In Liepāja, Catan Islands Are Settled Faster Than Fishermen Return with Freshly Caught Fish

While Riga thinks everything important only happens there, this weekend 37 Catan island conquerors gathered in Liepāja to prove otherwise. "Brain Games" decided for the first time in their 20-year history that board game championships can happen outside the capital, and chose the windy city specifically.

"We see that interest in board games is growing in the regions too," explained organizer representative Rūdolfs Lagzda, apparently surprised that outside Riga people can not only fish, but also think strategically. The number of participants was exactly the same as in Jelgava, proving that mathematics works the same throughout Latvia.

Players from all over Latvia came to Liepāja to settle virtual islands faster than local fishermen can return to port with freshly caught fish. Each player had an hour and 35 minutes to build their empire - just enough time for a Liepāja resident to walk to the fish market and back.

"If 'Monopoly' is a classic, then 'Catan' is already next-level classic," Lagzda noted philosophically, apparently not knowing that in Liepāja we've long been playing real-life strategy games with public transport and wind. No participant was eliminated after the first game, which is much better than Liepāja's bus system, where sometimes the entire route gets eliminated.

The next qualifying round will be in Valmiera, but the organizers already understand - if you want real competition in board games, come to Liepāja, where we strategically plan every day how to survive the wind and get home.