Any player trades are legal so long as both players agree, however, players cannot trade development cards. They can do any combination of these things on their turn. After the dice have been rolled and resource cards have been distributed, the active player can trade resources with other players, trade with the bank, or buy something. If there is a settlement or city on a junction where the robber is moved, the player that moved the robber chooses 1 card at random from the owner’s hand and steals it. The robber covers the numbered hex and that terrain produces no resources for as long as the robber stays there, even if the numbered token is rolled on the dice. Also, when a 7 is rolled, the player that rolled it gets to move the robber token to any hex on the board. There are no hand size limits, but if any player rolls a 7, the players with more than 7 resource cards discard half of their resource cards. If you have a city in the junction, you get 2 resource cards. Any player that has a settlement in an adjacent junction gets 1 resource card for that numbered hex. For example, if a player rolls a 6, every hex with a token that says “6” on it makes its resource. The combined number on the dice determines which terrain hexes produce resources for that turn. To start a turn, the active player rolls two dice. Now the player that placed the first settlement goes first. For example, if a player’s second settlement is at the junction where a mountain hex meets two forest hexes, they would take 1 ore card and 2 lumber cards. Next, each player receives 1 resource card for each terrain that their second settlement borders. Then, going in reverse order, players place an additional settlement and road. Players may not place their first settlement on a junction that is adjacent to another player’s settlement. On the first turn, players set 1 settlement at any intersection where 3 terrain hexes meet, and 1 road on an adjacent line leading away from their settlement. Each player rolls the dice and the player who rolls the highest number goes first. Every player picks a color to play and takes the road, settlement, and city pieces for their color. Shuffle the development cards and place them face-down next to the resource cards. Separate these resource cards into separate piles and set them face-up next to the board. The hills make brick, forest makes lumber, mountains make ore, fields make grain, pasture makes wool, and desert doesn’t produce anything. The terrain spaces produce resources and provide cards that you collect to help you build. Now, randomly place the numbered tokens on the terrain spaces, skipping the desert and water spaces. Fill in the blank spaces between the numbered water cards with the blank water cards. Next, place the numbered water cards around the outside of the hexagon by placing 1 water hexagon against every other terrain with the numbered side facing in towards the center. There are 5 terrain types in Catan, including hills, forest, mountains, fields, pasture, and desert. Then, randomly flip them over and make them into a hexagon made of 19 terrain pieces. To set up the game, first shuffle the hexagonal terrain pieces face down. There are also development cards that can give players victory points. Players get 1 victory point for each settlement they build, 2 victory points for each city they build, 2 victory points if they build the longest road, and 2 victory points for assembling the biggest army.

The first player to earn 10 victory points wins the game.

Settlers of Catan is a 3-4 player board game where players try to collect resources and build a civilization to earn victory points.

Catan game