Catan

Catan is a two to four player board game in which players strive to acquire resources and construct the largest cities on the fictitious island of Catan. It takes about an hour to finish the game. Players assume the role of settlers, aiming to establish and expand their lands while trading and gathering resources. As their settlements grow, players earn victory points. The first player to attain a certain amount of victory points, usually, 10, wins.

How to Play Catan Game?

Let us see how to play Catan below.

We will cover the following points to understand how to play it.

  1. Setup.
     
  2. Gameplay.
     
  3. Scoring.

 

  1. Setup

    The Catan board is modular, which means it may be assembled in a variety of ways. The more you play, the more inventive you can be with your assembly. However, there is a preferred manner to set up the board for your first game of Catan.

Setup of the Catan Board

The basic steps for setting up the Catan board are as follows:

  • Clip the blue edges of the Catan board together to form the frame.
     
  • To create a varied configuration, shuffle the land hex tiles facedown and position them randomly.
     
  • Starting at a corner and working counterclockwise toward the middle of the board, arrange the numbered circle makers in either beginner’s setup or alphabetical order.
     
  • Setup entails arranging big hexagonal tiles in a honeycomb design, each depicting a resource or the desert, and surrounding them with water tiles, some of which feature ports of exchange.

  1. Gameplay

Players

  • The players in the Catan game are known as the settlers.
  • Players establish towns, cities, and roadways on the island of Catan.

Resources on the Catan Island

  • The island's resources are determined by rolling dice every turn.
     
  • Players construct by spending the resources, that is, sheep, wheat, wood, brick, and ore depicted on these resource cards.
     
  • Each land type produces a specific resource, except the unproductive desert: hills produce brick, forests produce wood, mountains produce ore, fields produce wheat, and pastures produce sheep.

  1. Scoring

  • Select a player's color.
     
  • Place five towns, four cities, and fifteen highways of that color in front of you.
     
  • On the board, place two settlements and two roadways.
     
  • Follow the layout in the rulebook if you're using the recommended beginner setup.
     
  • Instead, the experienced player rules have each player put a colony and one nearby road in turn, with the order of placement reversed (so the last player goes first) for the second settlement and adjacent road.
     
  • Each player is given a building cost card, which serves as a reminder of the resources required to construct more towns, highways, and cities, as well as purchase development cards.
     
  • Along with the game board, place the Longest Road and Largest Army cards, as well as the two dice.
     
  • Sort the resources into piles based on their category: sheep, wood, brick, ore, and wheat.
     
  • Take the resources of the land surrounding the settlement marked by the white star in the rulebook for the recommended beginner setup: Yellow is given a sheep, a tree, and wheat. Red receives wheat, wood, and sheep. Blue receives a brick, a sheep, and ore. White receives ore, wood, and sheep.
     
  • When you use the experienced player setup, you receive resources from each of the tiles adjacent to your second settlement.

Hope you got a rough idea of how to play Catan. Let us now have a look at the Catan rules given below.

Rules to Play Catan (Settlers)

Your turn in the Catan board game is divided into three phases:

  1. Resource production.
     
  2. Trading.
     
  3. Building.

 

  1. Resource Production

  • You must roll the two dice before doing anything else in your turn.
     
  • The outcome is the same for everyone, and it usually means you get to choose a resource from the resource stacks based on the number you rolled and the location of your colonies.

In Catan, How Does a Robber Operate?

  • In a Catan game, if you roll a 7 on your turn, the robber is activated.
     
  • If a player has more than seven resource cards in their hand, they must return half of them to the resource stacks, rounded down.
     
  • This includes the one who set the robber off.
     
  • You can now move the robber onto one of the numbers on the Catan board, blocking players from earning resources from surrounding settlements if that number is rolled, until the robber is moved again.
     
  • You get to steal a resource from a player at random because you're a thief.

  1. Trading

Domestic and maritime trade are the two types of trade in Catan board games.

Domestic Trade

  • Domestic trading is simply a fancy way of expressing that you can trade with other players. You can say what you're looking for and what you'd be ready to give up in exchange.
     
  • Counteroffers and proposals can be made to you but not to each other, by your other players.

Maritime Trade

  • Maritime commerce does not include the other players and can be extremely advantageous when your opponents are adamant about not trading.
     
  • Trading four of one good for one of another is possible with maritime trading.
     
  • You can do this action anyway, however, if you have a colony or city on a port, you will receive a rebate of some sort.

  1. Building

The constructing phase is the last section of each player's turn. In your turn, you can construct anything you want if you have the resources and building materials in your pool.

Roads

  • One brick and one piece of wood are required to construct a road.
     
  • Roads are built on the margins of hexes and allow you to expand your settlements further afield, allowing you to gather additional resources.
     
  • The Longest Road card, worth two-win points at the end of the game, is awarded to the first player who constructs a road with at least five parts in a single stretch, without including the forks.
     
  • If another player's road is longer than that player's, they get to steal that player's card, so the Longest Road card is never completely safe in anyone's possession.

Settlements

  • Building communities necessitates the use of brick, wood, sheep, and wheat.
     
  • Because each settlement is worth one victory point, getting settlements on the board fast can be a crucial strategy in the game.
     
  • To win the game, you'll need ten victory points.
     
  • You can only build a settlement where your roads link, and you must be at least two spaces distant from another community, including your own.
     
  • This means that no colony can be located next to another.
     
