Catan: On the Road
Catan: On the Road Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Introduction
Objective
The first player to reach 7 victory points (VPs) on their turn wins. Earn VPs by building. Collect and trade for the resources you need to build.
Components
61 resource cards
- 11x brick
- 11x wood
- 14x wool
- 12x wheat
- 13x ore
34 building cards
- 10x roads
- 11x settlements
- 5x cities
- 8x knights
4 starting roads
4 starting settlements
2 bonus victory point (VP) cards
- Longest Route — The first player with 3 roads receives this card. If another player has more roads, they receive this card.
- Largest Army — The first player to build 2 knights receives this card. If another player has more knights, they receive this card.
4 metropolis cards (each has an "A" side and a "B" side)
7 event cards (Abundance, Charity, Robber, Solstice, Subsidy)
4 player aids
Setup
- Shuffle the building cards and place them in a facedown deck in the center of the table.
- Flip over the top 5 cards and place them in a faceup row. For your first game, make sure you have a mix of the four different building card types in this row as shown.
- Place the metropolis cards in a stack at the end of the building row. For your first game, place them "A" side up. In later games, you may use the "B" side. Since the "B" side has all different effects, make sure you get acquainted with these effects before starting the game.
- Shuffle the resource cards together and place them in a facedown deck within reach of all players.
- Then shuffle the event cards together and place them in a facedown deck within reach.
- Finally, place the Longest Route and Largest Army bonus VP cards within reach of all players.
Collect Your Starting Cards
Shuffle the 4 starting settlements (3 for three players) and deal 1 card to each player along with 1 player aid and 1 starting road. Players place their starting road and settlement face up in front of themselves. Then deal 2 resource cards to each player as their starting hand.
For 3 players, make sure the starting player Settlement card is part of the group of cards that are shuffled and dealt.
The person who draws the starting player Settlement card that says "You are the starting player" goes first.
Rules
CATAN® – On the Road™ is played over a series of turns, beginning with the starting player, and moving clockwise around the table. A turn consists of two phases, which occur in this order:
- Harvest phase
- Action phase
Once you have finished the Action phase, if you have not won by reaching 7 VPs, the player on your left begins their turn with the Harvest phase.
Harvest Phase
Each player draws 1 resource card from the deck, starting with the current player and moving clockwise around the table.
For each of their visible cities and "B" metropolises, the current player draws 1 additional resource card. For each "A" metropolis card, the current player draws 2 additional resource cards.
Example: During the Harvest phase, if the current player has the following cards in play, they draw the indicated number of cards. All other players draw 1 card.
When the resource deck is empty, shuffle all discarded resource cards to form a new deck.
Action Phase
Trade
Once per turn, you may trade with one other player. Announce which resource(s) you want and which resource(s) you are willing to trade. Other players may accept your trade, make counteroffers, or make their own proposals. You may make only one trade with one player, regardless of how many cards are traded.
You may not give away cards in any way, which includes trading matching resources.
Then the player who traded with the current player draws 1 card from the top of the resource card deck.
Remember! Players who trade with the current player draw a resource card.
Build
You may spend resources (aka "build") to take any number of the cards in the building row or metropolis stack and place them in front of you. The cost to build is shown at the top of each card. Discard any spent resources.
After you build a card and resolve any necessary events, refill the building row so that it always has 5 cards from which to choose. If there are ever five of the same card in the row, shuffle them all back into the building deck and deal out a new row of 5 cards.
Roads
Building cost: 1 brick, 1 wood
Roads are placed in your player area.
Once per turn when building, you may substitute a number of cards of the same resource type for one other resource. The number of cards required depends on the number of roads you have in front of you.
| Roads in your player area | Substitution ratio |
|---|---|
| 1 road | 4 to 1 |
| 2 roads | 3 to 1 |
| 3 roads | 2 to 1 |
| 4 roads | 1 to 1 |
You may build more than 4 roads, but you do not receive any additional benefit beyond the 1 to 1 substitution ratio.
Example: You have 3 roads. On your turn, you want to build a settlement, but do not have any wheat. You may substitute 2 wool for the wheat, paying a total of 1 brick, 1 wood, and 3 wool for the settlement.
Longest Route
The first player to have 3 roads in their area receives the Longest Route card. If another player has more roads, they immediately receive the card. The Longest Route card is worth 2 VPs.
Settlements
Building cost: 1 brick, 1 wood, 1 wool, 1 wheat
Settlements are placed next to each other in your player area. Settlements are worth 1 VP.
