@jacobrealo Catan is not the first game to use hexagonal tiles, but it's definitely the game that popularized the use! This is what's sometimes called a "point salad", and uses lots of popular game mechanics, to appeal to a wide variety of player styles.
@joe everyone builds up their own boating-scavenging empire- and if you choose to later on you can switch to building a floating city and be on the merchandising end of transactions.