board games

A new version of the popular board game Catan, which hits shelves this summer, introduces energy production and pollution into the gameplay.

How do you build without over polluting? That's the challenge of new Catan board game

5:30am April 22, 2024

by Nathan Rott

A new version of the popular board game Catan aims to make players wrestle with a 21st-century problem: How do you develop and expand without overly polluting the planet?

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Klaus Teuber, a dental technician from Darmstadt, presents his game The Settlers of Catan on Sept. 29, 1995, in Frankfurt, Germany.

World News

Klaus Teuber, Catan board game creator, dies at 70

4:37pm April 06, 2023

by Neda Ulaby

Teuber created the hugely popular game in which players compete to build settlements on a fictional island. Since its 1995 debut, it has sold tens of millions of copies in more than 40 languages.

Klaus Teuber, creator of the popular board game Catan, with his son Benjamin Teuber, a managing director at Catan Inc. Celebrating the 25th anniversary of the game's launch, the elder Teuber has released an autobiography, My Way to Catan.

World News

Families Stuck At Home Turn To Board Game Catan, Sending Sales Skyrocketing

1:51pm August 07, 2020

by Rob Schmitz

It's a strategy game of trade and development, and it has become a hit as people shelter at home during the pandemic. The German founder of the board game describes how he came up with Catan.

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You can't play games like Lost Cities and Mystic Vale with your friends in person right now, but you can still play them online.

Arts

Keep Your Game Night Rolling (At A Safe Distance) With These 3 Online Services

1:52pm March 27, 2020

by Petra Mayer

If your regular game night's been disrupted by social distancing, here are a few ways that you can take tabletop games online — so you can stay safe and still trash talk your friends when you win.

As people make efforts to stay apart from each other physically, video games are filling the socializing gap.

National

As Hanging Out Gets Difficult, More People Are Turning To Social Video Games

9:54pm March 19, 2020

by Laurel Wamsley

Online video games are proving popular as people look for a way to socialize during this time of social distancing. Some game developers are even changing games' rules to cater to the new reality.

The game Buffalo prompts players to think of people that buck stereotypes, and subliminally challenges those stereotypes in the process.

Fighting Bias With Board Games

12:46pm January 09, 2018

by Maanvi Singh

Buffalo is the sort of game you'd pull out at dinner parties when the conversation lulls. But the game's creators says it's good for something else — subliminally reducing prejudice.

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Four players sit around Cthulhu Wars, a game designed by Sandy Petersen, who also designed Call of Cthulhu.

Books
Arts

H.P. Lovecraft's Monster Is Wrapping Family Game Night Up In Tentacles

2:11pm June 07, 2017

by Christianna Silva

A century after the horror writer created Cthulhu, board game creators and players have resurrected the deep sea monster and brought it into pop culture. Why is this beast making a comeback?

NPR played the latest version of Pandemic with four real-life epidemiologists.

This Holiday Season, Give The Gift Of World Disease

7:00am December 19, 2015

by Angus Chen

We played the latest version of Pandemic with four real-life epidemiologists. And it made them sweat!

Residents of New Georgia Signboard, a small village just north of Monrovia, pass the time by playing a fast-paced board game called Ludo.

A Game Of Ludo Helps Liberians Catch A Break From Ebola

2:52pm December 16, 2014

by Didrik Schanche

The fast-paced board game — it's a lot like Parcheesi — offers a way to escape the stress of life in the Ebola zone.