Klaus Teuber, creator of Catan board game, dead at 70

Tueber's family confirmed the passing of the German board game designer.

picture-alliance/dpa
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Sad news has struck the board game community as Catan creator Klaus Tueber has passed away at age 70. The German game designer is most known for creating Catan, a settlement board game that spawned multiple adaptations and influenced a genre.

Klaus Teuber’s family confirmed his passing in a statement on the Catan website. The announcement doesn’t get into specifics, but it does confirm that Teuber passed away after a “brief” battle with an illness.

At this time, the Teuber family respectfully requests the chance to bid farewell to their loved one in private and to be allowed the space they need to grieve.

Three settlers standing on a dirt path beside a wheat field.

Source: Catan Studio

Catan was first released in 1995. Designed by Klaus Teuber, the board game put players in the roles of settlers, tasking them with establishing a settlement and expanding it. Designed to be played with multiple players, Catan saw many expansions, updates, and iterations over the years. It also received multiple spin-offs including Spacefarers of Catand and the Catan Card Game, as well as video game adaptations like Catan: The Computer Game.

Catan’s popularity endured through the modern era as well. In 2019, Asmodee Digital released Catan on the Nintendo Switch alongside some other classic board games. The Catan World Championship began in 2002 and still occurs biennially.

With how massive of an empire Catan has grown to be, the franchise will continue to live on, hopefully honoring the legacy of its late creator. Shacknews sends its condolences to Klaus Teuber’s family and friends.

News Editor

Donovan is a young journalist from Maryland, who likes to game. His oldest gaming memory is playing Pajama Sam on his mom's desktop during weekends. Pokémon Emerald, Halo 2, and the original Star Wars Battlefront 2 were some of the most influential titles in awakening his love for video games. After interning for Shacknews throughout college, Donovan graduated from Bowie State University in 2020 with a major in broadcast journalism and joined the team full-time. He is a huge Scream nerd and film fanatic that will talk with you about movies and games all day. You can follow him on twitter @Donimals_

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