Settlers of Catan - Globe Edition - Magnetized

Yes, you are seeing it right! A 3D playable Catan Globe!

This is my 3D rendition of the settlers of Catan which uses A LOT of magnets.

Warning, this is a project and then some to assemble! If you want something easier to print and assemble, try my PolyPanel version:

Polypanel version (link)

This will print quicker, almost uses no hardware and clicks together. Gameplay is more finnicky though, it doesn't have the satisfying snap this magnetized globe does. So if you are serious about your hobby and board games, I recommend this one.

This globe is printed in parts and need to be glued and assembled with magnets in place. For the magnets I used super glue / cyanoacrylate, to attach the parts together I also used this but it really limits your working time. Something like acrylic glue (provided you print in PLA) would give you some more working time to neatly assemble the globe.

Parts

• 60 - 10x5x2 magnets
• 320 - 12x2 magnets
• 2 - 6000 bearings
• 1 - M10 rod end

Assembly:

• Mark all your magnets! Keep the same polarity (A) pointing outside in every component!
• Start by removing the corner supports of the hexagons and pentagons
• Glue two magnets inside the hexagons and pentagons with A pointing outwards (including top hexagon)
• Carefully glue the bearings in the top and bottom hexagon
• Assemble two halve domes with magnets in between ALL pieces (again, A pointing out), including the inner corners of the equator
• This is the hard part, assemble the two halve domes together, again with magnets in between the two halves.
• Glue magnets in the tiles, number pieces, robbert, villages, cities and streets (rectangular ones)
• Get an M10 rod-end, cut it to length (better too long than too short) and screw it in the base. Too long? Shorten excess
• Slide the globe on and you are off to the races!

For the gameplay you need settlers of Catan for all the other components.

The gameplay is almost exactly the same, except you now have pentagons. Our rule is that no two villages of the same color can be next to each other but ONE instance of two different colored villages can be next to each other on a pentagon-hexagon edge. Three villages is still the maximum for all tiles.

Trading is done at the trading islands/harbors. You can rotate these so the harbor points point at two nodes on the hexagon or pentagon. Ice tiles function as desert tiles, only at the poles instead of the equator.

It can be helpful to keep track of your resources and the numbers associated to them on a piece of paper, because you can not see the complete globe at once.

Any other gameplay adaptations are at your own judgement, but we have been playing this for at least six years now and it seems kind of balanced!

Happy printing and gaming!

- Rossero