Catan Card Game Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Laying Out the Playing Area
• Object of the Game
• Gameplay Overview
• Knight's Strength and Commercial Advantage
• Region Card Terminology
• Gameplay in Detail
  • 1. Resolving the Event Die Roll
    • a) The Tournament
    • b) Advantageous Trade
    • c) Robber Assault
    • d) Successful Year
    • e) Event Card
  • 2. Recording Resource Production
  • 3. Main Play Phase
    • Play Action Cards
    • Trade Resources
    • Expand Your Principality
    • Develop Your Principality
  • 4. Drawing Cards
    • Replenishing Your Hand
    • Exchanging a Card
• End of the Game

Laying Out the Playing Area

1. Sort out the 18 cards showing a shield symbol on the back.

2. Each player takes the 9 cards showing his own coat of arms (either red/white or red/black) for his starting line up. Each player lays his 9 cards in front of him.

   1. The Main Road is in the center.
   2. One Settlement is laid on each side of the Main Road.
   3. The 6 Region cards are laid diagonally adjacent to the Settlements, in the positions marked by the letter R on the diagram. Which Region is placed in each location is up to the player. Leave a little space between the cards, so that you can rotate them.

   IMPORTANT: Place the Region cards so that the single resource symbol is on the lower edge. This shows that one resource unit is available on each Region card.

3. Preparing the Draw Stacks

   There are three general types of cards: Event, Expansion and Development.

   • Event cards: Event cards have a question mark depicted on their backs and blue text fields on their faces. They are played only when called for by the Event die roll.
   • Expansion cards: There are four types of Expansion card: Roads, Settlements, Cities and Regions. Expansion cards symbolize the territories of your principality. The backs of Region cards depict a tree. The backs of Road, Settlement, and City cards depict roads, settlements, and cities (respectively), along with some smaller symbols whose purpose is described later. When players purchase Expansion cards, they draw them from these stacks. How and when each of these types of cards are played is described later.
   • Development cards: There are three types of Development card: Territorial Upgrade cards (with green text fields), City Upgrade cards (with red text fields) and Action cards (with yellow text fields). Development cards are used to develop the territories of your principality. Their backs have no depictions. These cards make up the players' hands.

   The Event, Expansion and Development cards are sorted face-down. The Event, Road, Settlement, City and Region cards are sorted into 5 separate stacks. The stacks are laid face-down in a line between the players. The Development cards are separated into 5 roughly equal stacks and laid face-down in line with the other stacks of cards. All the stacks of cards are available for use by both players.

4. The two dice (Event and Production), together with the Mill and Knight tokens, are laid ready for use.

5. Each player draws 3 cards as follows:

   Determine who will take the first turn as active player by rolling the numbered die. That player picks one of the five Development card stacks, looks through it, and selects 3 cards to constitute his hand. His opponent chooses a different stack (one of the four remaining Development card stacks), and likewise chooses 3 as his hand. The sequence of the cards remaining in the Development stacks must not be altered while choosing the cards. The stacks are then put back where they came from. Players should keep their card hands concealed.

   Tip: For beginners, it is recommended that you select Territorial Upgrade cards (the cards with green text fields) when building your initial hand.

Object of the Game

To be the first player to achieve 12 Victory Points (VPs).

Gameplay Overview

This is a quick overview. Detailed descriptions follow.

The players take alternating turns. The active player rolls both the Event and Production dice at the same time. The results of this roll apply to both players.

1. Both players must first resolve the Event die-roll.
2. Both players must then record resource production.
3. The active player may now execute the following actions in any order:
   • Play Action cards.
   • Trade resources.
   • Expand his principality.
   • Develop his principality.
4. The active player replenishes his hand (normally bringing it up to 3 cards) or exchanges a card.

Now the active player's turn ends, and his opponent's turn as active player begins.

