Saturating Catan

Business Game Proposal

Prepared by Suzanne Rose

Date: March 10, 2010

Executive Summary

Players assume the role of project mangers as they play Saturating Catan. They must

achieve project milestones necessary to release and upgrade products to consumers:

1. Product Idea

2. Product Development

3. Product Testing

4. Training Employees

5. Marketing

These products must be tied to one another with Consumer Connections to create a

positive customer experiences. Players must maintain focus on their long-term goal as

they make timed decisions about their short-term actions.

Objectives

• Release and upgrade more products than your competitors

• Adapt strategies as unexpected happenings or actions of competitors take place

throughout the lifetime of each project

• Maintain a balance between short-term and long-term strategies simultaneously

Goal

The player to reach 10 points first wins. If no players reach ten points and the board is

full or in a state where no additional game pieces can be played, the player with the most

points at that juncture wins.

Players: 2-4

Game Parts

Player Pieces

Players select and use a Player Piece to move around the board as

determined by each dice roll. Industry specific pieces are available

at www.ordersaturatingcatan.com.

Dice

Roll two dice for each turn. The die with the lower number determines how many spaces

the player moves on the board. The die with the higher number determines how many

seconds the player has to complete their move.

Tiles and Milestone Cards

Each tile has a corresponding Milestone Card. These match one another by color. When a

player lands on a tile that corresponds to a Milestone card they need, they select one

corresponding Milestone Card. Combinations of these cards allow players to place items

on the board.

1. Product Idea - Black

2. Product Development - Red

3. Product Testing - Orange

4. Training Employees - White

5. Marketing – Blue

Consumer Connection

Consumer Connections represent customer experiences in the form of both

customer service (a reflection of employees’ training) and customers’ opinions

of marketing campaigns. To saturate the community of Catan properly, players

must have two Customer Connections between each Product on the game board.

Product Launch

To launch a product, players must reach five milestones in order and

exchange their Milestone cards for a Product game piece. Players may

place a Product at any intersection of tiles on the board. This includes

intersections between the game board edge and the borders.

Product Upgrade

A Product Upgrade enhances an existing product; this may be a physical add-

on or a promotion. A Product Upgrade replaces a Product. (The Product game

piece is placed back in the player’s supply of resources.) To release a Product

Upgrade, players must have an idea, develop the promotion, and market it to

the public in order and exchange their Milestone cards for a Product Upgrade

game board piece.

**Since testing and training is not required for many upgrades, they are not included

here. Players may choose to change this based on their industry; blank Exchange Cards

are provided.

Exchange Rate cards

Exchange Rate cards list the cards needed for each exchange (image in next section).

Players must collect the cards listed and can exchange them for pieces to place on the

game board (Consumer Connections, Product Launches, and Product Upgrades). Players

must collect the cards in order. Ex: Exchange a Training card and Marketing card for a

Consumer Connection.

Oh Crap! cards

If you miscalculate your short-term strategy and land on a tile/

milestone that you cannot use, you must select an Oh Crap! card.

This card will have a message on it explaining any actions.

How to Play

Game Set-up

1. Each player may select a Player Piece and an Exchange Card.

2. Assemble the borders first. Fill the game board with tiles moving from outside

to center.

3. Stack Milestone cards and Oh Crap! cards around the edges of the board.

The Milestone cards should be set up around the board in the order they are

needed for a Product.

5. Player one places a Product on any intersection of the board. They also place

two Consumer Connections attached to the Product pointing in any direction.

6. Player two also places a Product on any intersection of the board with two

Consumer Connections attached to it.

7. Repeat for each player. Complete two round so each player has two Products on

the board (and four Consumer Connections).

Each Turn / Rules

• When it is a player’s turn they roll the dice.

o The die with the lower number determines how many spaces the player

moves on the board.

o The die with the higher number determines how many seconds the player

has to complete their move.

• A player moves their game piece in any direction without skipping any tiles; the

tile sides must touch for a player to move from one to another. Players can move

in multiple directions during a turn and can cross any Consumer Connections.

o If the player needs the milestone they land on, they collect a card

representing the milestone

� Players must collect milestone cards in order as determined by the

Exchange Rate chart.

� Players work towards multiple goals on the Exchange Rate card

simultaneously, however each must be collected in order.

o If the player lands on a milestone that is out of order from their project

plan, they collect an Oh Crap! card and follow the directions on the card.

• After their roll and move, players can exchange their Milestone cards for game

board pieces.

• If players have enough cards to exchange for a Milestone, and do not have a place

for it on the game boards, they must forfeit all cards involved in the exchange.

Exchange Rate Card

Product Release Milestone Cards

Consumer Connection Training Employees

Marketing

Product Launch Product Idea

Product Development

Product Testing

Training Employees

Marketing

Product Upgrade Product Idea

Product Development

Marketing

Appendix A

Reasoning Behind Gameplay

The time constraints simulated by the dice roll represent a common project management

scenario; time constraints may affect decisions and strategies; players must make

decisions quickly and accurately.

While managing a project, employees rarely move in straight lines. Allowing the players

freedom to move around the board as they please represents this realistically. But

skipping steps (tiles) sacrifices the project and is not allowed. However, the main reason

for this is to simulate short-term goals. A player may be looking for up to three Milestone

cards at any given time to achieve the short-term goals of creating Consumer

Connections, Products, and Product Upgrades. They must make the decision of where to

go (based on their roll) in the time allotted (based on their roll) and land on a tile that

advances one of the projects their managing.

The order of the Milestone cards is representative of a realistic product launch. Steps

must be taken in order, so it is not enough for players to simply collect the cards, they

must collect them in order.

Project managers have many projects to juggle simultaneously. They must maintain the

order of each and not let the advancement of one sacrifice another. By allowing players to

build three sets of Milestone cards, they must switch attention from one to another

quickly; just as they would on the job. In this game, project managers are limited to three

simultaneous projects. When one is complete, another of the same type may begin.

If a project manager mis-steps, they likely say, “Oh Crap!” If they do not plan their

progress properly in the time allotted, players must select an Oh Crap! card that lists a

negative outcome such as, “Return the last Milestone card you collected.” or, “Skip your

next turn.” As in real life, some consequences are bigger than others.

If players have enough cards to exchange for a Milestone, and do not have a place for it

on the game boards, they must forfeit all cards involved in the exchange. This is a sign of

poor project management of both short-term and long-term goals. The entire project is

sacrificed, so the player must start over.