10 Robber Strategies
Original Script:
Focus
Don’t get robbed
T/T
Splitscreen, red settlement with robber (“blocked”), green without (“safe”)
Don’t Get Robbed
Notes
Use arrows to show robber moving.
Use pokemon battle sequence to enter question mode
Persuade / Beg / Yell / Ragequit
When the trick works, use pokemon battle
When it doesn’t do ragdoll animation and the ‘what if’ scenario
Perspectives
What I did successfully
Final fantasy camera pans with 2 big button options.
As the answer is being spoken, robber hits and slow-mo
Camera focus me, other guy drifting in background
What I should have done
Final fantasy camera pans with 2 big button options.
As the answer is being spoken, robber hits and slow-mo
Camera focus me, cam is flying with me
Who should I rob?
Third person cam view of who should I rob
Cam switches to robber cam of robber flying to hit target
Summary
“I only have a brick.”
Look at what your opponent is least likely to want by sharing what they are most likely to already have.
“Flip a coin.”
If it’s early game and your opponent is not sure who to steal. Try suggesting that they flip a coin.
“I’ll trade you what you need to not block me.”
Since you may not successfully steal it.
“I have a knight.”
“What are you looking for?” (they answer) “Blue has X”
“That player is about to cut off your road.”
If they were blocked, “Blue blocked you, return the favour”
“Orange is winning”
“I’m in last place”
Script V01
There are a lot of 7’s rolled in this game, and we’ll be breaking down what players could have done to avoid being blocked or robbed. At the end we’ll show how many resources were stolen or denied from each player and how much that hurt their game.
And finally me, who is in a subscriber battle against the official Monopoly channel, and there can only be one Monopoly (show mono card). Get it.. One.. monopoly. So anyway, if you like Catan, please like & subscribe so we can bankrupt the Monopoly man.
There are a lot of 7's in this game, and you’re going to witness the many ways you can avoid being blocked or robbed. You would be amazed at just how many resources you can save if you say the right things.
The first 7 drops on the second turn of the game and Orange is looking for blood. Orange blocks both black and myself. and Blue doesn’t have what he is looking for. Orange has a sheep and a road in hand, and is very likely to get wheat, so he is probably looking for either wood or brick to build his next settlement. What would you say here to not get robbed?
“Black has a road in hand, so you have a 2 out of 3 chance of getting what you want by stealing from him.”
“Slowing down a player who started with a road in hand is a really strong move.”
A: Both of these can work but the first has a clear benefit to the Orange and he is more likely to listen.
Blue rolls a 7. He immediately announces he is looking for wheat and knows I have some. He is working towards building his first city and is adamant on wheat. What would you say to him here?
“Orange has strong wheat spots, he probably has wheat.”
“I’ll trade you wheat to not block me.”
A: It would be easy for Orange to correct me saying he doesn’t have wheat because 8 and 3 hasn’t rolled yet. You could try this tactic later in the game when there is a lot going on, but it’s still early game and you are likely to be caught in the lie. So instead, if you prefer to not get blocked you could bribe your way out, which I did by trading Blue my wheat for his sheep in exchange for not being blocked. This way I’m not down a card, I’m not blocked and my opponents are blocked.
Black rolls a 7. He has a few options for blocks but ends up blocking the 6 ore. What would you say here?
“Blue might have a city in hand, we can’t let him city so early.”
“I only have a brick.”
A: Both of these are good and can be used together. It’s clear that Blue has city potential and Black likely has no use for my brick since he has the 9 and 10 brick.
B-b-b-b-bonus TIP
Players often move the robber to where it will do the most harm to opponents, and thus the sixes and eights are frequent targets and may not produce as much as their high probability indicates. Players who crowd around these hexes can find themselves unable to maintain consistent production because of the robber's influence.
I roll a 7. What should I do here?
“Try to steal wood for my settlement since it’s hard to get wood.”
“Block and rob Blue because he has a city.”
A: Blocking the 5 sheep was a wasteful block because 3 different players are able to move the robber. On top of that, robbing Blue doesn’t serve an immediate purpose for me, he just spent his cards and I’m not really gaining anything useful. Instead, I should have robbed Orange who had at least 2 wood in hand out of 5 cards.
