Klaus Teuber, designer of Settlers of Catan and its many expansion games, is well-known around the world for his innovative board game designs. He was kind enough to break off from his busy schedule to answer some questions for catanonline.com.

Klaus, welcome and thank you for taking the time for this interview.

Q: What inspired you to become a game designer?

A: Beginning in my early 20’s I enjoyed playing games like “Acquire” and “Risk” with my wife and our friends. My desire to create games was really inspired by a wonderful novel, “The School of the Riddle Masters” by Patricia McKillip.

The novel is about wizards who acquire the fine art of riddle solving. The well-crafted story, describing unforgettable riddle duels, was a great source of inspiration for the development of my first published game, “Barbarossa.” After having read the book, I was left with a sad feeling that the story had ended.

I felt an urge to keep the story going. I figured that the best way I could do this was through the medium of a game. Not only could I keep the story alive, I could also experience it with others.

“Barbarossa” won the Game of the Year award in 1988. This public acknowledgement and initial success certainly encouraged me in my following game design activities.

Q: Which game designers would you consider to be your role models?

A: I always admired Sid Sackson and like his games, especially “Acquire.” I also have great respect for Wolfgang Kramer. It is an interesting question. While I have admired authors for their game designs, I never followed any other author’s style. In that sense, I didn’t have any role models. I just tested my game ideas, and let them lead me. If I liked the direction, I kept going. I just developed games to experience stories and to have fun. I never had a role model game designer in my mind that I wanted to emulate.

Q: When you sit down to play a game for fun, what sort of games do you play?

A: (Smiles) I still play for fun. Pretty much whenever I play others' or my own finished games it’s always for fun. When I develop games, there are at times situations where it can get frustrating, so the game development process is not always pure fun.

Q: Where did you get the idea for Settlers of Catan?

A: I was always fascinated by the Vikings and their exploratory journeys. One widely held view of the Vikings is that they were marauding and violent hordes descending on Europe. Another side of the story is that in many places where Vikings settled they actually built progressive and peaceful societies as well as sophisticated trading systems. They were the first European explorers to leave the security of the coast and sail out into the open ocean, which led them to discover and settle Iceland, Greenland and Northern America.

In short, the history and culture of the Vikings inspired me to create a game of exploration and settlement. This first game prototype involved exploration as well as settling elements, which made the original game cumbersome and complex. I finally decided to split the two elements and create different games around each element. Consequently, the idea of settling grew into “The Settlers of Catan” game, whereas the development idea turned into the game “Entdecker.”

Q: Is it true that it took two years to develop Settlers of Catan? Why did this particular game take so long to create?

A: It took actually a bit longer than that, just about three years. There were basically two reasons for the relatively long duration of the game development. For one, I pursued the initial game idea that incorporated both settlement and exploration components. After splitting those two components up, I continued to work on the settlement idea, which still seemed complex enough. Then it was often helpful to let a game idea rest for a month or two. After such a break, most of the time I returned with fresh insights and new ideas for improvements.

The second reason was vested in my long work hours at the time. In order to keep my former business alive, I had to work long hours each day, sometimes over weeks at a time. So there were certainly periods, when I simply did not have the time to do any game design due to my daytime job.

Q: You are often credited as the man who brought German gaming to the world market. Were you surprised by the broad international appeal of Settlers of Catan? And why do you think Settlers appeals to so many?

A: I think the game’s basic themes, namely harvesting-trading-building are universally understood among people around the world. These elements are so basic and obvious that people seem to easily identify with them, regardless of whether they live in Germany, the US or Japan.

Also, the cycle of harvesting-trading-building seems to be very intuitive to most people. Due to this circumstance, the game is easily accessible, despite the initially perceived relative complexity of the game.

I also believe that most people in the world prefer to engage in constructive rather than destructive activities. The world of Catan is built on the philosophy of peaceful building, rather than war and violence. So the majority of people, who believe in constructive aspects in life, probably like playing Catan also for that reason.

Another important factor is that women seem to find the game appealing, as it stresses an interactive gaming experience. It also encourages communication, which is an indispensable part of playing the game.

So basically, the above mentioned key reasons are important in explaining, why the game is internationally so successful. Initially, we were surprised by the success – first in Germany and then internationally. I always believed in the game, but I initially thought it may also be too complex to appeal to a broader audience.

Q: Of all the Catan follow-up games, which is your favorite and why?

A: Outside of the Catan family of games, I would say “Domaine” and “Entdecker.” The former game emphasizes a strategic and tactical approach and the latter stresses the element of exploration. Within the Catan family of games, I would say that the “Catan card game” and “Candamir” are my favorite ones. The former game allows for deeper game play for two players both in terms of strategic and tactical dimensions. Especially the tournament version of the card game enables players to create their very unique strategic plan by picking and organizing their own decks of cards. I personally still find the game play very exciting. In fact, when I play the card game online with others with my own card deck, I sometimes measure my blood pressure, which seems to spin out of control at times.

