Competitors from across the country descended on Denver last weekend to trade sheep, ore, wood, wheat and bricks at the highest level. Yes, the national championships for The Settlers of Catan had come to town.

The German board game is about harvesting resources and, crucially, trading them with opponents to build settlements and roads to win. Players must be tactful, even trustworthy, to work with other players — in order to defeat them.

We went to the downtown Sheraton Hotel to watch America’s best barterers cook. The skills Catan has taught them, they said, might be valuable lessons for a world that’s forgotten how to work together.

‘You can’t do it by yourself.’

Thornton resident Nathan Dorn played for years with family and friends, and he figured he was pretty good. Then, in 2019,

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