Rules of the Island

1 · Components

The island of Catan is built from 19 terrain hexes — 4 Forest, 4 Pasture, 4 Fields, 3 Hills, 3 Mountains and 1 Desert — surrounded by an ocean frame holding 9 ports: four generic 3:1 harbors and one special 2:1 harbor for each resource.

18 number tokens (2–12, no 7) mark producing hexes. Each player commands a supply of 15 roads, 5 settlements and 4 cities. The bank holds 19 cards of each of the five resources, and the development deck contains 14 Knights, 2 Road Building, 2 Year of Plenty, 2 Monopoly and 5 Victory Point cards.

2 · Setup

• Shuffle the terrain hexes and assemble the island (a center hex, a ring of 6 and a ring of 12).
• Place number tokens face-up in a clockwise spiral, starting from an outer hex and ending at the center.
• Place the robber on the desert.
• Determine a starting player at random. In snake order (P1→P4, then P4→P1) each player places a settlement plus one connecting road.
• Each player collects 1 resource card of each type produced by the hexes adjacent to their second settlement.

3 · Turn Structure

A turn flows Roll → (produce, or robber on a 7) → Trade → Build. Play then passes clockwise.

• Roll two dice. Every hex whose number token matches the sum produces resources: 1 card per adjacent settlement, 2 per adjacent city.
• A hex blocked by the robber produces nothing. If the bank’s stack of a resource is empty, players who would draw it get nothing.
• Rolling a 7 produces nothing instead: every player holding more than 7 cards discards half (rounded down); the active player moves the robber to any hex and steals 1 random card from a player with a building adjacent to it.
• Trading and building may happen in any order and quantity, as long as you can pay.

4 · Trading

• Domestic trade: on your turn, strike any deal with another player. Only the active player’s trades are legal, and you may never trade identical resources (no wood for wood).
• Maritime trade: trade 4 identical cards with the bank for 1 of any resource.
• Generic port (3:1): if you have a settlement or city on one of a generic port’s two corners, bank trades cost only 3.
• Special port (2:1): a port marked with a resource trades 2 of that resource for 1 of any.

5 · Building

You may build as much as your resources and piece supply allow. Roads connect your network; settlements and cities occupy intersections.

• The distance rule: a settlement may never be placed directly adjacent (1 edge away) to any other settlement or city.
• An opponent’s settlement on a junction breaks the continuity of your road path (this matters for Longest Road).

6 · Development Cards

• You may play at most 1 development card per turn — never one you bought this turn. Victory Point cards are the only exception: they may be revealed immediately if they win you the game.
• Knight (×14) — move the robber and steal 1 card, exactly as after rolling a 7. Played knights count toward Largest Army.
• Road Building (×2) — immediately place up to 2 free roads (standard placement rules).
• Year of Plenty (×2) — take any 2 resources from the bank (they may match).
• Monopoly (×2) — name a resource; every other player hands over all their cards of that type.
• Victory Point (×5) — worth 1 VP, kept hidden until played.

7 · Special Awards

• Longest Road — a continuous road of 5+ segments. Worth 2 VP; only one player can hold it, and it is stolen by building a longer road.
• Largest Army — 3+ played knights. Worth 2 VP; likewise stolen when exceeded.

8 · Winning the Game

The first player to reach 10 victory points on their own turn wins immediately. VP come from: 1 per settlement, 2 per city, 2 for Longest Road, 2 for Largest Army and 1 per Victory Point development card.