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Before you read this article, you will need to know the following terms and definitions:
| Game(-s): | Noun. Singular or Plural. A standalone version of Settlers of Catan, which can be played right out of the box without making additional purchases. There is only one standalone (base) game of Catan. |
| Expansion(-s): | Noun. Singular or Plural. An Catan game that cannot be played by itself. It must be used in conjunction with a standalone (base) game. The 5 & 6-player expansions are a good example of this. |
| Scenario(-s): | Noun. Singular or Plural. A small set of playing pieces and instructions that can be added to normal Catan gameplay. It cannot be played by itself--it must be used in conjunction with a standalone (base) game. The "Oil Springs" scenario is a good example of this. |
| Variant(-s): | Noun. Singular or Plural. A set of instructions for using the pieces from a Catan game or expansion in a new way. Most variants are fan-generated and require printing and cutting out new pieces. |
Intersection
Intersections are the points where 3 hexes meet. See Illustration G below. You may only construct buildings on intersections. The influence (for resource/commodity yields) of buildings extends into the 3 adjacent terrain hexes that form the intersection.
Coast
When a terrain hex borders on the sea (i.e., a sea hex or a frame piece), it is called a “coast.” You can build a road along a coast. You can build settlements, towns, and cities on intersections that border on the sea. However, since a site on the coast borders only 1 or 2 terrain hexes, coastal buildings usually generate smaller resource/commodity yields. Still, coastal sites often lie on harbors or fish shoals, which allow you harvest fish, launch ships, and use maritime trade to trade resources and commodities at more favorable rates.
Buildings
Regardless of the components you have or the ones you play with, there are five broad categories of buildings on Catan:
- Outposts
- Settlements
- Towns
- Cities
- Metropolises
With the exception of Outposts (which are too small to harvest anything, follow the Distance Rule, or be upgraded), all buildings must obey the following rules:
General Rules:
- If you wish to purchase a new building to replace an existing one, you may only upgrade the building from a lower level to the next-highest level. Upgrades may not “skip” a step. Each upgrade provides the same benefits as the previous level, along with some additional benefits.
- Take special note of the “Distance Rule”: you may only construct a building at an intersection if all 3 of the adjacent intersections are vacant (i.e., none are occupied by any other buildings—even yours). In order to be constructed, each of your buildings on a full-defined landmass must connect to at least 1 of your own trade routes.
- If one of your trade routes reaches an unoccupied intersection, you may construct a building on that intersection. When you construct a building in this way, the trade route between your building and your connected building(s) is considered “closed.” A ship, road, or bridge in a closed trade route may not be moved later.
- When you construct a settlement on an intersection adjacent to a river hex, you receive one (1) gold coin. If you later intentionally remove that building from the intersection, you must pay one (1) gold coin to do so. You do not receive a gold coin for upgrading a building that has already been constructed on an intersection adjacent to a river hex.
- You may not construct or upgrade any buildings on intersections that meet the following conditions:
- Raider Lair
- Spice Hex without one of your Crew Members on it
- Three (3) Barbarians occupy an adjacent hex
- The Storm Hex occupies an adjacent hex
- Another building (even your own) on an adjacent intersection
- All three of the hexes surrounding that intersection have been discovered.
- Once a player has built or upgraded a structure by paying the appropriate cost, that player is eligible to receive the corresponding Victory Point(s). Each time a player builds or upgrades a structure, they take the Crop Trust event token that was resting underneath that structure, turn it over, read the respective event out loud, and resolve the event.
- If a player has upgraded a structure and returned the lower version of that structure to their supply, they must draw a new event token from the supply stack and place it under that structure.
Path
Path(s): Singular or Plural. The edge where 2 hexes and/or hexes and the frame meet. Paths run along the border of 2 terrain hexes or between a hex and the frame. Only one trade route can be built on any path. At each end of a path is an intersection.
Sea Path
Ships and Boats are placed on sea paths. The edges of a sea hex are called sea paths. Sea paths separate sea hexes from each other. The edges of blue frame pieces bordering sea hexes are also considered as sea paths.
