[ntaso]

If you like Catan, check out one of the apps for Android/iPhone that uses an algorithm to make the basic setup more fair. I tried one for Android a few times and it was always a close call. The game was much more engaging for players that have a bad start than if you set up the game in the proposed fashion.

Usually, the algorithms do stuff like:

  - if there's a 6 and 8 next to each other, the third field is always a 2 or 12
  - there's always wood next to clay
  - a 2:1 harbor is never next to a huge field of one type of resource (say, 2-3 grassland)
  - etc.

[tmhedberg]

> - if there's a 6 and 8 next to each other, the third field is always a 2 or 12

At least in the version of the game that I own, if you follow the prescribed setup rules, there can never be an adjacent 6 and 8. The terrain tiles are randomized, but the placement of the numbers on the tiles is deterministic, and results in a spatially uniform distribution of the high-yield numbers.

[ntaso]

That's true. The apps distribute the numbers differently to make it more interesting. I don't know the exact rules, but I know that 6 and 8 may be adjacent, but if this happens, there must also be 2 or 12. Just give it a try, it's fun :)

[thedufer]

> the placement of the numbers on the tiles is deterministic

Not quite; the random placement of the desert tiles affects it, and you choose at random where to begin placing. That said, its still impossible for there to be adjacent 6s/8s.