“It is with great sadness and a heavy heart that the Teuber family announces their beloved husband and father Klaus Tuber passed away at 70 on April 1, 2023, after a short and serious illness,” said the statement posted on the German-language Catan website.
Gaming Legend Passes Away
Klaus Teuber, the inventor of the board game Catan, passes away at 70.
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What Is Catan?
Catan is a popular multiplayer board game with over 20 million players worldwide. It was developed by Klaus Teuber and first published in 1995 in Germany. Players in the game have the role of settlers that build their own colonies and can trade or acquire resources. The goal is to grow their settlements as much as possible.
How To Play Catan?
The game board represents the Island Catan, and consists of different hexagonal tiles. The players use resource cards to build roads and cities on the tiles to grow or upgrade their settlements, or to get more resources.
Build Your Own Colonies In Catan
Players can use five resource cards to build their colonies which may represent wool, lumber, grain, ore and brick. They gather resources by building roads to different hexagonal tiles, which gives different resource cards.
How Do Players Win Catan?
In the game, the players create and grow their settlements which can also be upgraded to cities. For each settlement, players earn one point and for each city they earn two points. They gain victory points as their settlements grow and the first player to reach 10 points is crowned as the winner.
Catan Loved Globally
Catan is available in over 40 languages for users to play globally. Some of these languages include Japanese, German, English, Spanish, Dutch and French.
The Teuber Family Is Grieving
The family and loved ones of Klaus Teuber have requested privacy during this difficult time in their lives.
The Catan Studio Pays Tribute To Klaus Teuber
The team posted on social media, “While Klaus’ contributions to the board gaming industry are immeasurable, we will remember him most as a kind and selfless human being, an inspirational leader, and most importantly, as a friend.”
When Was Teuber Born?
Klaus Teuber was born in June 1952 in Rai-Breitenbach, Germany.
His First Job
When he started designing board games in his basement, Klaus Teuber was a dental technician.
Teuber Created His World
“I had many problems with the company and the profession,” he said. “I developed games to escape. This was my own world I created.”
Teuber Didn’t Anticipate The Success
Klaus Teuber did not anticipate the success of his game, and when it did, he left his dental job in 1998.
Klaus’ Vision Is Successful
Klaus Teuber had a vision of his world and brought it to life with Catan, which also became the vision of so many more people.
Catan Becomes A Family Business
The game is now a family business with multiple members running the company.
Catan Sales Go Up During Covid
During quarantine, everyone played games to escape boredom, and sales of the game shot up during that time. They skyrocketed by 144% during the first five months of the year and sold more than 32 million copies.
Klaus And His Vision Live Forever
“I developed games to escape”, Mr. Teuber informed the New Yorker in 2014. He was tired of his job as a dental technician and had a passion for designing games.
Teuber: A Gaming Legend
Catan is an award winning game, making it one of the top board games in the world. It won the Spiel de Jahres award, a prestigious prize in the gaming community. Once it was released in the USA in 1996, sales only kept on surging for the game.
Catan Studios Releases A Statement
The Catan Studios released a statement on the founder’s death to honor his memory.
“His legacy will continue to inspire and shape the gaming community for years to come.”
The Catan Studio’s Message To Fans
In their statement, the studio stated, “We encourage you to honor Klaus’ memory by being kind to one another, pursuing your creative passions fearlessly, and enjoying a game with your loved ones.”
