Settlers of Catan

I spend about an hour everyday playing Settlers of Catan Online. Some days I play more, some days I don't play at all. I've always said a good game is about choices. Having choices that matter make the game more enjoyable.
For instance, at a gambling casino, which is more enjoyable: a game of blackjack or a game of craps? Personally I find poker more enjoyable, because I have a greater sense of control over the fate of my bet We are tied to the outcome of the game because of the money involved. Once we put down our money, we are not likely to just walk away without seeing if we win or lose. Everything we have been taught in life is that money matters. Our choices matter in the game too. Which cards do we toss out, and which cards do we keep?
Settlers of Catan can be described as poker combined with craps. There's a sense of choice and control (in determining where you place your roads, settlements and cities, as well as the cards you purchase or trade), but there's also the random factor of dice rolls, and development cards.
The object of the game is to get to 10 points, and that can be done a number of ways -- building cities, making a large army, building the longest road, purchasing development cards, etc. There are a variety of ways to accomplish the win condition.
One of the interesting aspects of the game is how people react to the game in relation to the rolls of the dice. There are players who think the dice are non-random and put the blame there. There are others who drop out of the game because their numbers or resources aren't coming up enough, or they've been beat up by the other players. But all these things are the consequences of the choices they've made. Despite this, the drop out rate for the games is incredibly low -- perhaps one in twenty games has a player who leaves during the game, the vast majority stay until the end. Part of it, I believe is the investment players have made on the game -- but the other part is the belief that they can make enough better choices to catch up and win. That's how games should be -- players should always feel like they have the power and chance to make decisions to get out of their predicament. Having this ingredient of hope allows players to continue to play on, despite the odds.