Everything went quiet when Elliott Yap prepared to seize the championship title at one of the biggest board game competitions in Australia. His heart was racing, but all he had to do was wait. And as the player to his right gathered resources to finish their turn, the 2023 Australian Catan champion broke the silence.
"Don't even bother collecting, I already have the win," Yap said. Journalism for the curious Australian across politics, business, culture and opinion. The 20-year-old medicine student is now gearing up for the 2025 world championship after winning the national competition in August and the West Australian state contest a few months earlier.
Having sold more than 40 million copies in 40 different languages, Catan is a seminal board game that has been parodied in TV shows like Parks and Recreation and inspired ovine memes across the web. Yap's cousins introduced him to the game in 2021 and he fell into the world immediately. He started watching Youtube videos by pros like DyLighted Catan, joined Discord servers like Catan Community and Catan Championship and spent the next six months playing for three-to-four hours a day.
"I just thought it was amazing, I wanted to do it myself," he told AAP. "So, I'd go online, play with people, and lose a lot. "In terms of helping me grow as a Catan player, they were essential, and I've made a lot of friends there.
" Previously known as Settlers of Catan, the board game asks players to develop roads and settlements while trading .