Black rolls a 7. I have the only remaining wood after Orange spends all of his. Black immediately robs me with no opportunity for discussion. How could I have prevented this?
When the 7 rolls, I could say, “Hey _Player_, what are you looking for?”
When the 7 rolls, I could say, “I haven’t built anything, please don’t rob me.”
A: Both of these can work, starting with the pity statement and then if they still insist on robbing you, you might be able to bribe them instead.
I roll a 7. I see that Orange has a bunch of wood that I could easily steal since those are the only cards in his hand. Should I..
Steal the wood, no questions asked. OR
Propose to not block his double settlements in exchange for a 2:1 trade.
A: I think I should have proposed the trade since Orange is sitting pretty with 4 settlements and wouldn’t mind the 2:1 trade. I would just specify that I’m not blocking his 10 wood instead of not blocking him altogether and go for the 8 ore or 5 sheep.
Bonus
As a rule of thumb, in the early/middle game, you should place the robber on the player to your right. The reason is that it will spend more time there. The player to your right can’t take the robber off for three more rolls, which is great. Now, if the player to your left or the player across from you rolls a seven, the robber will move. But, they might remember your kindness and not use it on you.
Black rolls a 7. He could block the 8 wheat, 4 brick or 6 ore. I would prefer him to not block the 6 ore or 4 brick. What could I say?
“That 8 wheat looks really dangerous, both Blue and Orange are on resources to start making cities.”
“Orange’s turn is furthest away from yours, he is likely to get a lot of resources by his turn and could further his lead.”
A: I personally prefer the second because I feel like the first could backfire and end up having the 6 ore blocked because of Blue’s city.
Blue rolls a 7. He has a lot of block options here. What should I do?
“Point out the 10 wood.”
“Point out the 8 ore.”
A: I don’t have to worry about being blocked here since I would either be solo blocked or because I share tiles with Blue. Instead, I need to help direct Blue to where he could deal maximum damage and I think it’s the 8.
Bonus
Getting a game night of Catan can be tough. You are trying to schedule time with friends and hope that they are all available at the same time to come over and play. Luckily you can still get your Catan fix by playing Catan online and I would recommend Colonist.io. As you can see in the video, Colonist makes Catan super accessible and I’ve recommended it to a bunch of friends here and there, and they are all hooked. And I’ll bet you’ll like it too. In fact, we can even play together. You can find the link to Colonist.io in the description below.
Orange rolls a 7. He has the 6 ore in his sights, but he wants to steal from me. What should I do?
“Threaten to use a Knight and block him if he does.”
“Suggest that he steal from Blue because he is deadlier.”
A: I shouldn’t feint a knight here because I’ve had this dev card in hand since early game and despite all the blocks, I haven’t used it and I don’t want to draw attention to that fact. I would try to suggest that Blue is a better target for the steal.
Bonus
The real reason the Knight is valuable isn’t because he can move the robber – it’s because he can threaten to move the robber. Once the knight has done it, the threat is over and the player has no more protection. By the same token, I love getting one early development card just so I can say, “Well, you could put the robber on me, but I’ll put it right back on you.So why don’t you put it on the other guy? He has no dev cards.” Ah, Knights. It’s like holding off three bad guys with one bullet. Sure, you can only shoot one of them, but who’s going to volunteer?
Black steals from Blue, Blue rolls a 7, what should Blue do?
“Revenge stealing is cool.”
“Winning the game is cooler.”
A: Blue just goes for the revenge steal lol
Blue rolls a 7. At this point in the game, I have a clearly solid position since I finally got my 6/9/10 city and Blue is looking to block me. What should I do?
“Complain that I’m being solo targeted.”
“Accept that if you are winning, being blocked is part of the game.”
A: I think the answer is both here. As the frontrunner it’s expected for you to be blocked, but you could try to argue to do a double block tile so someone else is also slowed down too.
I roll a 7. The 8 wheat is a perfect choice, but why?
