How to Play Catan | Setup, Rules and How to Win

Catan, also called Settlers of Catan, is a 3 to 4 player game where you roll dice to collect five resources, trade them, and spend them on roads, settlements, and cities, and the first player to reach 10 victory points wins.

I taught Emma Catan at 10 in about fifteen minutes, and it has been the game that leaves our shelf more than any other. The rulebook looks thicker than it is. There are really only four things to learn: how the board pays you, how a turn flows, what each piece costs, and the two rules that catch new players out, which are the robber and the eight card hand limit.

What makes Catan click for a family is that almost nothing is hidden. You can see every settlement, every city, and every trade on the table, so a kid who is paying attention can genuinely outplay an adult. If you have ever wanted a game that rewards reading the board instead of reading a rulebook, this is the one.

Affiliate disclosure: this page contains Amazon affiliate links. If you buy through one we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you, and it never changes the verdict below.

A note before the rules: the old version of this page listed the robber as a third turn phase and said the game has cooperative parts. Neither is right. Catan is a competitive game, the robber only shows up on a 7 or a Knight card, and every cost and number on this page has been checked against the rulebook.

What you need and how Catan setup works

Catan setup takes about five minutes once the pieces are punched out. You build the island, then place your two starting settlements and two roads, then collect your first resources. Everything below is the official setup.

The island is 19 hexes: one desert and 18 resource tiles. You frame them with the six sea pieces, then place the 18 number tokens on the resource hexes. The desert never gets a number, and the robber starts there.

For a first game, use the fixed beginner layout printed in the rulebook. For later games, randomize the hexes, then lay the number tokens in alphabetical order starting from a corner and working counterclockwise inward, skipping the desert. Do not scatter the tokens at random, because that creates unfair boards.

Then each player takes 15 roads, 5 settlements, and 4 cities, and places two settlements and two roads. The first settlement goes down in clockwise order, and the second pair goes down in reverse order, so the last player to place a first settlement places a second settlement first. That snake order is the game’s built in balance.

Two placement rules matter. A settlement must sit at an intersection, never on an edge, and a road must run along an edge. The distance rule says a settlement needs all three adjacent intersections to be vacant, which in practice means two edges away from any other settlement or city, including your own.

Finally, collect starting resources from the hexes around your second settlement only. The desert gives nothing. Get this wrong and you start the game with too many cards. If you want to win the opening, our guide to the best Catan starting spots breaks down which numbers and resources to value.

How a turn works in Catan: roll, trade, build

Every turn is three steps, always in the same order, and a round is just each player taking one turn.

1. Roll and produce. Roll both dice and add them. Every hex showing that number pays resources to every player with a building beside it. A settlement earns 1 card, a city earns 2. Everyone produces, not just the roller, and the robber blocks its hex.
2. Trade. Trade resources with the other players, or trade with the supply using the bank rates.
3. Build. Spend resources on roads, settlements, cities, or development cards.

You may also play one eligible development card, before or after the roll. The one exception is a Victory Point card, which you can reveal whenever it wins you the game.

One supply rule surprises people. If a resource is owed to several players and the bank runs short, nobody receives that resource that turn. Other resources still pay normally.

The five Catan resources and what each terrain produces

There are five resources, and each one comes from a matching terrain. Knowing the pairs by heart is the fastest way to read the board.

Terrain	Resource	Note
Forest	Lumber	Called wood in the 2025 edition
Hills	Brick	Also called clay in older boxes
Pasture	Wool	Also called sheep
Fields	Grain	Called wheat in the 2025 edition
Mountains	Ore	Used for cities and development cards
Desert	Nothing	The robber starts here

The dots on each number token are the real odds. A 6 and an 8 both carry five dots and are the two most likely numbers, while a 2 and a 12 carry one each. The dice odds are not evenly spread, and that single fact decides most games. Our Catan pips and probability guide shows the full 2 to 12 table and what it means for your settlements.

What everything costs: the Catan building costs table

These are the official building costs. Learn them and you can play without ever touching the rulebook again.

Build	Cost	Victory points
Road	1 brick + 1 lumber	0
Settlement	1 brick + 1 lumber + 1 wool + 1 grain	1
City (upgrade a settlement)	3 ore + 2 grain	2 total
Development card	1 ore + 1 wool + 1 grain	0, or 1 if it is a Victory Point card

A few important details sit under that table. A city is an upgrade, not a new building, so you replace one of your own settlements and put the settlement piece back in your supply. That means cities score 2, not 3, because the settlement they replaced is gone.