Coastal Path
Ships, Boats, Roads, and Bridges can all be placed on coastal paths. The edges between a sea hex and a land hex are called coastal paths. Coastal paths separate sea hexes from land hexes. The edges of terrain frame pieces bordering sea hexes are also considered as coastal paths. The edges of blue frame pieces bordering land hexes are also considered as coastal paths.
Overland Path
Roads and Bridges are placed on overland paths. The edges of a land hex are called overland paths. Overland paths separate land hexes from each other. The edges of terrain frame pieces bordering land hexes are also considered as overland paths.
NEW UPGRADE FLOWCHART:
YOU MAY NOT PRE-PURCHASE ANYTHING!
Effects of Growth:
Crop tokens are not only removed from the board by harvesting. Building and developing the Catanian network of structures, trade routes, and providing food for the knights also causes pressure on crops.
Revealing Event Tokens:
Each time a player builds or upgrades a structure, they must take the crop event token that was previously stored underneath, turn it over, read the respective event out loud, and resolve the event.
If you have upgraded a community to a town and returned the community to your supply, draw a new event token from the supply stack and place it under this community. If you have played all event tokens from the supply stack, shuffle them and arrange them into a new face-down supply stack.
The fronts of the event tokens show various symbols indicating different disastrous effects as described below.
Regional Crop Loss:
Remove all crop tokens of the type depicted on the event token from the fields hexes marked with the depicted numbers and return them to the supply. In this example, you would remove all "beans" crop tokens from the fields hexes marked with the number tokens 5, 6, or 8.
Small-Scale Crop Loss:
Remove two (2) crop tokens of the type depicted on the event token from the board. Return these two (2) tokens to the supply. You must first remove crop tokens of the depicted type from fields hexes adjacent to which you have built a structure. If there are fewer than two (2) of the affected crops on such hexes, remove the required number of crop tokens from other fields hexes. In this example, you would remove two (2) "quinoa" crop tokens from the board.
Large-Scale Crop Loss:
Remove three (3) crop tokens of the type depicted on the event token from the board. Return these three (3) tokens to the supply. You must first remove crop tokens of the depicted type from fields hexes adjacent to which you have built a structure. if there are fewer than three (3) of the affected crops on such hexes, remove the required number of crop tokens from other fields hexes. In this example, you would remove three (3) "maize" crop tokens from the board.
Monoculture:
Monoculture is the cultivation of a single crop species in a given area. If a fields hex contains only one (1) type of crop token (For example: only "beans" tokens, or only "rice" tokens), you must remove all of these tokens and return them to the supply.
Example: If a fields hex contains two (2) beans tokens and three (3) maize tokens, no action is taken. However, if one (1) hex contains only four (4) beans tokens and another hex contains only one (1) rice token, you must remove all four (4) beans tokens and the single rice token.
Extinction of Plant Species:
Crop tokens may disappear from the game board due to the actions taken in response to the event tokens drawn. If there are no crop tokens of a given type on the board, and if no crop tokens of this type are stored in the seed vault, this plant species is considered extinct.
If this occurs, return all crop tokens of this type from the supply back into the box. Tokens of this type on players' crop storage records still remain.
It is now no longer possible to plant or harvest this crop, nor is it possible to store this crop in the seed vault.
If you reveal an event token that depicts an extinct plant species, return it to the box. Then draw a new event token from the supply and resolve its effects. In this way, the damaging effects of the event tokens will begin to compound and accelerate as plant species begin to become extinct.
IMPORTANT NOTE: If, during the build phase, a player reaches the required number of Victory Points necessary for a True Victory (see article 3.9.2, entitled "True Victory," for further details) but is forced to reveal a crop trust event token due to the construction or upgrade of a structure, and this crop trust event token causes either of the Crop Trust end game conditions listed below to occur, that player may still win the game, if they have the most crop tokens on their crop storage record (as described in article 3.9.1, entitled "Pyrrhic Victory"):
- If more than half of the game board's revealed fields hexes no longer contain crop tokens, the game ends immediately in a Pyrrhic Victory. This may change as additional fields hexes are revealed throughout the game, but only fields hexes with Production Numbers count for this total.
- If two (2) or more of the five (5) plant species are extinct, the game ends immediately in a Pyrrhic Victory.
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