Catan Rules FAQ — How to Play Catan

Arrange the 19 hexagonal land tiles in the standard 3-4-5-4-3 row layout. Surround the board with the sea-frame pieces, place number tokens on each non-desert hex (skipping the desert), put the robber on the desert, and give each player two starting settlements and two roads placed in turn order, then reverse turn order. Each player draws one resource card for each hex adjacent to their second settlement.

On your turn: (1) roll two dice — every player whose settlement or city borders a hex with that number collects the matching resource; (2) trade with other players or with the bank/ports; (3) build roads, settlements, cities, or buy development cards. End your turn by passing the dice. First player to 10 victory points on their turn wins.

You win by reaching 10 victory points on your turn. Settlements are worth 1 point, cities 2 points, longest road 2 points, largest army 2 points, and victory-point development cards 1 point each. You must announce victory on your own turn — points held secretly do count.

No resources are produced. Every player holding more than 7 resource cards must discard half (rounded down). The active player then moves the robber to any new hex and steals one random card from a player with a settlement or city on that hex. The robber stays on that hex until the next 7 is rolled or a Knight card is played.

The robber blocks production on its hex — that hex produces no resources for any adjacent settlement or city until the robber is moved. It is moved when a 7 is rolled or when a Knight (Soldier) development card is played. The mover steals one random card from a player adjacent to the new hex.

The longest road bonus (2 victory points) goes to the first player to build an unbroken chain of at least 5 road segments. The chain may not branch back through itself but may follow any path of edges. If another player later builds a strictly longer road, the bonus moves to them. If the longest road is broken (by a settlement placed on it by another player), the bonus is recalculated.

The largest army bonus (2 victory points) goes to the first player to play 3 Knight (Soldier) development cards. If another player later plays a strictly larger number of Knights, the bonus moves to them. Knights in your hand do not count — they must be played.

A road costs 1 wood + 1 brick. A settlement costs 1 wood + 1 brick + 1 wheat + 1 sheep. A city upgrade (replacing one of your existing settlements) costs 2 wheat + 3 ore. A development card costs 1 wheat + 1 sheep + 1 ore. You start with a stockpile limit defined by the number of pieces in front of you.

A 3:1 generic port lets you trade any 3 cards of one resource for any 1 card of another resource with the bank. A 2:1 resource-specific port (wood, brick, wheat, sheep, or ore) lets you trade 2 cards of that specific resource for any 1 card. You can only use a port if you have a settlement or city on one of its two coastal intersections.

On your turn, before or after building, you may propose trades with any other player ("can I get a wheat for a sheep?"). The active player must be involved in any trade. Trades with the bank cost 4 of one resource for 1 of another, unless you have a port that improves your rate.

There are 25 development cards: 14 Knights, 5 Victory Point cards, 2 Road Building, 2 Year of Plenty, and 2 Monopoly. You buy them face-down for 1 wheat + 1 sheep + 1 ore and may not play them on the same turn you bought them (except Victory Point cards). You may play at most one development card per turn.

In turn order, each player places one settlement and one connected road. Then in reverse turn order, each player places a second settlement and a second connected road. Each player collects one resource card for each hex adjacent to their second settlement, giving them a small starting stockpile.

No. The "distance rule" requires that any new settlement be at least two roads away from every existing settlement or city. Settlements and cities cannot share intersections, and you cannot place one adjacent to an existing one.

A settlement produces 1 of the relevant resource per neighbouring hex roll and is worth 1 victory point. A city produces 2 of the relevant resource per neighbouring hex roll and is worth 2 victory points. Cities are upgrades that replace one of your existing settlements (the settlement returns to your supply).

When played, you immediately place 2 free roads on the board (each must follow the normal road-placement rules — connecting to your network, not crossing other players' settlements). It is one of the strongest cards for racing the longest road bonus.

Take any 2 resource cards from the bank and add them to your hand. The two cards may be the same resource or different.

Name one resource type. Every other player must give you all of their cards of that resource. It can swing a game when paired with a high-card hand among opponents.

A 3-4 player game typically takes 60–90 minutes. The 5-6 player expansion can stretch to 2 hours because turn order takes longer to come around.

Common house rules include: increase the victory threshold to 12 to discourage early VP-card hoards, allow a build-phase between rolls to keep all players engaged (this is built into the 5-6 expansion), or remove the discard-on-7 cap. Use this site's board generator to experiment with adjacency-rule changes too.

If the bank doesn't have enough of a resource for everyone owed that resource on a given roll, only players who can be paid in full receive any (per the 2025 rulebook clarification). If only one player is owed, they take whatever is available.