“Blue can’t do anything without development cards and this is his only wheat source.”
“This is Orange and Blue’s only source of wheat.”
A: The answer is both, lol easy.
Orange rolls a 7. He instantly blocks the 6 ore, is that the right choice?
“There are 2 cities on the 6 ore.”
“The two players being blocked are your most dangerous competitors.”
A: Yep again, easy choice.
Bonus
You’re always supposed to place the robber on the person with the most victory points, right? Or,are you supposed to place it on a 6 or 8 so that it takes out someone’s best number, right? Or was it that you should try to put it so that it affects as many people as possible? And of course, you never want to put the robber on someone holding development cards because they probably have a knight, and they’ll just put it right back on you, right? Well, the reality is that the robber is entirely situational which is why I made the video this way.
Orange rolls a 7 and I am closing the gap. I immediately get solo blocked on my 9 wheat. What could I have done?
“Invest in Knights.”
“Don’t worry, someone will roll a 7.”
A: With my current setup, I should be saving aggressively for dev cards to maintain my strong holds because I am now clearly in a position to win.
Final Tip. There’s a lot of variety here, but if I HAD to condense it into one tactic, it would be this.
Black rolls a 7. You can see that Black doesn’t have access to wheat. As soon as the 7 is rolled or knight is played, say, “Are you looking for wheat?” There is a good chance they will say yes. Then you have to try to redirect them to steal from someone who you claim has wheat. Especially if you can make the case that wheat was rolled for them recently or some other kind of proof. If that fails and they insist on stealing from you. You can say that they’ll have better luck trading you. They can 2:1 for your wheat or take their chances and waste their turn. If they insist on trying their luck and you don’t want the wheat but want to keep the other cards in your hand safe, you can just offer to give them the wheat. If you do want the wheat, if your most snarky voice you can muster, say, “I didn’t take for you a gambler, but good luck hitting this jackpot.”
Like, subscribe, lets beat monopoly, k bye!
As
Script v4
Don’t Get Robbed
*warning, warning* Incoming Robber *warning warning* Incoming robber. (animation as it descends from the sky onto Catan.
Meet the Robber. One of the most criminally underrated mechanics in all of Catan. It’s often dismissed as an annoyance, but once you learn the ways of the robber, you might have to practice your supervillain laugh.
Wanted poster.
TYPO - Criminally Underrated Mechanics.
Here are 10 amazing ways that you can use or defend against the robber. This video is full of surprises so keep your eye on the timeline so you don’t what’s coming up next.
TYPO - 5 settlements, 4 cities, 3 dev cards
#1 - First blood. Early game is the easiest time to keep track of what resources other players have. After you know what resource you want, place the robber on your opponent's 2nd settlement with that matching resource if you know they haven’t spent it yet. With only 3 cards in your opponent's hand, there is a good chance you’ll steal what you’re looking for. BUT early game is also an easy time to make enemies. Getting blocked and robbed in the early game can really suck, and if you do that to someone, you might be burning some bridges. Instead, choose to block as many players as possible, and then roll a dice to decide who you steal from so it doesn’t feel like you are targeting anyone in particular. Here’s a clip from a Catan National Championship Game showing you how it’s done.
(show clip)
Clean & Clear MG
#2 - Take My Wallet. Sometimes you really don’t want to get blocked or robbed and it might be worth bribing the robber to not rob you by offering to trade them the card they are looking for. This exchange means you still have the same number of cards, you are not blocked AND your opponents are blocked.
3D manne bribing robber + MG above (leave room in 3d)
B-b-b-b-bonus TIP
Players often move the robber to where it will do the most harm to opponents, and thus the sixes and eights are frequent targets and may not produce as much as their high probability suggests. Players who crowd around these hexes can find themselves unable to maintain consistent production because of constantly being blocked and robbed. Here’s a clip from a Catan World Championship match where as soon as a player monopolises a strong 8, they get ganged up on.
2 players on an 8 wheat.
(Clip, montage of robber going back to the 8 and people stealing a resource)
#3 - Monopoly Junior. You can monopolise a particular resource that you produce by blocking the production of it from other players who produce it, thereby increasing the scarcity and value of that resource so that you can trade with it more favourably.
