Starting Map for Beginners
To make it as easy as possible for you to get started with Catan, we use an award-winning rules system, which consists of 3 parts—the Overview, the Game Rules, and the Almanac.
If you've never played Catan, please read the game Overview first—it's on the back cover of this booklet. Next, read the Game Rules and start to play. And finally, if you have questions during the game, please consult the Almanac (it begins on page 6).
Resource Production
Hills
Produce Brick
Forest
Produces Lumber
Mountains
Produce Ore
Fields
Produce Grain
Pasture
Produces Wool
Desert
Produces Nothing
Setting Up the Game
Select a color and take your 5 settlements, 4 cities, and 15 roads (no more and no less!). Place your 2 roads and your 2 settlements on the game board. Place your remaining settlements, roads, and cities down in front of you.
Note: If you are playing a 3-player game, nobody plays the red position indicated on the starting map.
Take your color's building costs card. (See Illustration B.)
Starting Set-up for Experienced Players
It is more fun to play with a variable game board—with the game board laid out randomly. The board changes each game. If you would like to use the variable set-up, you can find the guidelines in the Almanac under Set-up, Variable. Also look for useful tips under Set-up Phase and Tactics.
Final Setup Steps
- Place the special cards "Longest Road" and "Largest Army" beside the game board along with the 2 dice.
- Sort the resource cards into 5 stacks and put them face up next to the game board.
- Shuffle the development cards and place them face down by the board.
- You receive resources for each terrain hex around your starting settlement marked with a white star (see Illustration A). Take the appropriate resource cards from their stacks.