Overview

Catan: Ancient Egypt is a re-themed version of Settlers of Catan set in ancient Egypt. Players build settlements, oxcarts (roads), and temple cities (cities) along the Nile. The map consists of 19 terrain hexes producing five resource types plus a desert. The core Catan mechanics of dice rolling, resource collection, trading, and building remain unchanged, with Egyptian-themed names and artwork. The game also includes “Help from the Gods” cards and a “Great Pyramid” scenario for added variety.

Components

• 19 terrain hexes (quarry/stone, alluvial land/brick, fields/grain, pasture/wool, papyrus grove/papyrus, desert/oasis)
• Frame pieces (border)
• Number tokens
• Resource cards (stone, brick, grain, wool, papyrus)
• Development cards
• Oxcarts (roads), settlements, temple cities (cities) in 4 player colors
• 2 dice
• Robber figure
• Longest Road and Largest Army cards
• “Help from the Gods” cards (optional)
• Great Pyramid scenario components

Setup

1. Assemble the frame border.
2. Place terrain hexes inside the frame (fixed layout for beginners, variable for experienced).
3. Place number tokens on hexes.
4. Each player places 2 starting settlements and 2 oxcarts on the board.
5. Each player starts with 2 victory points (1 per settlement).
6. Collect starting resources from hexes adjacent to your second settlement.

Turn Structure

Standard Catan turn structure:

1. Roll Dice: Roll 2 dice. All hexes matching the rolled number produce resources for adjacent settlements/temple cities.

2. Trade: Trade resources with other players or via harbor trading (4:1 standard, or better rates at harbors).

3. Build: Spend resources to build oxcarts, settlements, temple cities, or buy development cards.

Actions

Building costs (Egyptian-themed Catan equivalents):

• Oxcart (road): 1 brick + 1 papyrus (wood equivalent)
• Settlement: 1 brick + 1 papyrus + 1 grain + 1 wool
• Temple City (city): 3 stone (ore) + 2 grain
• Development Card: 1 stone + 1 grain + 1 wool

Rolling a 7: Move the robber to any hex. Steal 1 resource from an adjacent player. Players with more than 7 cards must discard half.

Scoring / Victory Conditions

First player to reach 10 victory points wins:

• Settlement = 1 VP
• Temple City = 2 VP
• Longest Road (5+ oxcarts) = 2 VP
• Largest Army (3+ knight cards) = 2 VP
• Victory Point development cards = 1 VP each

Special Rules & Edge Cases

• Help from the Gods (optional): Special cards that provide divine assistance, adding new strategic options. Can be added to the base game or used in the Great Pyramid scenario.
• The Great Pyramid Scenario: A cooperative-competitive variant where players must collectively build a Great Pyramid while competing for individual victory points.
• Harbors: Special trading ratios available at harbor locations around the coast.
• Distance Rule: Settlements must be at least 2 intersections apart.

Player Reference

Building	Cost	VP
Oxcart	1 brick + 1 papyrus	0
Settlement	1 brick + 1 papyrus + 1 grain + 1 wool	1
Temple City	3 stone + 2 grain	2
Development Card	1 stone + 1 grain + 1 wool	varies

Win condition: First to 10 VP