45
votes
How to track turn-taking in Catan
Use the dice themselves as a reminder of whose turn it is. This avoids the need for any extra tokens or start player marker.
If players roll them in front of themselves and then they physically pass ...
- 10.6k
37
votes
Are "three way" trades allowed in Catan?
No (or yes, depending on how you define a single trade).
The person whose turn it is can trade. Each trade is with that person and one other person.
If you can accomplish what you need in a series of ...
- 11.5k
33
votes
Accepted
Catan: Hiding Development Cards
You can NOT hide the number of resource cards that are in your hand, so the premise in your question is incorrect.
From the rules, page 8, under Knight Cards:
However, you can always ask players ...
- 75.1k
31
votes
Accepted
Can I still trade 4:1 with the bank if I own any 3:1 or 2:1 port(s) just to get rid of more cards?
Based on my read of the rules, specifically the section in the Almanac on Maritime Trade, I don't see any reason why you couldn't trade at the 4:1 rate even when you have a better rate available. I ...
- 982
26
votes
Activating a robber in Catan clarification
a) Rolling a “7”✹ and Activating the Robber
If you roll a “7,” no one receives any resources.
Instead, every player who has more than 7 Resource Cards
must select half (rounded down) of his ...
- 3,067
24
votes
Accepted
Is it legal to make trade deals before using a monopoly card?
This is a perfectly legal, and quite common tactic.
The Monopoly card has no play restrictions other than the typical "once per turn, not on the turn you got it" Dev card restrictions. It affects all ...
- 12.6k
21
votes
Accepted
Settlers of Catan: does the "knight card steal" have to be random?
The steal itself must be random, but you can easily "fix" this by doing a trade afterwards.
From the rules:
(2) Then you steal 1 (random) resource card from an
opponent who has a settlement ...
- 75.1k
20
votes
Accepted
Is it legal to trade 1 wood for 1 wood + 1 hay?
I would argue the rules say this is not legal. Quoting from rules found on Catan Website
However, you cannot give away cards, or trade matching resources (“trade” 3 ore for 1 ore, for example).
...
- 10.6k
19
votes
Accepted
Combined Catan player+player+bank transactions
No, this is not legal as written. This is really a series of three separate trades (one of them being with the bank), and two of them are giving a resource for free, which is forbidden by the rules.
...
- 75.1k
19
votes
Accepted
Catan - Rules Lawyering the behavior of the "Commercial Harbor" Progress Card
In a tournament, player D may get away with it; but he definitely wouldn’t at my house, or during any games I’ve played with friends.
In a game that involves open negotiation and trade, intent is an ...
- 75.1k
18
votes
Accepted
Can you 4:1 trade with the bank if you don't own any shoreside settlements?
From the Rules and Almanac download:
MARITIME TRADE
On your turn, you can trade resources using maritime trade during the trade phase even without involving another player.
The most basic (and ...
- 751
17
votes
Catan - Rules Lawyering the behavior of the "Commercial Harbor" Progress Card
TL;DR
I agree with player D's interpretation, but it's not clearly enough worded to be enforceable without prior agreement from other players. In a casual setting I would have agreed the ...
- 1,258
16
votes
Accepted
What is the highest achievable score in Catan
The game ends when you reach 10 points on your turn, so if you are playing with 5 or 6 players you could easily get high then 10 on the special build phases so it would be closer to the maximum number ...
- 1,207
16
votes
Can I build a settlement on a "broken" road?
yes
From the rules:
You may only build a settlement at an intersection if all 3 of the
adjacent intersections are vacant.
Each of your settles must connect to at least one of your roads.
If you don'...
- 10.6k
15
votes
Catan: Play any development card before rolling
You can play a development card at anytime on your turn.
From the Catan Rules p. 7:
You can play the [development] card at any time, even before you roll the dice. You may not, however, play a ...
- 20.1k
15
votes
Can I build a settlement at an intersection two roads away from one settlement and one road away from another?
No, it is not possible
As best I can tell, this is the situation you are describing:
The 5th Edition rules say this about settlements:
Take special note of the “Distance Rule”: you may only build ...
- 8,580
15
votes
Accepted
Stalemate in Catan
Yes, it is possible to wind up in a game state where it is impossible for any player to win. Consider the following board position (assume non-red players haven't built any roads beyond their initial ...
- 3,564
14
votes
Accepted
In Catan, is it possible to steal from yourself with the robber?
No, you may not.
According to the official rules on the website:
(1) You must move the robber immediately to the number token of any
other terrain hex or to the desert hex.
(2) Then you steal 1 (...
- 1,144
14
votes
How to track turn-taking in Catan
In addition to what the others said I would suggest slowing down the pace of play. It doesn't matter if you have a tracker to keep track of who rolled and what they got, using a token to indicate the ...
- 14.4k
14
votes
Accepted
Is it legal to continue building a route after it has been cut off by an opponent's settlement?
Yes.
The rules state that that you must build connected to your own buildings/roads, which you still are in the situation in question.
From the rules:
A new road must always connect to 1 of your ...
- 75.1k
14
votes
In Catan, if you roll a seven and move the robber, do you actually have to rob someone?
From the game rules
You must move the robber immediately to the number token of any other terrain hex or to the desert hex.
The keyword here being any. So yes, you can move it to tiles without ...
- 376
14
votes
Can two VP cards be played at once in Catan?
In the Catan Rules on page 5 it says:
So following these rules, not only can you play multiple Victory Point Cards, you MUST play them together in order to achieve 10 victory points.
All other type ...
- 555
13
votes
Catan setup order different than playing order
I think you have got how you work out start player wrong.
You said "the second highest number goes second and so on." The rules do not state this.
Looking at rules here it says :-
Each ...
- 10.6k
13
votes
Why should a player reveal his victory points if someone else wins?
You should reveal everything when the game ends so that
You know who came second
You know all the bits end up back in the box
You know someone hasn't made a mistake and failed to claim victory.
The ...
- 2,087
12
votes
City was not first a settlement. How to fix?
If you don't notice a mistake until long after (or once you can no longer roll back the moves to correct the mistake) it happens then you should just let it stand. In this case the player should get ...
- 14.4k
12
votes
Accepted
Is it legal to check the number of resources in the bank?
You can only count resource cards after rolling, to determine if there are enough for everyone to get the cards they need.
From the official FAQ:
Resource Cards - May I count the Resource Cards ...
- 75.1k
12
votes
Accepted
Building off of other players' roads and settlements in Catan
You can only build on your own roads and you can only upgrade your own settlements. The English rulebook is clear on this, on page 5, under “build”:
You may only establish a city by upgrading one ...
- 75.1k
12
votes
Is a player locked in to a poorly worded trade offer?
There are multiple issues with the way this played out.
First of all, trading 2 wood for 1 wood is not a legal trade, as outlined in the rulebook:
You may not trade like resources (e.g., 2 wool for 1 ...
- 75.1k
11
votes
Do you win a game of Catan even if you don't realize you have won?
I have found reference to this in other posts, though I didn't see a question phrased as directly as this.
In reference to the online Rules (PDF):
On page 5, you will find the following under "...
- 590
11
votes
Accepted
If you have more than one face-down development card in Settlers of Catan, do you have to keep them distinguished?
The rules, section 3d, say "Keep your development cards hidden (in your hand) until you play them, so your opponents can't anticipate your play."
In games I've played people tend to stack cards in ...
- 419
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