Catan board game maker Klaus Teuber dies at the age of 70

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By Associated Press

April 5, 2023 | 4:47 a.m

Klaus Teuber, the creator of the popular board game Catan in which players compete to build settlements on a fictional island, has died after a short illness, according to a family statement.

He was 70 years old.

The board game, which was originally called The Settlers of Catan when it was introduced in 1995 and is based on a set of hexagonal tiles, has sold tens of millions of copies and is available in more than 40 languages.

It has spawned dozens of spin-offs and remakes, including electronic ones, not to mention game-related products.

“It is with great sadness and a heavy heart that the Teuber family announces the death of their beloved husband and father, Klaus Teuber, at the age of 70 on April 1, 2023, after a short and serious illness,” the statement, published on the German newspaper, read. Catan language website. The family asked for privacy.

A statement from the Catan studio team on social media noted, “While Klaus’ contributions to the board game industry are incalculable, we will remember him most as a kind and selfless human being, an inspiring leader, and most importantly, as a friend.”

Tupper was born in June 1952 in the German city of Rye Breitenbach.

He was working as a dental technician in the 1980s outside the industrial city of Darmstadt, he told The New Yorker in 2014 when he took up board game design in his basement.

“I had many problems with the company and the profession,” he said. “I developed escape games. This was my own world that I made.”

In multiplayer, competitors use five resources to build their colonies or settlements: wool, grain, wood, bricks, and ore.

Teuber never thought his game would become so successful; He finally quit his job as a dentist in 1998 “when I felt Kattan could feed me and my family,” he told The New Yorker. The game has become a family business.

The company told National Public Radio (NPR) that in the first five months of the pandemic in 2020, sales skyrocketed as people played games in quarantine.

Katan’s studio team urged those grieving to “honor Klaus’ memory by being kind to one another, fearlessly pursuing your creative passions, and enjoying a game with your loved ones.”