Roll the dice! Game teaches agribusiness majors principles of entrepreneurship

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — A Penn State agribusiness management class recently spent a session rolling dice, gathering and trading agricultural resources, gaining allies, and building roads and settlements. If that sounds familiar, you might recognize CATAN — the cult classic board game first released in 1995 as Settlers of CATAN, where players compete to build a civilization on a fictional island.

Playing CATAN is not unlike entrepreneurship, according to Mark Gagnon, Harbaugh Entrepreneur and Innovation Faculty Scholar in the College of Agricultural Sciences, who teaches AGBM 308W: Strategic Decision Making in Agribusiness. He first used CATAN as a learning tool for the course in fall 2023. He recently shared it with other business educators at the 2025 annual conference of the U.S. Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship.

Gagnon used board games, such as Monopoly, as learning tools in past iterations of his courses. After being introduced to CATAN by fellow hikers on the Appalachian Trail, Gagnon swapped out Monopoly for CATAN when he realized it would be a better choice for learning business strategy due to the trading and cooperation involved in building a settlement.

“CATAN has a lot of parallels to an entrepreneur starting a new venture,” Gagnon said. “You have this vision and path and a strategy of where you want to go, but reality happens, and you must adjust and pivot to a new strategy. It is a great way to practice strategic entrepreneurship and concepts like making do with what you have and competing against and collaborating with competitors.”

Gagnon slightly modified how the game typically is played: Students competed in pairs, increasing their need to practice communication and negotiation skills as they made game decisions in tandem.

“The game constrains but also enables entrepreneurship in unique ways,” Gagnon said. “When students get an awareness of that, they can think about how the marketplace is affected by those forces, and how best to use them as tailwinds rather than headwinds when starting a new business venture.”

Following the game-based class session, students wrote an essay reflecting on their experience. They analyzed their initial strategy, identified areas for improvement, discussed adjustments they made over the course of the game and their reasoning behind them, and examined who won and why. The class then participated in a group discussion during the next class period.

Class teaching assistant Mackenzie Jani, who previously took Strategic Decision Making in Agribusiness and another course, AgTech Entrepreneurship (AGBM 445), with Gagnon, said she learned a lot from the practical components of Gagnon’s courses.

“Playing CATAN in class is a lot more engaging and entertaining than a lecture when you might not have students’ attention,” the third-year agribusiness management major said. “They are learning something, literally taking actions and reporting out, based on what they learned. I think it’s very beneficial from the students’ perspective.”

Class member and third-year agribusiness management major Elizabeth Donia said she appreciated the opportunity to practice risk management.

“There is uncertainty and changing conditions when players roll the dice,” Donia said. “The game promotes problem-solving skills and requires players to find creative solutions to unexpected challenges that may arise.”

Class member Kaitlyn Kuczynski and her partner won the game, she said, due to their strategic thinking and communication.

“Our gameplay strategy focused on balancing the resources we had while still being able to ensure progress throughout the game,” said Kuczynski, a third-year agribusiness management major. “We wanted to ensure that we had a steady supply of materials while being able to expand our settlements throughout the game. In my opinion, we can apply CATAN to entrepreneurship skills in the future through critical thinking, strategic planning and even adaptability, which is important for success.”

Undergraduate students in the agribusiness management major complete coursework in marketing, management, finance and accounting from the Smeal College of Business, then apply those concepts to the agrifood system through courses such as Strategic Decision Making in Agribusiness. Graduates of the program pursue careers in farm and business management, supply chain and logistics, marketing and sales, policy and consulting, and entrepreneurship. More information is available on the program’s website.