Board Game Arena - User contributions [en]

Gamehelpcatan

2026-05-18T18:37:04Z

Hojaytee: /* Cities */ fixed city development callouts to be in consistent order with consistent color.

==Objective==
Get resources to buy various buildings and development cards, and try to be the first player to reach 10 points (or 13 in case of City & Knights)

==Setup==
* The board consists of hills (brick), forest (lumber), mountains (ore), fields (grain), pasture (wool) and a desert (nothing) at random places.
* Each terrain except the desert has a number of 2-12 on it. The desert starts with the robber on it.
* Each player places 2 settlements and 1 road next to each settlement on the board, then they receive resources for each terrain around the second settlement.

==Gameplay==
'''Rolling for resource production''' (obligatory): On your turn, roll 2 dice and calculate the sum.
* The terrains with that number produce resources for all players who have settlements or cities next to them (if the robber isn't blocking them): 1 resource per settlement and 2 per city.
* If you roll a 7, no one gets any resources and players with 8 resources or more must discard half of them (rounded down). You must move the robber to a new terrain and steal 1 random resource from a player who has a settlement or city next to that terrain.

'''Trading''' (optional): during your turn you can trade resources
* with all other players (''domestic trade'')
* with the bank (''maritime trade'') at the standard rate of 4 identical resources for 1 or at a preferential rate of a harbour if you have a settlement next to it.

'''Building''' (optional): finally, you can build roads and settlements, upgrade settlements to cities or purchase a development card by paying the resources needed.
* '''Roads''' must connect to the initial settlements and cost 1 brick + 1 lumber (worth 0 points)
* '''Settlements''' must be connected by roads to existing settlements (except at start) and cost 1 brick + 1 lumber + 1 wool + 1 grain (worth 1 point)
* '''Cities''' replace an existing settlement and cost 3 ore + 2 grain (worth 2 points)
* '''Development cards''' (unavailable in Cities & Knights) cost 1 ore + 1 wool + 1 grain and include
** 14 ''Knight'' cards that allow to move the robber to another terrain and steal a resource
** 2 ''Road Building'' cards allowing extra roads to be built
** 2 ''Year of Plenty'' cards providing two free resources of choice
** 2 ''Monopoly'' cards giving all other players that help gathering resources or building road•s
** 5 ''Victory Point'' cards

You can '''play a development card''' at any time during your turn, even before rolling the dice, as long as it was bought on a previous turn and is not a victory card.

==Scoring==
* '''Settlements''': each is worth '''1 victory point'''.
* '''Cities''': each is worth '''2 victory points''' (1 Point from the settlement + 1).
* '''Victory Point cards''': some ''development cards'' are worth '''1 victory point'''. They are kept hidden until you have sufficent points to win.
* '''Largest Army''': the player who has played the most knight cards at any time (at least 3) gets the ''largest army card'' which is worth '''2 points'''. No largest army in C&K.
* '''Longest Road''': the player with the longest continuous road at any time (at least 5 segments) gets the ''longest road card'' which is worth '''2 points'''.
If there is a tie, the original owner keeps the ''achievement cards''.

==End of Game==
If a player has '''10 or more victory points during their turn''' (including victory points cards), they reveal them and the game ends with their victory. For Catan Cities & Knights, a player needs '''13 or more victory points''' to win.

==Variants==
* Easy Start: Players reroll any 7s they obtain in their first 2 turns. With the Cities & Knights expansion, the event dice is not rolled during these turns as well.
* Friendly Robber (Base Game only): The robber may not move to a terrain that is adjacent to a settlement of a player with only 2 victory points. If there is no valid terrain, the robber moves to the desert and the resource card cannot be taken from such players.

