If you’ve played every expansion available, and have mixed up the rules six ways from Sunday, but are still finding yourself bored of The Settlers of Catan, here’s a hail Mary pass that might just make it interesting again. It involves turning the game’s 2D board into a 3D sphere that Instructables user PenfoldPlant calls the Catanosphere.
Things immediately seem more exciting when you’re playing towards dominating an entire planet, instead of just a tiny island. The Instructable walks you through the whole creation and build process — using cardboard and lots and lots of magnets — but it’s tailored towards someone with access to a laser cutting machine. In theory you could cut every required piece by hand, but no board game is worth that.
The rules and gameplay also have to be modified a bit to accommodate this dramatic new layout. There’s far less water and shorelines to take advantage of harbors, and players aren’t able to see the entire board at once, although the globe can be spun as needed. Trade a hobby knife for some hot glue? [Instructables via Nerd Approved]