You can never have more than 5 settlements, 4 cities, and 15 roads on the board at once, and you cannot build a road that does not connect to your own network. A settlement always needs its own road too.

Ore and grain are the city engine, so the game usually turns on who secures them early. Our case for the Catan ore and wheat opening explains why that pair wins more games than any other combination.

Rolling a 7 in Catan and how the robber works

A 7 does not produce anything. Instead it wakes the robber, and it is the rule new players forget most often.

When a 7 is rolled, every player holding more than seven resource cards discards half of them, rounded down. Eight cards means discarding four, and nine cards also means four. Development cards are not counted and are never discarded.

The player who rolled then moves the robber onto any other hex, or back to the desert. They steal one random resource card from a single opponent who has a settlement or city beside that hex. If more than one opponent qualifies, the roller chooses who to rob. The robber sits there and blocks that hex from producing until somebody moves it again.

There is one more twist. A Knight development card moves the robber and steals exactly the same way, but it does not trigger the discard half rule, because only a rolled 7 does that. If you want to use the robber as a weapon rather than a nuisance, our guide to mastering the robber is the place to go next.

Trading in Catan: player trades and maritime trade

Trading is what makes Catan a family game and not a solo puzzle. There are two kinds, and both only happen on your turn.

Player trades are simply conversations. You offer resources, somebody counters, and you agree a swap. The catch is that only the active player may trade: two other players cannot swap cards with each other while it is your turn.

Maritime trade is trading with the supply, and it always works. The base rate is 4 to 1: give four of any one resource and take any one card of your choice, even with no port. If you have a settlement or city on a harbor, you trade better. A general harbor gives 3 to 1, and a matching harbor gives 2 to 1 on the resource pictured.

One rule catches people every time. A road that reaches a harbor does not give you the rate. You need an actual settlement or city sitting on the harbor intersection.

Catan development cards and when to play them

There are five development card types, and they are the swing plays that decide close games.

• Knight. Move the robber and steal, exactly like rolling a 7 but without the discards. Knights stay face up, and 3 of them take Largest Army.
• Victory Point. A hidden point you keep secret until it wins you the game.
• Road Building. Place two roads for free.
• Year of Plenty. Take any two resource cards from the supply, called Invention in the 2025 edition.
• Monopoly. Name a resource and every other player hands you all of theirs.

Two timing rules apply to all of them. You normally play one card per turn, and it must have been bought on an earlier turn. Victory Point cards are the exception: you can reveal as many as you like, including one bought this turn, and that reveal can end the game. Played progress cards leave the game, and if the development deck runs out you cannot buy any more. Our full guide to the Catan development card types covers the exact odds and the best card for each board state.

Longest Road and Largest Army: 4 easy victory points

Longest Road and Largest Army are two bonus tiles worth 2 points each, and together they are almost a fifth of the way to a win.

Longest Road goes to the first player with a continuous route of at least 5 road segments, and it stays with them until somebody builds a strictly longer road. A tie keeps the tile with the current holder, and an opponent who drops a settlement in the middle of your road can split it and break your claim.

Largest Army goes to the first player with 3 played Knight cards, and again a challenger needs more than the holder, not an equal number. Knights still hidden in your hand do not count, so you often have to decide between spending a Knight for the steal now or banking it toward the bonus.

Between them, these two tiles are 4 points, which is why a player who quietly builds roads while others fight over the robber so often sneaks in for the win.

How you win Catan: first to 10 victory points

The win condition is simple: reach 10 or more victory points on your own turn and you win immediately, with no final round.

Points come from settlements at 1 each, cities at 2 each, the two bonus tiles at 2 each, and hidden Victory Point cards at 1 each. Roads and individual Knights score nothing on their own.

The key word is your own turn. If your tenth point arrives during somebody else’s turn, you do not win yet, you have to still have 10 when your turn comes around. That small rule creates real tension, because everyone can see you sitting on a city upgrade and start working to take you down first.

Our Catan strategy, and none of this is official rules

Everything in this section is house advice, not the rulebook. The rules above are the official ones, and this is how our family actually plays to win.

Pips over vibes. Add up the dots on your settlements and put your first two on the hexes with the most dots that still give you resource variety. The pips guide linked earlier is the math behind that habit.

