If you've never played Catan, you don't need any expansions. Expansions tend to lengthen the game. I haven't played all expansions but from what I've heard your list is pretty much in order of best to worst except for the newest one for which I've heard nothing.
I would definitely recommend Cities & Knights. It makes the game a lot more fun. I won't even play vanilla Settlers anymore. I'm not a fan of Seafarers. It's ok if you use a house rule to make it so you can build roads and convert straight to ships without needing a settlement, but it's way too easy to get trapped. I haven't played the other two expansions.
I've only played the first two and they don't add much.
If you want to invest in an expansion, the 5-6 player expansion is your best bet.
Though honestly, I'm not a big fan of Settlers anyways. It mostly plays like Monopoly. You make a few decisions early and then the game is mostly decided by die rolls. There's trading, but if you're trading with someone a lot, that person is probably winning.
I'd strongly suggest taking your money and buying some other games. I can highly recommend Agricola and Puerto Rico for games with a similar thematic feel but mechanics that are MILES better.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
My Moderator Helpdesk
Currently Playing:
Legacy: Something U/W Controlish EDH Cube
Hypercube! A New EDH Deck Every Week(ish)!
Cities and Knights improves the game in a few key ways, especially 3-player games. The other expansions aren't worth it, imo. I haven't tried the newest one though.
The big problem with a 3-player game in the base set is that it's pretty hard to win without Longest Road or Largest Army. Inevitably, 2 players will be competing for one of those, leaving the remaining player able to scoop up the other objective rather easily. Cities and Knights keeps Longest Road, but replaces Largest Army with a set of other objectives. This change makes it easier to avoid direct competition for the objectives if you want. There's still a lot of competition in the game, but it feels less "king-maker" to me in 3-player games.
C&K isn't perfect, it has some problems. On balance though, I think the game is more fun with it. The original game is still great, and it's probably unnecessary to try C&K until you've gotten your fill of the base game.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
Can I get some recommendations/ advice on this decision?
-Cities and Knights
-Seafarers
-Explorers and Pirates
-Traders and Barbarians
If you want to invest in an expansion, the 5-6 player expansion is your best bet.
Though honestly, I'm not a big fan of Settlers anyways. It mostly plays like Monopoly. You make a few decisions early and then the game is mostly decided by die rolls. There's trading, but if you're trading with someone a lot, that person is probably winning.
I'd strongly suggest taking your money and buying some other games. I can highly recommend Agricola and Puerto Rico for games with a similar thematic feel but mechanics that are MILES better.
Currently Playing:
Legacy: Something U/W Controlish
EDH Cube
Hypercube! A New EDH Deck Every Week(ish)!
The big problem with a 3-player game in the base set is that it's pretty hard to win without Longest Road or Largest Army. Inevitably, 2 players will be competing for one of those, leaving the remaining player able to scoop up the other objective rather easily. Cities and Knights keeps Longest Road, but replaces Largest Army with a set of other objectives. This change makes it easier to avoid direct competition for the objectives if you want. There's still a lot of competition in the game, but it feels less "king-maker" to me in 3-player games.
C&K isn't perfect, it has some problems. On balance though, I think the game is more fun with it. The original game is still great, and it's probably unnecessary to try C&K until you've gotten your fill of the base game.