Please note: If you want to play the expansions with of five or six players, you need, in addition to the base game and the expansion you have chosen, a base game extension and an extension to that expansion - i.e., a total of four game boxes.
Catan, previously known as The Settlers of Catan or simply Settlers, is a multiplayer board game designed by Klaus Teuber. It was first published in 1995 in Germany by Franckh-Kosmos Verlag (Kosmos) as Die Siedler von Catan (.mw-parser-output .IPA-label-smallfont-size:85%.mw-parser-output .references .IPA-label-small,.mw-parser-output .infobox .IPA-label-small,.mw-parser-output .navbox .IPA-label-smallfont-size:100%pronounced [diː ˈziːdlɐ fɔn kaˈtaːn]). Players take on the roles of settlers, each attempting to build and develop holdings while trading and acquiring resources. Players gain victory points as their settlements grow and the first to reach a set number of victory points, typically 10, wins. The game and its many expansions are also published by Catan Studio, Filosofia, GP, Inc., 999 Games, Κάισσα (Káissa), and Devir. Upon its release, The Settlers of Catan became one of the first Eurogames to achieve popularity outside Europe.[6] As of 2020[update], more than 32 million copies in 40 languages had been sold.[7][8]
The players in the game represent settlers establishing settlements on the fictional island of Catan. Players build settlements, cities, and roads to connect them as they settle the island.[9] The game board, which represents the island, is composed of hexagonal tiles (hexes) of different land types, which are laid out randomly at the beginning of each game.[10] Newer editions of the game began to depict a fixed layout in their manual, which has been proved by computer simulations to be fairly even-handed,[citation needed] and recommend this to be used by beginners. In 2016, editions of the game were released with a conventional fixed layout board in this configuration, the hexes of which cannot be rearranged.
Players build by spending resources (wool, grain, lumber, brick, and ore) that are depicted by these resource cards; each land type, with the exception of the unproductive desert, produces a specific resource: hills produce brick, forests produce lumber, mountains produce ore, fields produce grain, and pastures produce wool. On each player's turn, two six-sided dice are rolled to determine which hexes produce resources. Players with a settlement adjacent to a hex containing the number just rolled receive one card of the corresponding resource; cities produce two cards of the corresponding resource. For example, if a player has one city and two settlements adjacent to a grain hex, that player would take four grain resource cards if the corresponding number was rolled.
There is also a robber token, initially placed on the desert; if a player rolls 7, the robber must be moved to another hex, which will no longer produce resources until the robber is moved again. That player may also steal a resource card from another player with a settlement or city adjacent to the robber's new placement. In addition, when a 7 is rolled, all players with 8 or more resource cards must discard their choice of half of their cards, rounded down. For example, If a player has 9 resource cards, and a 7 is rolled, the player must get rid of 4 cards.
On the player's turn, the player may spend resource cards to build roads or settlements, upgrade settlements to cities (which replace existing settlements), or buy development cards. Players can trade resource cards with each other; players may also trade off-island (in effect, with the non-player bank) at a ratio of four-to-one resources for one of any other. By building settlements adjacent to ports, players may trade with the bank at three-to-one (three of any single resource type) or two-to-one (two of a specific resource) ratios, depending on the port's location.
The goal of the game is to reach ten victory points. Players score one point for each settlement they own and two for each city. Various other achievements, such as establishing the longest road and the largest army (by playing the most knight cards), grant a player additional victory points.
Resource cards can also be spent to buy a development card. There are three different types of development cards, including cards worth one victory point; knight cards, which allow the player to move the robber as if they had rolled a 7 (but without the remove-half rule); and the third set of cards which allow the player one of three abilities when played.
After releasing the 5- to 6-player extension, Teuber began to publish expansions for the base game. The first, Seafarers of Catan, was released in 1997;[12] it was later retitled Catan: Seafarers. Seafarers adds ships that allow players to cross sea hexes, and includes scenarios in which players explore an archipelago of islands. It also adds gold-producing hexes that allow players to take the resource of their choice.
