The world of tabletop board games has lost a legend. Klaus Teuber, who created the mega-popular Catan multiplayer board game, has left us. He passed away after a brief illness, according to a family statement. He was 70 years old. The game, originally named The Settlers of Catan, sold in the millions, and is available in over forty countries. This year, it becomes a VR game. In the gameplay, the players compete to build settlements on a fictional island. Teuber’s family released a statement, which you can read down below:
“It is with great sadness and a heavy heart that the Teuber family announces their beloved husband and father Klaus Teuber passed away at the age of 70 on April 1, 2023 after a short and serious illness. The Teuber family asks for the opportunity to say goodbye to a loved one in peace for the moment and to accept that they need this privacy.”
Klaus Teuber was a dental technician in Germany during the 1980s, when he decided to design board games in his basement just for fun. In 1995, he created The Settlers of Catan, a multiplayer game where players use five resources to build their colonies: wool, grain, lumber, brick, and ore. Teuber’s love of Vikings and their history inspired the game. Catan was so successful, a mere three years later he was able to quit his day job. After that, Catan became the new family business.
The game became an institution. By the early 2000s, college campuses were hosting Catan tournaments. There was even a Catan World Championship in 2002. The game even inspired a novel in 2011. More recently, sales for Catan boomed during the pandemic, as people rediscovered it during lockdown. In a message to the fans, the Catan team urged fans to honor Klaus Teuber’s memory by “being kind to one another, pursuing your creative passions fearlessly, and enjoying a game with your loved ones.”