  • In addition to providing, you with a priceless triumph.
     
  • Each settlement rewards you with resources anytime one of the numbers next to it is rolled, in addition to granting you a valuable victory point.

Cities

  • Three ore and two wheat, as well as an existing community, are required to construct a city.
     
  • In Catan game, a city is equivalent to a hotel in Monopoly; it's an improvement.
     
  • You can only establish a city if there is an existing settlement on the board that can be replaced.
     
  • Cities will provide you with double the resources and two victory points apiece.
     
  • Settlements and cities cannot be developed near to each other because they must be established along roadways.

Development Cards in Catan

  • Purchasing development cards cost one sheep, one ore, and one wheat and are part of the building phase.
     
  • It's a little of a luck of the draw because you're picking from a stack of cards blindly, but they're all favorable to you.
     
  • Development cards are hidden from your opponents until a specific point, which varies based on the card.
     
  • It's vital to remember that you can't use a development card the same turn you buy it.
     
  • The cards have all the directions written on them.

Types of Development Cards

The three types of development cards are:

  1. Knights.
     
  2. Progress cards.
     
  3. Victory point cards.

 

  1. Knights
  • The Longest Road is comparable to Knights.
     
  • The first person to play three knights in front of them receives a two-point bonus for having the Largest Army, similar to the Longest Road card.
     
  • However, exactly like the Longest Road, if another player's army is larger than yours, this card can be stolen.
     
  • When you play Knights, the robber is activated, and you act as though you just rolled a 7.
  1. Progress Cards
  • The purpose of progress cards varies, and each one is explicitly stated on the card.
     
  • They usually provide you with resources or allow you to construct without spending any.
     
  • The card is eliminated from the game once it has been used.
     
  1. Victory Points Cards
  • Success point cards are the most appealing of the development cards since they accelerate your path to victory while remaining hidden until you have enough victory points to win the game on your turn.
     
  • The only development cards that can be played on the same turn as they are purchased are victory point cards.

Scores and the Game's Conclusion

  • Catan's goal is straightforward: the first person to reach 10 victory points on their turn wins.
     
  • Make sure to keep track of your and your opponents' victory points.

Hope you understood the catan rules. Let us have a look at the strategy now.

Catan Strategy

  • To maximize output, choose the best numbers. More resource cards will be provided on average if you choose numbers that roll more frequently, such as 5s, 6s, 8s, and 9.
     
  • Obtain one of each resource, particularly wheat. If you are unable to obtain all of the resources, you need to devise a strategy for obtaining them, such as creating a port or trading for them.
     
  • If you don't have all of the resources, consider a more specialized approach. To buy development cards, you'll need ore, wheat, and sheep. Ore and wheat are used to construct cities. Or you might use wood and brick to construct the longest road.
     
  • Take the most valuable resources. When you control a resource that the others do not, you can trade it for a benefit (two cards for one), and it may also slow down the others' development because they are missing a resource.
     
  • Consider where your opponents' settlements will be located. This allows you to anticipate where it will be available when you place your second settlement.
     
  • Don't give your opponents a good position. To prevent your opponent from getting a strong setup, you may need to take a slightly inferior spot. Throughout the game, sabotaging your opponents' plans is an effective strategy.
     
  • What comes next? Consider where you can expand when deciding where to put your settlements. It can be especially beneficial to travel to a port that corresponds to your most common resource, where you can trade it 2–1.
     
  • Get a good number distribution. If you only bet on a few numbers, you will either get no cards or all of them at once. By diversifying, you increase your chances of obtaining a consistent flow of resources.

Poker Vs Catan Game

Poker

Catan Game

Poker is a game that is played in casinos. It is played in online casinos as well as traditional casinos. It is majorly a real money game. The game is mainly about strategic play and requires a high level of decision-making.

Catan is an indoor game. It is mostly played for fun reasons. It is played in social groups and requires decent communication skills to trade and a little bit of strategy.

You can play money earning games and win big money. The money you can make with online poker is lucrative. If you are smart and know how to win real poker money with a smart poker strategy, then no one can stop you from winning online poker games.

 

You can play Catan online games with your friends on the internet. You can use your smartphone or laptop to play games.

There are many casinos that host poker games.  You can play paid free games or paid poker games.

Catan online free games are available online on various gaming websites. You can play free games whenever you want.

 

Play Online Poker & Earn Real Money

Online poker is a great way to earn real money. Many players resort to poker to earn their side income. You can play online poker if you like card games. Spartan is a platform that has amazing poker promotions going on daily. Register on Spartan Poker and start winning real money with poker games now! Let the thrill begin.

Catan Game FAQs

1.) Why is Catan so popular?

Catan is a fun game. It is a popular board game because it is easy to learn, and players stay engaged during the game with dice and negotiation work.
 

2.) Is Catan easy to play?

Catan is a complex game. The age recommendation of 8+ is a decent guide because it is a rather sophisticated game in many ways, and there is a special 'Kids of Catan' set available for younger players.
 

3.) Is Catan a good game?

Catan is a fun game to play and much more fun to win. Catan promotes long-term planning and strategy over-hasty or brute-forced gameplay techniques as a game best played with a poker face and a competent set of bluffing skills.
 

4.) Is Catan discontinued?

In mid-2014, Catan was abruptly pulled. There is no official comment on why it was taken down or whether it will be reinstated.