Confession

I am not obsessed with Settlers. I know, I know. We're all shocked and appalled.

For those of you not familiar with the latest game sweeping the Mormons, I'm speaking of Settlers of Catan (all hail Lord of Catan. You are mighty and wise). In Settlers you have a board with various natural resources upon which you place settlements and roads in order to obtain said resources with the roll of the die and to attain such heights as "Longest Road" or "Largest Army." Oh the hilarity that ensues.

Plus, Settlers is so super special that you have to go to a super special store to get it. Not only that, but you have to pay a super special price for it - ie TOO MUCH. And there are expansion packs.

Honestly, I enjoy playing Settlers if it happens to be being played, but I don't generally seek it out. Some of the Boston Mormons play almost every night. In fact, one night I played at a house where TWO Settlers games were going on at the same time. Sometimes the games get heated. I've seen people yell and exclaim about the unfairness of it all, followed by the yanking out of the rulebook to contest their opponent's latest move, but Settlers has never inspired great passion in me.

For my money Nerts is the game to play. Nerts is a group Solitaire-type game that results in lots of yelling and flailing of cards and gnashing of teeth. Now there's some good fun.