Settlers of Catan is practically M.U.L.E. refined. You start by buying land, then the land bears resources. When you sell to other players, you can ask any price you want. You build up by laying down roads, towns and cities, tech up with random development cards. The most common dice result - 7 - is the Thief, which lets the current player rob any other for half of their resources rounded down.

If you liked M.U.L.E., you will love Settlers of Catan.

Just a small correction. The Robber(or Thief) in Catan doesn't allow you to steal half another player's resources, you just steal one card. However, if any player has 8 or more resource cards in their hands when '7' is rolled, they need to discard half rounded down.

Just as a point of accuracy, the Robber only lets you steal one card.

But anyone with 8 or more cards has to discard half rounded down.

I loved M.U.L.E. an unhealthy amount as a kid.

Take a look at Uwe Rosenberg’s games, particularly Caverna or Agricola.

I agree with the recommendations. I love caverna.

Patchwork is great two player game, by that same designer, that I can even play with my mother. She's not particularly into games either.

My game of the year so far is Yokohama. If you like worker placement, I imagine you would like this.

I haven't played it, but they turned M.U.L.E. into a board game recently :)

It's a bit complex to pick up, but it's very true to the original game. If you have experience with the original the mechanics will make sense right away. It's also a lot of fun! Great theme.