The second major expansion to the game, Cities and Knights of Catan (later Catan: Cities and Knights), was released in 1998.[12] It adds concepts from the card game and its first expansion to Catan, including Knights who must be used to defend Catan from invading barbarians, and improvements that can be bought for cities that give benefits to players. Three commodities (paper, coin, and cloth) can be produced, in addition to the original resources. A 5- to 6-player extension for Cities & Knights was released at the same time. In 2000, a book of variations for Settlers was released.
The third large expansion, Catan: Traders & Barbarians, was released in 2008.[12] Traders & Barbarians collects a number of smaller scenarios, some of which have previously been published elsewhere. The set includes an official two-player variant.
Mayfair Games released a fourth edition of The Settlers of Catan in 2007, with new artwork, a locking frame, a deeper box, and an insert tray; there was also a minor rule change.[14] Soon after its release, two changes were made to the fourth edition. The robber playing piece was changed from a black to a grey color and the soldier development card was renamed a knight. Fourth-edition versions of Cities & Knights, Seafarers, and the 5- to 6-player extensions were also released.[15]
In 1998, the first Historical Scenario pack was released,[18] which allows players to re-enact the building of the pyramids of Egypt or the expansion of Alexander the Great's empire using Catan game mechanics. A second scenario pack for Settlers concerning the building of the Great Wall of China and the Trojan war was released in 2001.[19]
The scenario Catan: Frenemies was released in 2012. In Frenemies, players are rewarded with redeemable "favor tokens" for "helping" their opponents by moving the robber harmlessly, giving away resources, and connecting their roads to their opponents' road networks. Depending on the circumstances, these favors might not be helpful.[25]
The Catan Dice Game was released in 2007. The game is played with six dice, the faces of which depict one of six resources (brick, lumber, wool, grain, ore, or gold). The dice are rolled up to three times, and the score of each roll is recorded by "building" roads, settlements, cities, and knights on a score sheet that shows a miniature version of the island of Catan. In the base game, one to four players try to get the highest score. There is also a "plus" version of the game, which, like the original Catan board game, is a race to be the first player to score 10 victory points.[29]
In addition to the Catan Card Game above, two additional card game spinoffs have been published. Rivals for Catan, published in 2010, is a two-player strategy game for expert players that plays like a board game, and The Struggle for Catan, published in 2011, is a two- to four-player game that plays more like a card game and is suitable for Catan novices.[30][31]
A Game of Thrones Catan: Brotherhood of the Watch is a spin-off based on George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series. As Brothers of the Night Watch, players harvest resources from the Gift to build settlements and keeps, while contributing to the defense of the Wall. The game was released in 2017 in English, German, Spanish, Italian, Polish, Russian, Czech/Slovak, Japanese, Brazilian Portuguese, Hebrew and French.[34][35]
The Settlers of Catan online game was announced on 16 December 2002.[53] Catan Online World allows players to download a Java application that serves as a portal for the online world and allows online play with other members.[citation needed] The base game may be played for free, while expansions require a subscription membership.
In the summer of 2014, Bontom Games collaborated with Catan GmbH and Internet Explorer to develop an asynchronous version of Catan. Catan Anytime is a short-session, turn-based game designed for mainstream gamers. On 10 June 2016, Catan Anytime announced on their Facebook page that Catan Anytime had shut down operations. The web site catananytime.com is no longer available.[66]
In April 2017, Catan Universe launched. Catan GmbH collaborated with Exozet and United Soft Media to make a cross platform version of Catan. Catan Universe is available in web, Steam, Amazon, iOS and Android platforms.[67] While the Steam version has an average score, the mobile versions have a higher score of 4/5 stars.[68][69][70][71] The game gained popularity during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2019/20 with a large number of new players, which overwhelmed servers at times.[72]
In November 2019, Niantic, Inc. announced that it was developing a new augmented reality mobile game, Catan: World Explorers. The game is to be based on the Catan board games; players will move through the real world, using their smartphones to build a Catan universe.[75] However, during September 2021 Niantic announced the augmented reality game would be shut down after a year of early access without actually releasing it.[76]
f448fe82f3