the elements of discovery and development (settlement) in a game. I began to explore these themes with increasing intensity. Finally, in the early Nineties I started out with the development of my first prototype. …