[JoshBaker] wanted to make something special for his brother this past Christmas. He decided on making a wooden game board version of the Settlers of Catan game. [Josh] used CorelDraw to construct the vector images needed for the board. Then, he set out cutting the base, engraving and cutting out the many wooden pieces with a laser cutter. All the pieces were stained and then sealed with polyurethane. He assembled the base so that the removable hex tiles, ports, and resource numbers sit nicely in the recessed parts and don’t shift during gameplay. He complemented the board with tokens and game pieces that he hand-painted. [Josh] also created a new set of cards to fit with the board’s aesthetic.
The board is done incredibly well, not to mention beautiful to look at. The hex tiles’ designs are very detailed. The stained and engraved wood really adds to the atmosphere of the game. We featured a coffee table that would be perfect to play it on. [Josh] has listed all of the vector files for the version he gave his brother, as well as additional ones for the Cities and Knights Expansion. We wish we could have seen the look on his brother’s face when he got such an awesome Christmas gift!
[via Instructables]
Wait a minute, you mean they are that far along in that game and NOONE has rolled a 7?!? Come on. That robber/thief starts movin the instant the game starts with the guys I play with.
Now if I could just get my hands on a nice laser cutter…
You can put the robber back on the desert and still steal from an adjacent, right?
Not sure. Been a while since I played but I think that is right. Usually though we cutthroats were going for a resource block so why put it back. ;)
No, at least not in the games that i played…
When we are playing catan, we don’t use the robber/thief.
If anyone rolls 7, then he or she rolls again.
It is much more fun this way, and less chance of getting mad at each other.
Isn’t there a copyright issue here?
Not if they aren’t selling them commercially.
Why would there be? He’s not selling it?
The only copyright issue would be if he copied the card text verbatim. It would however be a trademark issue if he sold/marketed it with the name “Catan”, “The Settlers of Catan”, “Prof. Easy”, or any other trademarks Catan GmbH owns.
i believe that applies if he, or anyone, starts charging for the files and/or claiming it is a new game of their own design..
No, posting the files online would be copyright infringement; it only matters if the game maker wants to go after him for it.
It’s the same as posting a book or a mp3 online for anyone to download. Game tiles are just a bit less useful without the rules to go with them.
It’s not copyright infringement since the designs are original. Games can be patented though.
I couldn’t find any patents on Catan (In my 15 min of searching).
It’s my understanding that only the artwork and written material are protected under copyright.
Need rules? The manufacturer has all the rules on their website as free downloads. http://www.catan.com/service/game-rules
Additionally, he’s not *copying* the original. See the 3d-printing analysis at
http://boingboing.net/2011/02/09/is-it-legal-to-print.html
(says the person who posted created http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:454228 as a set of 3d-printable Catan tiles)
Does not matter if he is ‘copying’ the original exactly. This would still fall under a ‘derivative work’ and is probably still a copyright violation. https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/17/101
He is from Canada if I understand it correctly, they might have small differences in the fine print of copyright law.
It think you’d better find some place where they have Canadian copyright law to quote.
Autodesk might share your worries though, because they are residing in the US.
Also, when people are stating the law as a certainty, as you do, they normally either start with “I’m not a lawyer, but ….” or they state that they, in fact. are …
At our lab we were working on a 3d printable version, but one of the other modelers fell through so we only got half the game done.
Wow, very nice build. Very nice indeed. [Josh] is very skillful, and his brother is very fortunate!