===Cities & Knights===
====Event Dice====
* An additional event dice is rolled each turn.
** If it shows a ship (3 faces), the barbarian ship moves 1 space closer to Catan. If it reaches the last space (7th), the barbarians attack.
** If it shows a city gate (yellow/grey/green), players draw a progress card if the color of the gate and the red dice match their chart.
* Each player can have up to 4 Progress Cards at a time. Victory Point cards are immediately played and do not count. Others can be played similar to Development cards.
* When the barbarians attack, they have 1 strength per city/metropolis owned by all players; The defending army have strength equal to the value of all active knights.
** If the barbarians are stronger, they pillage a city of the player with the lowest value of active knights, reducing it to a settlement. This also destroys any city walls under it.
** If the defending army is equal or stronger, the player with the highest value of active knights (non-tied) gains a "Defender of Catan" victory point card, which is worth '''1 victory point'''. If there is a tie, the tied players gain a progress card each instead.
** Regardless of the result, the barbarian ship is reset and all knights become inactive.

====Cities====
* When a city produces wool/lumber/ore, replaces a resource they produce with a '''commodity''' (cloth/paper/coin) instead.
* Two new items can be built:
** '''City Walls''' must be under an existing city without one and cost 2 brick (worth 0 points). A player can have at most 3 city walls, and each increases the maximum number of cards they can safely hold when a 7 is rolled by 2.
** '''Knights''' must be connected by roads and cost 1 wool + 1 ore (worth 0 points). They start inactive at value 1, but they can be promoted with 1 wool + 1 ore (+1 value, up to 2) or activated with 1 grain.
* '''Active Knights''' may perform 1 action on your turn regardless of strength. This can be moving it along your roads to another intersection, moving it onto a weaker opponent knight (forcing it to move or removing it), or chasing away a robber adjacent to it (as per playing a knight). They become inactive afterwards.
* Cities can be developed in Trade (yellow)/Politics (grey)/Science (green) by paying 1 cloth/coin/paper per improvement level.
** The 3rd improvement provides a power each: trade 2 of the same commodity for a resource once per turn (Trade); may promote knights to value 3 (Politics); take any resource if no resources are gained and no robbers (Science).
** The first player who reach the 4th improvement in each area may place a '''Metropolis''' on a city. They are worth '''4 victory points''' each and are immune to barbarians.

====Variants====
* Nasty Battles: When the barbarians land, starting from the active player, each player declares the amount of their own active knights they would commit to defending Catan.
* Knight Errant: Before rolling the dice, a player may use an active knight to chase away the robber, as per playing a knight in base Catan.

Gamehelpcatan

2026-05-18T18:35:56Z

Hojaytee: /* Cities */ Updated color scheme to match actual user interface. Also ordered the commodities listed in their proper respective order.

==Objective==
Get resources to buy various buildings and development cards, and try to be the first player to reach 10 points (or 13 in case of City & Knights)

==Setup==
* The board consists of hills (brick), forest (lumber), mountains (ore), fields (grain), pasture (wool) and a desert (nothing) at random places.
* Each terrain except the desert has a number of 2-12 on it. The desert starts with the robber on it.
* Each player places 2 settlements and 1 road next to each settlement on the board, then they receive resources for each terrain around the second settlement.

==Gameplay==
'''Rolling for resource production''' (obligatory): On your turn, roll 2 dice and calculate the sum.
* The terrains with that number produce resources for all players who have settlements or cities next to them (if the robber isn't blocking them): 1 resource per settlement and 2 per city.
* If you roll a 7, no one gets any resources and players with 8 resources or more must discard half of them (rounded down). You must move the robber to a new terrain and steal 1 random resource from a player who has a settlement or city next to that terrain.

'''Trading''' (optional): during your turn you can trade resources
* with all other players (''domestic trade'')
* with the bank (''maritime trade'') at the standard rate of 4 identical resources for 1 or at a preferential rate of a harbour if you have a settlement next to it.

'''Building''' (optional): finally, you can build roads and settlements, upgrade settlements to cities or purchase a development card by paying the resources needed.
* '''Roads''' must connect to the initial settlements and cost 1 brick + 1 lumber (worth 0 points)
* '''Settlements''' must be connected by roads to existing settlements (except at start) and cost 1 brick + 1 lumber + 1 wool + 1 grain (worth 1 point)
* '''Cities''' replace an existing settlement and cost 3 ore + 2 grain (worth 2 points)
* '''Development cards''' (unavailable in Cities & Knights) cost 1 ore + 1 wool + 1 grain and include
** 14 ''Knight'' cards that allow to move the robber to another terrain and steal a resource
** 2 ''Road Building'' cards allowing extra roads to be built
** 2 ''Year of Plenty'' cards providing two free resources of choice
** 2 ''Monopoly'' cards giving all other players that help gathering resources or building road•s
** 5 ''Victory Point'' cards

You can '''play a development card''' at any time during your turn, even before rolling the dice, as long as it was bought on a previous turn and is not a victory card.

