Catan

Catan — originally The Settlers of Catan — is a game of producing resources and spending them faster and better than everyone else. Every turn someone rolls dice, and every player collects from the hexes their settlements touch, whether it is their turn or not.

You spend those resources on roads, settlements, cities and development cards. First to 10 victory points, on their own turn, wins.

Setup

1. Each player picks a colour and takes all the pieces of that colour.
2. Build the island. First game? Use the fixed beginner layout in the rulebook. Otherwise shuffle the terrain hexes and place them inside the sea frame at random, then place the harbour tokens randomly around the frame.
3. Place the number tokens. Take the 18 tokens, and starting at a corner of the board, lay them alphabetically (A, B, C…) moving counter-clockwise. Skip the desert — the robber starts there instead.
4. Put the resource cards, development cards, and the Longest Road and Largest Army cards beside the board.
5. Everyone rolls the dice. Highest roll goes first.

Starting placement runs in two passes. Beginning with the first player and going clockwise, each player places one settlement on an empty intersection plus one connecting road. Then the order reverses back around, so everyone ends with two settlements and two roads.

You may only place a settlement on an open intersection, and never adjacent to another settlement.

If you are randomising the board, one sanity check: do not leave two red number tokens next to each other. Red numbers (6 and 8) are the most frequently rolled, and adjacent reds make one corner of the map far too strong.

How a Turn Works

Your turn is always: roll for resources, then trade and build in any order.

1. Resource production

The active player rolls both dice once. Then every player collects:

• 1 resource for each settlement touching a hex with that number.
• 2 resources for each city touching a hex with that number.

So if an 8 is rolled and an 8-field has a settlement and a city on it, the settlement’s owner draws one grain and the city’s owner draws two. A player with two settlements on the same hex draws two.

If the number rolled is not next to anyone’s settlement or city, nobody produces anything.

When a seven is rolled

A seven produces nothing and instead triggers three things, in order:

1. Everyone holding more than 7 resource cards discards half, rounding down. Nine cards means discarding four. Development cards do not count toward this.
2. The active player moves the robber to any other hex. That hex produces nothing while the robber sits there, however often its number is rolled.
3. The active player steals one random resource from a player with a settlement or city adjacent to the robber’s new hex. If several qualify, pick one.

2. Trading

Domestic trade. On your turn you may trade any quantity of resources with other players. You cannot trade a resource for the same resource, and every trade must involve the active player — other players cannot deal with each other on your turn.

Maritime trade. Without a harbour, you may always trade 4 identical resources for 1 of anything. Harbours improve that:

Harbour	Rate
No harbour	4 identical → 1 of any
Generic (3:1)	3 identical → 1 of any
Specific (2:1)	2 of that resource → 1 of any

You need a settlement or city on the harbour to use it.

3. Building

Build	Cost	Worth
Road	Brick + lumber	— (but see Longest Road)
Settlement	Brick + lumber + grain + wool	1 victory point
City (upgrade)	2 grain + 3 ore	2 victory points
Development card	Wool + grain + ore	Varies

Roads must connect to one of your own settlements, cities or roads. The first player to build a continuous road of at least five segments takes the Longest Road card and its 2 points. If someone later builds a road at least one segment longer, they take the card — and the points — from you.

Settlements go on an empty intersection connected to one of your roads, and must be at least two intersections away from any other settlement or city.

Cities replace one of your existing settlements and double its production.

Development Cards

Buy one by paying wool, grain and ore, then draw the top card and keep it hidden. You may buy several in a turn but may only play one per turn.

There are three kinds:

• Knight cards. Move the robber and steal a resource, exactly as a seven does. Played knights stay face up. The first player to play three knights takes the Largest Army card and its 2 points — and loses it to anyone who later has one more knight than they do.
• Progress cards. Follow the instructions on the card, then remove it from the game.
• Victory point cards. Keep these hidden. They stay secret until you can reveal enough of them to cross the winning line.

How to Win

Reach 10 or more victory points on your own turn and the game ends immediately with your win. Points come from:

Source	Points
Each settlement	1
Each city	2
Longest Road	2
Largest Army	2
Each victory point development card	1

The timing matters: if a trade or a stolen card pushes you to 10 on someone else’s turn, you must wait until your own turn to claim it.

Common Mistakes

• Only collecting on your own turn. Everyone produces on every roll. Watch the board when it is not your turn.
• Forgetting the seven-card discard. More than seven cards when a seven is rolled and you lose half of them. Spend down before a seven becomes likely.
• Counting development cards toward the hand limit. They do not count.
• Placing settlements too close together. Two intersections apart, minimum, always.
• Letting players trade with each other. Every trade must include the active player.
• Trading for the same resource. Not allowed, however creatively it is framed.
• Claiming victory out of turn. You must be on your own turn to win.