Knight's Strength and Commercial Advantage

Throughout the game, both players must determine:

1. Who has the strongest force of Knights: The symbol for Knight's strength is the iron glove. The associated black number gives the Strength Points. If a player has more Strength Points than his opponent, he has the strongest force of Knights at his disposal, and receives the Knight token, worth 1 VP. The token is placed on one of his Settlements or Cities.
2. Who has the commercial advantage: The symbol for commercial advantage is the Mill in a circle. Each such symbol on a card constitutes a Commerce Point. A player must have more Commerce Points than his opponent, and he must have a City in his principality in order to take possession of the Mill token, worth 1 VP. The token is then placed on one of his Cities.

These tokens and the associated VPs can change ownership as the players' Strength and Commerce Points change.

Note: If no player has more Strength or Commerce Points than the other, neither player can have the corresponding token. If such a stalemate arises during the course of play, the appropriate token must be placed to one side.

Region Card Terminology

Region cards produce resources which are used to purchase some Development cards as well as the other Expansion cards.

Region	Resource
Mountains	Ore
Hills	Brick
Fields	Wheat
Pastures	Wool
Forests	Timber
Streams	Gold

Gameplay in Detail

1. Resolving the Event Die Roll

a) The Tournament

When the Tournament symbol is rolled, both players add up the Tournament Points (red numbers) on the Knight cards in front of them. The highest total wins and receives as a reward any one resource unit. That is, he turns one of his Region cards to the next higher number. If both players have an equal number of Tournament Points, neither receives a reward. The player who loses the tournament does not give up any resources.

b) Advantageous Trade

When the Commerce symbol is rolled, the player holding the Mill token takes a resource unit from his opponent. Both must rotate an appropriate Region card.

IMPORTANT: If neither player holds the Mill token, this Event has no effect. As long as a player has no City, his Commerce Points do not count. Commerce Points only count when the player has a City.

c) Robber Assault

When the Robber Assault symbol is rolled, each player counts the resources on his Region cards. A player with more than 7 units loses all his Ore and Wool.

IMPORTANT: Land cards protected by an adjacent Befestigtes Lager (Fortified Warehouse) are excluded from the resource total.

d) Successful Year

When the Successful Year symbol is rolled, each player receives one resource of his choice.

e) Event Card

When the Event symbol is rolled, the active player takes the top card from the Event stack and reads it aloud. The instructions must be carried out, then the card is replaced at the bottom of the stack. Event cards affect both players.

Note: If, due to an Event card, a player holds more than the allowed hand limit, he must immediately discard the surplus, replacing them under one of the 5 Development stacks. He can choose which cards to discard.

2. Recording Resource Production

The Production die-roll affects both players. All Region cards bearing a number matching the die-roll receive 1 resource unit.

When a Region card receives a resource unit, it must be rotated to show on its lower edge the next higher number of resource symbols. If a player uses a resource unit, the corresponding Region card must be rotated to show the next lower number of resource symbols. No more than 3 resource units can be stored on a Region card.

Example: A player has two Mountain cards, numbered "5" and "2". The 5-Mountain already has 3 units, the 2-Mountain only has 1. The player rolls a "5". He receives no Ore, as the Mountain numbered "5" already has the maximum. An overflow to the 2-Mountain is not possible.

3. Main Play Phase

The active player may execute the following actions in any order:

Play Action Cards

Cards which have yellow text fields are called Action cards. These cards cost nothing to play. A player can play one or more Action cards in his turn, laying them face-up on the table and immediately following the instructions. If the card does not specify when it may be played, it can be used at any time during one's own turn. Once played, Action cards are discarded and cannot be used again during the course of the game.

Important: Action cards may not be played until each player has had a turn.

If a player exceeds his hand limit due to the use of Action cards he must immediately discard the excess cards and replace them under one of the five Development card stacks. He can choose which cards to discard.

Two of the Action cards can be played out of turn in order to immediately counter the effects of offensive Action cards played by one's opponent. These two "counter" cards are the Bischof (Bishop) and the Kräuterhexe (Herb Witch).

Trade Resources

• A player can exchange resources with his opponent at any time. There are no constraints on trade.

• A player can also engage in trade within his own principality. He spends three similar resources by reducing the number of symbols displayed on the corresponding Region card(s), and receives any 1 resource of his choice, which he must also accommodate on a corresponding Region card. This 3:1 exchange rate lasts until the advent of a Trading Fleet improves it to 2:1.