==Scoring==
* '''Settlements''': each is worth '''1 victory point'''.
* '''Cities''': each is worth '''2 victory points''' (1 Point from the settlement + 1).
* '''Victory Point cards''': some ''development cards'' are worth '''1 victory point'''. They are kept hidden until you have sufficent points to win.
* '''Largest Army''': the player who has played the most knight cards at any time (at least 3) gets the ''largest army card'' which is worth '''2 points'''. No largest army in C&K.
* '''Longest Road''': the player with the longest continuous road at any time (at least 5 segments) gets the ''longest road card'' which is worth '''2 points'''.
If there is a tie, the original owner keeps the ''achievement cards''.

==End of Game==
If a player has '''10 or more victory points during their turn''' (including victory points cards), they reveal them and the game ends with their victory. For Catan Cities & Knights, a player needs '''13 or more victory points''' to win.

==Variants==
* Easy Start: Players reroll any 7s they obtain in their first 2 turns. With the Cities & Knights expansion, the event dice is not rolled during these turns as well.
* Friendly Robber (Base Game only): The robber may not move to a terrain that is adjacent to a settlement of a player with only 2 victory points. If there is no valid terrain, the robber moves to the desert and the resource card cannot be taken from such players.

===Cities & Knights===
====Event Dice====
* An additional event dice is rolled each turn.
** If it shows a ship (3 faces), the barbarian ship moves 1 space closer to Catan. If it reaches the last space (7th), the barbarians attack.
** If it shows a city gate (yellow/grey/green), players draw a progress card if the color of the gate and the red dice match their chart.
* Each player can have up to 4 Progress Cards at a time. Victory Point cards are immediately played and do not count. Others can be played similar to Development cards.
* When the barbarians attack, they have 1 strength per city/metropolis owned by all players; The defending army have strength equal to the value of all active knights.
** If the barbarians are stronger, they pillage a city of the player with the lowest value of active knights, reducing it to a settlement. This also destroys any city walls under it.
** If the defending army is equal or stronger, the player with the highest value of active knights (non-tied) gains a "Defender of Catan" victory point card, which is worth '''1 victory point'''. If there is a tie, the tied players gain a progress card each instead.
** Regardless of the result, the barbarian ship is reset and all knights become inactive.

====Cities====
* When a city produces wool/lumber/ore, replaces a resource they produce with a '''commodity''' (cloth/paper/coin) instead.
* Two new items can be built:
** '''City Walls''' must be under an existing city without one and cost 2 brick (worth 0 points). A player can have at most 3 city walls, and each increases the maximum number of cards they can safely hold when a 7 is rolled by 2.
** '''Knights''' must be connected by roads and cost 1 wool + 1 ore (worth 0 points). They start inactive at value 1, but they can be promoted with 1 wool + 1 ore (+1 value, up to 2) or activated with 1 grain.
* '''Active Knights''' may perform 1 action on your turn regardless of strength. This can be moving it along your roads to another intersection, moving it onto a weaker opponent knight (forcing it to move or removing it), or chasing away a robber adjacent to it (as per playing a knight). They become inactive afterwards.
* Cities can be developed in Trade (yellow)/Politics (grey)/Science (green) by paying 1 cloth/coin/paper per improvement level.
** The 3rd improvement provides a power each: trade 2 of the same commodity for a resource once per turn (trade); may promote knights to value 3 (politics); take any resource if no resources are gained and no robbers (green).
** The first player who reach the 4th improvement in each area may place a '''Metropolis''' on a city. They are worth '''4 victory points''' each and are immune to barbarians.

====Variants====
* Nasty Battles: When the barbarians land, starting from the active player, each player declares the amount of their own active knights they would commit to defending Catan.
* Knight Errant: Before rolling the dice, a player may use an active knight to chase away the robber, as per playing a knight in base Catan.