Candamir is dear to my heart, because I was inspired by Rebecca Gable’s Catan novel. Again, this game project allowed me to keep the feeling of the Catan novel alive by creating a game that was inspired by it. While playing “Candamir,” I can look at Catan through a magnifying glass. I can re-live the Catan novel’s adventures by roaming the meadows, forests and mountains, while engaging in all sorts of adventures.

Q: How do you balance designing a game that appeals to both seasoned gamers and casual gamers?

A: I balance that in tests. I think I am more of a seasoned gamer. However, I really enjoy a game the most when my wife, my two sons and my daughter-in-law have fun with that game as well. Only then do I know that the game will be appealing to a broader audience, which I find important.

After all, one of the elementary missions of a good game is to bring many people to the table and to provide a medium for having a good time. In terms of judging a game's ability to live up to this mission, my wife is still my toughest and most valuable critic.

Q: How do you test your new game designs?

A: Initially, I think about game concepts for a very long time before I create and play the prototype. After turning over a game idea in my head for quite a while I need to find it still enjoyable and interesting. I also need to feel a creative spark and feeling of excitement leading me to the next step. The next step is to actually create a prototype and play the game the first time.

Often, the first time playing does not turn out very well. Often I need to turn it over in my mind many times more until a creative spark kick starts the further development along a direction I feel excited about. Only Catan provided me with this creative spark the very first time I tested the game.

Before I play with other people, I make sure to test my game designs many times by myself. Sometimes, a good game in an immature state can be ruined if played too much with game testers. Understandably, repeatedly bad game testing rounds result in a negative perception of the game. In other words, too many negative test rounds can kill a game, even if it has some great core elements. In order to prevent a resulting fatigue effect with a certain game, I make sure to think about it a lot before I test it with others.

In this context, I am especially happy about the fact that my family is still having fun playing games. :-)

Q: What difficulties arise when translating board games to computer games or vice versa?

A: In the development process it is a huge challenge to distill the core concepts from a PC game (which is in most cases much more complex than a board game) and bring them to life in a board game. Bringing to life does also mean that is important to retain the game feeling. That’s really the main problem.

Q: What impact do you see Catan Online making in the well-established Catan community?

A: According to my experience it will strengthen the existing Catan player community, because players are not dependent at all times on the physical presence of other players. Players have the possibility to have Catan players at their fingertips practically 24/7. You can not only play but get to know some of the people you play with online a lot. In my experience, the online Catan games have promoted a social network that has grown stronger over time and have triggered many friendships that players cultivate online as well as offline.

In terms of the gaming experience there is a strong mutual interrelationship between the online/download and the board game Catan versions. The desire to play away from the table and to meet new people online, in turn eventually engenders the wish to play with those people at the table at some point.

Btw, I am very happy with the possibilities that Microsoft offers in terms of the Catan Online game. I am very optimistic that it will engender a lot of wonderful social connections among players not only in the US, but also internationally.

Q: Building settlements or buying development cards: What is your own favorite strategy?

A: That really depends on the initial setup conditions. When I see that ore and wheat are strong in the game, my strategy will lean preponderantly towards building cities and developing cards. On the other hand, if ore or wheat were to be weak I would shy away from the strategy described above. The nice thing is that there are so many avenues for different strategies. This offers players a different gaming experience each time they play. This fact also challenges players to pick different strategies each time they play.

Q: Do you have any tips for players who are new to Settlers of Catan?

A: First, it is very important to know that the dice rolls create numbers that have different probabilities. I noticed a lot with novice players that they are often not aware of the probabilities. A game can turn pretty ugly for you, if your settlements are built right next to 2’s, 12’s and 11’s. :-)

The second most important tip is that one should not underestimate the importance of harbors. So when a player has good access to one sort of resource, she would be well advised to found a settlement early in the game at the harbor that allows for trade with that particular resource.

Thirdly, it is important to be communicative. If you believe that people put the robber way too many times next to your settlements, voice your complaint and maybe your fellow players will show mercy. ;-)

But seriously, communication is a vital part of the game. If you are an effective communicator, you can turn that to your advantage in this game.

Q: What's next for the world of Catan? Are you planning more follow-ups, or will you be focusing on other games?

A: Both! There are still many ideas floating around for Catan as well as for other games. Currently I am in the early development stages for a new Catan game that may be released as early as this fall. Of course, I am also intrigued by trying out some game ideas outside of the Catan world. I look forward to both areas of game development.

Q: Will we be seeing you in a game of Catan Online in the near future?

A: Most certainly! I look forward to playing Catan Online on MSN Games!

Klaus, thanks again!