  Example: A player with a Holz-Handelsflotte (Timber Trading Fleet) can always trade, within his principality, 2 units of Timber for 1 unit of any other resource.

Expand Your Principality

General rule: All cards that have resource symbols in the top left corner, can only be played when the player pays these resources. The player plays the card from his hand onto the table in his principality, and pays the required resources.

Example: Whoever plays the Knight Götz Eisenfaust (Götz Ironfist) must pay 2 Wheat, 2 Wool and 2 Ore. That means that he must rotate the corresponding Region cards (Fields, Pastures and Mountains) and reduce each by two resource units.

The player can build any number of things as long as the necessary resources and building locations are available.

When building a Road, Settlement or City, take the corresponding card from the appropriate stack. The building cost is shown on the back of the card. The player lays these cards in his principality. Roads, Settlements and Cities can only be placed in the middle row.

Roads: You must always start by building a Road next to a Settlement. This makes it possible to build a new Settlement. Two Roads cannot be built next to each other.

Settlements: When a Settlement is built, two face-down cards must immediately be drawn from the Region card stack. The two Region cards are laid in the upper and lower rows, diagonally next to the Settlement. The player chooses which card goes above, and which below. New Region cards always enter play with zero resources. Each Settlement is worth 1 VP.

Cities: When a City is played, it is laid on top of the Settlement that is being upgraded. The Settlement card remains underneath. Each City is worth 2 VPs.

Hint: In contrast to the boardgame "Settlers of Catan", a City does not double the resources produced.

Develop Your Principality

Settlements and Cities can be upgraded. These upgrade cards, with green or red text fields, are placed directly above or below the Settlement or City.

Settlements: Each Settlement can only take 2 upgrades, and only upgrades with green text fields. One upgrade will be placed above the Settlement, the other below.

Cities: Each City can take 4 upgrades of either type; 2 above the City and 2 below. The City upgrades (those with red text fields) are not allowed for Settlements.

Territorial upgrade cards (Green text fields): These upgrades for Settlements and Cities comprise either Unit cards (Knights or Fleets) or Building cards, (For example, Kloster (Cloister), Sägewerk (Sawmill), etc.). Territorial upgrades must be placed next to the corresponding Region card, in order to function. So for example, the Sägewerk (Sawmill) must be placed next to a Timber card, so that the yield from this Region will be doubled. If the Sägewerk (Sawmill) was placed between two Timber cards, the yield from both would be doubled.

City upgrade cards (Red text fields): These can only be placed near Cities. These cards either provide additional VPs or Commerce Points. All City upgrade cards are Building cards.

4. Drawing Cards

Replenishing Your Hand

At the end of his turn, and only then, a player can replenish his hand. Unless modified by cards during the course of the game, hand size is limited to 3 cards. If he has the necessary cards face-up in his principality, for example the Kloster (Cloister) card, he can replenish to more than 3 cards.

There are two ways to replenish:

1. The player draws the top card from one of the Development stacks, and takes it into his hand.

2. The player spends any two resources (similar or different), and selects one of the Development stacks. He inspects all the cards in that stack and takes one into his hand. Then he replaces the stack, face-down.

   Important: While looking through the stack, the order of the cards must not be altered. The stack can never be shuffled.

If the player may take more than one card, he must choose one of the above two possibilities for each card.

Example: A player must draw three cards to replenish his hand. First, he spends 2 resources and searches stack A for a card. Then he spends 2 more to search stack B. Last, he draws the top card from stack A, without paying. He already looked at this card during his first search.

Exchanging a Card

If a player does not need to replenish his hand, he can exchange at most one of his cards. He slips a card from his hand face-down under the Development stack from which he intends to draw a card. Then he can take a new card using one of the two methods above.

Important: Newly acquired cards cannot be played in the same turn. The player's turn ends when he replenishes his hand. His opponent's turn then begins.

End of the Game

The game ends the moment a player reaches 12 VPs.

Tip: When learning the game, play for fewer VPs.