Catan

Overview

Players settle the island of Catan by building roads, settlements, and cities. Resources are produced by dice rolls and collected by players with buildings adjacent to the producing terrain hexes. Players trade resources with each other and the bank to fund construction. The first player to reach 10 victory points on their turn wins.

Components

• 19 terrain hexes: hills (brick), forest (lumber), mountains (ore), fields (grain), pasture (wool), 1 desert (produces nothing)
• 6 sea frame pieces (numbered 1-1, 2-2, etc. for assembly)
• 9 harbor pieces (4 special 2:1 harbors + 5 generic 3:1 harbors… actually: 5 special 2:1 harbors, one per resource + 4 generic 3:1 harbors)
• 18 circular number tokens (labeled 2-12, no 7; each number appears twice except 2 and 12 which appear once)
• 95 resource cards (brick, grain, lumber, ore, wool)
• 25 development cards: 14 knight cards (purple), 6 progress cards (green: 2 Road Building, 2 Year of Plenty, 2 Monopoly), 5 victory point cards (orange: Chapel, Great Hall, etc.)
• 4 “Building Costs” cards (one per player color)
• 2 special cards: “Longest Road” and “Largest Army”
• 16 cities (4 per color, church-shaped)
• 20 settlements (5 per color, house-shaped)
• 60 roads (15 per color, bar-shaped)
• 2 dice (1 yellow, 1 red)
• 1 robber

Setup

Board Assembly

1. Assemble the 6 sea frame pieces by matching numbers at their ends (1-1, 2-2, etc.)
2. Place the 19 terrain hexes inside the frame

Beginner setup: Place terrain hexes, number tokens, and starting settlements/roads in the fixed positions shown in the rulebook illustration.

Variable setup (recommended for experienced players):

1. Shuffle terrain hexes face-down, place randomly inside the frame
2. Randomly place 9 harbor pieces on the frame harbors
3. Place number tokens alphabetically (A, B, C…) starting at a corner, going counterclockwise toward center, skipping the desert. Important: Red numbers (6 and 8) must not be on adjacent hexes — swap if necessary.

Player Setup

Each player takes: 5 settlements, 4 cities, 15 roads, 1 building costs card.

Set-up phase (2 rounds):

Round 1: Roll dice; highest roller goes first. Starting player places 1 settlement on any unoccupied intersection + 1 adjacent road. Continue clockwise — each player places 1 settlement + 1 road. Distance Rule applies.

Round 2: The last player from Round 1 goes first. Each player places a second settlement + adjacent road, going counterclockwise (so the starting player from Round 1 places last). After placing the second settlement, immediately take 1 resource card for each terrain hex adjacent to that second settlement.

Place the robber on the desert. Place “Longest Road” and “Largest Army” special cards beside the board. Sort resource cards into 5 face-up stacks. Shuffle development cards face-down.

The starting player (who placed last in Round 2) takes the first turn.

Turn Structure

On your turn, perform these phases in order:

1. Roll for Resource Production (mandatory, affects all players)
2. Trade (optional — domestic and/or maritime)
3. Build (optional — roads, settlements, cities, development cards)

You may play 1 development card at any time during your turn (before or after rolling). Pass dice left when done.

Advanced variant (Combined Trade/Build Phase): After rolling, trade and build in any order, interleaving freely. You can use a harbor on the same turn you build a settlement there.

Actions

1. Resource Production (Rolling the Dice)

Roll both dice and sum them. Every player who has a settlement or city adjacent to a terrain hex with that number receives resources:

• Settlement: 1 resource card of the hex’s type
• City: 2 resource cards of the hex’s type
• A player with multiple buildings on a hex receives for each one

Supply shortage: If the bank doesn’t have enough of a resource to pay all players, no one receives that resource this turn. Exception: If the shortage only affects 1 player, that player receives as many as remain in the supply.

The robber blocks production on the hex it occupies — buildings adjacent to the robber’s hex produce nothing when that number is rolled.

2. Rolling a 7 / The Robber

When a 7 is rolled, no one receives resources. Instead:

1. Discard: Every player with more than 7 resource cards (8+) must discard half, rounded down. (Example: 9 cards → discard 4.)
2. Move the robber: The roller must move the robber to any other terrain hex’s number token (or the desert). The robber cannot stay where it is.
3. Steal: The roller steals 1 random resource card from any one player who has a settlement or city adjacent to the robber’s new hex. (The victim holds cards face-down; roller draws 1 at random.) If multiple opponents are adjacent, the roller chooses whom to rob. If no opponent is adjacent or the chosen player has no cards, no steal occurs.

The robber remains on its new hex, blocking resource production there until moved again.

3. Domestic Trade

On your turn, after rolling, you may trade resource cards with other players. You announce offers, others can counter-offer. Any ratio is allowed (e.g., 1-for-1, 2-for-1, etc.).

Rules:

• Only the active player may initiate trades — other players trade only with the active player, never with each other
• You cannot give away cards for free
• You cannot trade identical resources (e.g., 2 wool for 1 wool)
• You cannot trade development cards
• You may trade as many times as you wish on your turn
• If you choose not to trade, no one trades this turn

4. Maritime Trade (Bank Trade)

On your turn, trade with the bank (no other player needed):

Harbor type	Rate	Condition
No harbor	4:1	Always available — trade 4 identical resource cards for any 1
Generic harbor (3:1)	3:1	Must have settlement/city on the harbor — trade 3 identical for any 1
Special harbor (2:1)	2:1	Must have settlement/city on the harbor — trade 2 of the specific resource shown for any 1

A special harbor’s 2:1 rate only applies to its depicted resource. You cannot trade other resources at 3:1 through a special harbor. You may not trade with the bank during another player’s turn.

