Description

In CATAN, men and women of your expedition establish the first two settlements on a resource-rich, uninhabited island. You build roads and new settlements, which eventually grow into cities. The goal is to achieve supremacy on Catan through strategic placement of settlements and skillful trading of resources. But beware, your opponents are clever too.

First published in Germany in 1995 as Die Siedler von CATAN, and later in English as The Settlers of CATAN in 1996, CATAN celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2020.

To start the game, players build the game board using hexagonal terrain tiles, creating a beautiful island with mountains, pastures, hills, fields, and forests, all surrounded by the sea.

Each player places two small houses, or starting settlements, on spaces where three terrain hexes meet. The game begins with the starting player rolling two dice. For example, if they roll an "11," each player who has a settlement adjacent to a terrain hex marked with the number 11 receives a resource produced by that hex. Hills produce brick, forests produce lumber, mountains produce ore, fields produce grain, and pastures produce wool.

Players use these resources to expand across Catan, building roads, new settlements, or upgrading existing settlements to cities. For instance, a road costs one brick and one lumber. If you lack the necessary resources, you can acquire them by trading with your opponents.

Each settlement is worth one victory point, and each city is worth two victory points. If you expand wisely and reach ten victory points before your opponents, you win the game!