After building a settlement, you must immediately draw and resolve an event card.
Event Cards
- Abundance (1x): Each player, except those with the Longest Route or Largest Army, draws 2 cards from the resource deck.
- Charity (1x): The player with the most VPs must give 1 resource to a player with fewer VPs. If multiple players are tied for the most VPs, each one must give 1 resource to a player with fewer VPs. If all players have the same number of VPs, nothing happens.
- Robber (3x): Each player with more than 7 resource cards must discard half of them (rounded down).
- Solstice (1x): Each player draws 1 card from the resource deck. Then, shuffle all event cards together to create a new event deck.
- Subsidy (1x): Each player draws 1 card from the resource deck for each uncovered settlement in their player area. Settlements that have been upgraded to cities do not count.
Cities
Building cost: 2 wheat, 3 ore
Cities are placed in your player area, covering a settlement. If you do not have an uncovered settlement in your player area, you may not build a city. Cities are worth 2 VPs.
During your Harvest phase, you receive 1 additional resource card for each uncovered city in your player area.
Metropolises
Building cost: 3 wool, 1 ore
Metropolises are placed in your player area, covering a city. If you do not have an uncovered city in your player area, you may not build a metropolis. Metropolises are worth 3 VPs.
When you build a metropolis, you may choose which of the unbuilt metropolises you want. For your first game, we suggest using "A" metropolises. For later games, you can flip all metropolises to their "B" side and use those instead.
"A" side: During your Harvest phase, you receive 2 additional resource cards for this metropolis. This advantage is the same for all "A" metropolises.
"B" side: During your Harvest phase, you receive 1 additional resource card for this metropolis. This advantage is the same for all "B" metropolises. You also receive a unique advantage shown on the card:
- Upon building, draw a resource card for every road you have built.
- When you would tie for Longest Route, you receive it.
- Upon building, draw a resource card for every knight you have built.
- When you would tie for Largest Army, you receive it.
Knights
Building cost: 1 wool, 1 wheat, 1 ore
Knights increase the number of cards you may keep when a Robber event card is revealed. Each Knight card adds one to the number you may hold before having to discard.
Example: You have 3 knights. When the Robber card is resolved, you do not have to discard until you have more than 10 resource cards.
Largest Army
The first player to have 2 knights in their area receives the Largest Army card. If another player builds more knights, they immediately receive the card. The Largest Army card is worth 2 VPs.
Winning the Game
If you have 7 or more visible VPs at any point during your turn, the game ends immediately and you are the winner!
Example: You have 7 visible VPs on your turn and win the game.
Player Aid Summary
Build costs
| Card (number in game) | Cost | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Road (14) | 1 brick, 1 wood | — |
| Knight (8) | 1 wool, 1 wheat, 1 ore | — |
| Settlement (15) | 1 brick, 1 wood, 1 wool, 1 wheat | — |
| City (5) | 2 wheat, 3 ore | place on settlement |
| Metropolis (4) | 3 wool, 1 ore | place on city |
Turn overview
Harvest phase — Each player draws 1 resource card.
Action phase
- Trade: 1x/turn, you may trade resource(s) with a player. That player then draws 1 resource card from the supply.
- Build: You may build a card from the building row, replacing it immediately. 1x/turn, you may substitute cards using your road trade ratio.
Winning the game — 7 VPs!
Credits
- Design: Benjamin Teuber
- Development CATAN: Klaus Teuber (1952-2023)
- Development team: Jasmin Balle, Arnd Beenen, Morgan Dontanville, Arnd Fischer, Bianca Freund, and Sonja Krützfeldt
- Art: Gica Tam (cover), Eric Hibbeler with assistance from Kin Wald (interior)
- Graphic design: Az Sperry (ENG), Michaela Kienle (GER)
- Lead editor: Anne Reynolds (ENG), Tina Landwehr-Rödde (GER)
- Producer: Ron Magin
- Special thanks: Brea Blankenfeld, Sebastian Castro Casas, Alex O. Colón Hernández, Nadine Fiedler, Caroline Fischer, Kevin Hovdestad, Stephanie Newman, Donna Prior, Sabrina Risch, Julien Sharp, and especially Guido Teuber
- Production team (US): Justin Anger, Estelle Gavin, Chris Jensen, Jennifer Koenig, and Austin Litzler
- Head of CATAN Studio: Pete Fenlon