5. Building

Pay resource cards to the supply to build. You may build multiple things per turn if you have the resources. You are limited to the physical supply of pieces (5 settlements, 4 cities, 15 roads).

Structure	Cost	Rules
Road	1 Brick + 1 Lumber	Must connect to your existing road, settlement, or city. 1 road per path.
Settlement	1 Brick + 1 Lumber + 1 Wool + 1 Grain	Must connect to your road. Must obey Distance Rule.
City (upgrade)	3 Ore + 2 Grain	Replaces an existing settlement (return settlement to supply). Cannot build a city directly.
Development card	1 Ore + 1 Wool + 1 Grain	Draw top card from deck. Keep hidden. Cannot buy if deck is empty.

Distance Rule: A settlement may only be built on an intersection where all 3 adjacent intersections are vacant (no settlement or city, including your own).

Road placement: Roads are placed on paths (edges between hexes). Only 1 road per path. You can build roads along the coast. An opponent’s settlement/city on an intersection blocks your road from continuing through that intersection.

6. Development Cards

You may play 1 development card per turn (1 knight OR 1 progress card). You may play it at any time during your turn, even before rolling. You may not play a card bought the same turn.

Knight cards (purple, 14 in deck): Immediately move the robber (same rules as rolling a 7: move robber, then steal 1 card from an adjacent player). Played knights stay face-up in front of you.

Progress cards (green, 6 in deck):

• Road Building (×2): Immediately place 2 free roads (following normal placement rules)
• Year of Plenty (×2): Take any 2 resource cards from the supply (same or different types). You may use them to build this turn.
• Monopoly (×2): Name 1 resource type. All other players must give you all cards of that type from their hands.

Progress cards are removed from the game after use.

Victory Point cards (orange, 5 in deck): Keep hidden. Only reveal when you reach 10+ victory points on your turn to win. Exception: You may play/reveal VP cards on the turn you buy them if they give you 10 points. You may play multiple VP cards on the same turn.

Development cards cannot be traded or given away.

Scoring / Victory Conditions

First player to reach 10 or more victory points on their turn wins immediately.

Source	Victory Points
Settlement	1 VP each
City	2 VP each
Longest Road special card	2 VP
Largest Army special card	2 VP
Victory Point development card	1 VP each

Each player starts with 2 settlements = 2 VP. You need 8 more VP to win.

You can only win on your own turn. If you reach 10 VP during another player’s turn, you must wait until your turn to claim victory.

Special Rules & Edge Cases

Longest Road

• First player to build a continuous road of at least 5 segments (not counting forks) receives the “Longest Road” card (2 VP).
• If another player builds a longer continuous road, they take the card immediately (a 4 VP swing).
• Only count the single longest branch — forks don’t add up.
• An opponent’s settlement/city built on an intersection along your road breaks it into separate segments.
• Tie-breaking: If the holder’s road is broken and they tie with another player, they keep the card. If the holder no longer has the longest road and 2+ players are tied for longest, the card is set aside (no one holds it) until one player has the sole longest road of 5+.

Largest Army

• First player to play 3 knight cards face-up receives the “Largest Army” card (2 VP).
• If another player plays more knight cards than the current holder, they take the card immediately.

Resource Supply Shortage

• If the bank runs out of a resource type during production and the shortage affects multiple players, no one receives that resource this turn.
• If the shortage only affects 1 player, they receive as many as remain; extras are lost.
• Other resource types are unaffected.

Building Limits

• Maximum: 5 settlements, 4 cities, 15 roads per player.
• If all 5 settlements are placed, you must upgrade one to a city to free up a settlement piece.
• When a city replaces a settlement, the settlement returns to your supply.

Player Information

• Players must truthfully answer how many resource cards they hold.
• Resource cards are hidden. Development cards are hidden until played (except VP cards which stay hidden until game end).

The Desert

• Produces no resources. The robber starts here.
• Settlements/cities adjacent to the desert receive fewer resources overall.

Number Token Probabilities

The likelihood of each dice total:

• 2 & 12: ~3% (1 way each)
• 3 & 11: ~6% (2 ways each)
• 4 & 10: ~8% (3 ways each)
• 5 & 9: ~11% (4 ways each)
• 6 & 8: ~14% (5 ways each)
• 7: ~17% (6 ways)

Player Reference

Building Costs

| Structure | Cost | |—|—| | Road | 1 Brick + 1 Lumber | | Settlement | 1 Brick + 1 Lumber + 1 Wool + 1 Grain | | City (upgrade) | 3 Ore + 2 Grain | | Development Card | 1 Ore + 1 Wool + 1 Grain |

Terrain → Resource

| Terrain | Resource | |—|—| | Hills | Brick | | Forest | Lumber | | Mountains | Ore | | Fields | Grain | | Pasture | Wool | | Desert | Nothing |

Victory Point Sources

• Settlement: 1 VP
• City: 2 VP
• Longest Road (5+ segments, sole longest): 2 VP
• Largest Army (3+ knights, most played): 2 VP
• Victory Point card: 1 VP each

Key Numbers

• Win condition: 10 VP on your turn
• Starting VP: 2 (from 2 settlements)
• Robber discard threshold: 8+ cards → discard half (rounded down)
• Trade rates: 4:1 (default), 3:1 (generic harbor), 2:1 (special harbor)
• Development cards in deck: 25 (14 knights, 6 progress, 5 VP)
• Max pieces per player: 5 settlements, 4 cities, 15 roads