Build toward cities, not sprawl. A city doubles a hex’s output, so one city on a strong hex beats two weak settlements. That is the whole reason the ore and grain paths matter.

Use the robber politically, not randomly. Block the leader, not the player in last place, and think about who you rob. There is a real case for the Catan sheep strategy that people overlook until they see it win.

Keep your hand under eight. Losing half your cards on a 7 is the most common way beginners fall behind, so spend down before you get caught holding a pile.

For the long form version of all of this, the ultimate Catan strategy guide is our deep dive, and it is where to go once the rules here feel automatic.

Catan with kids and family game night

Yes, Catan is a great family game, and it is the one that turned our game night into a weekly habit. The box says ages 10 and up, and that is honest: Emma at 10 plays it fully, while Alex at 7 needs a lot of help reading costs and usually drifts off before the end.

What makes it family friendly is the lack of hidden information and the constant table talk. Trading forces kids to negotiate, count, and plan, and because they can see everything you can, a sharp kid wins on merit rather than luck. It is also why Catan sits on our short list of the best gifts and family classics, and our full Settlers of Catan review explains the staying power in more detail.

If your youngest is under 8, start with a simpler box and graduate. Catan Junior keeps the trading and building but shrinks the rules, which is a much gentler first step than dropping the full game on a 7 year old.

• Similarities: Both are Catan games about collecting resources, building settlements, and trading with the table, and both use the same dice driven production idea.
• Differences: Catan Junior replaces ore and cities with a pirate theme, a Ghost Captain instead of the robber, and a smaller board and shorter win target.
• Why this game fans will enjoy it: If your family loves the trading in Catan but your kids are still young, Catan Junior is the same fun at a level they can actually play on their own.

Which Catan to buy

Version	What it is	Best for
Catan	The base game for 3 to 4 players, everything you need to play	Any family buying the classic for the first time
Catan 5 to 6 Player Extension	Adds two players and a special building phase, needs the base game	Families who often have five or six at the table
Catan Junior	A simplified pirate themed version for younger kids	Families with kids under 8 who want an easier start

Buy the base game first, always. The extension is genuinely worth it once five or six people want to play, but it does not make the game better, it just makes it bigger. Catan Junior is a separate, simpler game rather than an add on, so keep it in mind for younger siblings rather than as a replacement.

Frequently asked questions

How many players can play Catan?

Catan supports 3 to 4 players in the base game, and the 5 to 6 player extension adds two more players for a bigger family game night. The extension adds a special building phase so a bigger table stays involved instead of waiting for their turn.

How do you win Catan?

You win Catan by reaching 10 victory points on your own turn, and the game ends the moment you do. Settlements are worth 1 point, cities are worth 2, the Longest Road and Largest Army bonuses are worth 2 each, and some development cards are worth a hidden point.

How do you set up Catan?

You set up Catan by laying the 19 hexes and number tokens, then each player places two settlements and two roads, and you collect starting resources only from the hexes beside your second settlement. The desert holds the robber and produces nothing, and your two starting settlements must obey the distance rule of staying two edges apart.

What are the Catan building costs?

A road costs 1 brick and 1 lumber, a settlement costs 1 brick, 1 lumber, 1 wool and 1 grain, a city costs 3 ore and 2 grain, and a development card costs 1 ore, 1 wool and 1 grain. A road scores nothing by itself, a settlement scores 1 point, a city scores 2, and a development card scores only if it turns out to be a Victory Point card.

What happens when you roll a 7 in Catan?

A 7 produces no resources, every player holding more than seven cards discards half rounded down, and the roller moves the robber and steals one random resource from a neighbor. Development cards do not count toward the discard limit, and the robber blocks that hex from producing until somebody moves it again.

How do you trade in Catan?

You trade in Catan either with other players on your turn or with the supply at 4 to 1, 3 to 1 at a general harbor, or 2 to 1 at a matching harbor. Only the active player can trade with the others, and you need a settlement or city on a harbor because a road reaching it does not grant the rate.

How do you get Longest Road and Largest Army?

Longest Road and Largest Army each pay 2 victory points, going to the first player with 5 continuous roads or 3 played Knights, and a challenger has to beat the holder outright. A settlement placed in the middle can split a road, and Knights still sitting in your hand do not count toward Largest Army.