I have the only non-blocked good wheat.
Speaking of Monopoly. I am in a subscriber battle against the official Monopoly channel. Why? Because when people think of family game nights, the first game I want them to think of is Catan instead of monopoly. So I ask you, will you like & subscribe so that we can bring Catan to more family game nights.
MK style fight, 3D people, health bars are subscriber count.
#4 - Sold Out. If you sense someone is trying to steal from you, clearly ask them, “what are you looking for?”. Whatever they answer, just say that you don’t have it and give a clear example of why, even if it’s a lie. You can say something like, “I don’t have wheat, I spent it on this development card.” Even though you bought that development card ages ago, it at least looks like a reasonable lie.
Robber alternating between settlements, unplaced.
Mannu from left of screen, “what are you looking for?”
Flash dev card.
#5 - Price Alerts. When you know you need a particular resource for whatever your next move is, especially a resource that is hard for you to get, keep track of who is getting those resources so that when you roll a 7, you’ll be more confident in who you steal from.
Show wanted resource. Roll dice, flash hexes for resource distribution, flash green for wood resource.
Bonus
As a rule of thumb, in the early and middle game, you should place the robber on the player to your right because it will take 3 more dice rolls before they can attempt to knight it, really hurting their production. Now, if one of the other two players roll a seven, the robber will move. But, they might remember your kindness and not use it on you.
3D manne’s playing around board. Show arrow for who is rolling dice and that it takes 3 turns before a knight can be played.
#6 - Go Fish. If you sense someone is trying to steal from you, keep an eye out for what resources they already have in abundance. If you have a similar abundance, clearly point out that you have a lot of the same resources and that they should shop elsewhere.
3D manne’s, someone trying to steal. Flash hexes of abundance from opponent. Speech bubble that you have that instead of what’s showing in your hand.
#7 - Cry About It. One of the most effective tactics to win Catan is to constantly remind the table that you are losing Catan. Keep track of how many times you have been blocked and robbed and remind the players anytime they are considering blocking you. You can even fudge the numbers a little bit cause their not keeping track of how many times you’ve actually been robbed.
Bonus
Getting a game night of Catan can be pretty tough. It’s hard for everyone to be on the same schedule to come over and play board games. But luckily you can still play Catan.. online and I would recommend Colonist.io. Colonist makes playing Catan online super easy and accessible and I’ve recommended it to a bunch of friends and they are loving it. And I’ll bet you’ll like it too. In addition to a quick match finder, Colonist has a discord channel where you can find people to play with any day, any time. You can find me on there too so that when we played together, I can use all these robber tricks on you.
Phone group text with excuses, “busy watching Lost In Play on YouTube”
Swipe to Colonist.
#8 - Brick Wheat Ore. If you are uncertain about what resources to block when you roll a 7, you can keep it simple by just noting what stage of the game you are in. If it’s early game, brick is usually a good choice, because it is already scarce with 3 tiles and if you block one, it’ll really slow down a lot of players. In the Early to Mid game you’ll want to focus on wheat as that is when people start buying settlements and development cards. In the Mid to Late game you’ll want to block Ore as people will be trying to upgrade to cities and spam development cards.
Timeline showing when to block what
#9 - Guards, GUARDS! It’s always a good idea to keep a knight handy as a way to deter people from blocking you. If someone threatens to steal from you, let them know kindly but sternly that you’ll be sending that robber right back to them if they decide to block you. And you don’t even need a knight to say this, just a face down dev card. If you DO want to return the knight to them, consider playing the knight to unblock your hex BEFORE you roll the dice. This way, you have a chance to gain resource AND block your opponent from gaining theirs.
Same angle and idea as #6
Bonus
Make sure to read the comments as I’m sure a lot of people have a ton more ideas of how to effectively use, defend against and think about the overall utility of the robber and knight. And do you know who is the greatest robber of all? The monopoly man who not only owns your house, but owns the idea of what game should be played on your dining table.
Evil monopoly man