The Settlers of Catan is a multiplayer boardgame where the players in the game represent settlers establishing colonies on the island of Catan. Players build settlements, cities, and roads to connect them as they settle the island. The game board representing the island is composed of hexagonal tiles ( hexes) of different land types which are laid out randomly at the beginning of each game; new editions of the game also depict a fixed layout in their manual, which has been proven to be fairly even-handed by computer simulations, and recommend this to be used by beginners. Gameplay
Players build by spending resources (brick, lumber, wool, grain, and ore), represented by resource cards; each land type, with the exception of the unproductive desert, produces a specific resource. On each player's turn, they roll the two six sided dice, determining which hexes produce resources. Any players with settlements or cities adjacent to hexes marked with the number rolled receive resource cards of the appropriate type. There is also a robber token on the board; if a player rolls 7, they move the robber to any hex, which will no longer produce resources until the robber is moved again; they also steal a resource card from another player. (Some play with "Friendly Robber" gameplay rules, where the robber cannot be placed on resources that other players occupy if those players have two or fewer points. This was first introduced with Catan: Traders & Barbarians but is not a rule to be used solely in Traders & Barbarians. Players may agree to allow this optional rule in all Catan variant
Players are allowed to trade resource cards among each other if both parties to the trade agree on the terms; players may also trade off-island (in effect, with the non-player bank) at ratio of four of one resource for one of any other. By building settlements in certain spots on the edge of the board (ports), players may trade with the bank at three-to-one or two-to-one ratios.
The goal of the game is to possess ten victory points on one's turn. Players possess one point for each settlement built, and a second for each settlement upgraded to a city. Various other achievements, such as establishing the longest road and largest armies, grant a player additional victory points.
Resource cards can also be spent to buy a development card. Three types of development cards include cards worth one victory point; knight cards (or soldier cards), which allow the player to move the robber as if they had rolled a 7; and a third set of cards which allow the player one of three abilities when played. Having played the most knights also earns the player victory points.
Game and House Rules
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