Digital PDF guide · CATAN base game
CATAN: Learn to Play and Win
Learn the rules, avoid common mistakes and plan a stronger game.
$10 one-time, PDF
6th Edition base game (rulebook v6.250401)
Four learning levels, one guide
- Learn the rulesSet up and play your first turns with confidence.
- Avoid beginner mistakesSpot the errors new players repeat and skip them.
- Plan a whole gamePick a plan early and adjust it as the game moves.
- Handle opponents and tough spotsDeal with blockers, trades and difficult situations.
Read a free chapter
A real chapter from the guide.
What's in the full guide
1How to play10 chapters
- The goal
- What you play with
- Setting up
- Your turn
- What you can build
- Trading
- Development cards
- The two bonus tiles
- Winning
- Worked example
2Beginner tactics5 chapters
- Your first two settlements
- Every turn
- The robber
- Development cards and points
- Common beginner mistakes
3Intermediate tactics4 chapters
- Choose a plan from the board
- Count your path to 10
- The shape of a game
- Trading with a plan
4Advanced tactics5 chapters
- Reading the table
- The robber and the 7
- Taking spots away
- Deals and talk
- Odd moments and edge cases
Free sample · Tier 2 · Beginner tactics
Your first two settlements
Where you put your first two settlements shapes the whole game. Most of your cards for the first hour come from these spots. The chart below shows how often each dice total comes up.
Count the dots, not the number
Why it works. Each number disc has dots under it. The dots show how many of the 36 dice combinations make that total: 6 and 8 have 5 dots, 5 and 9 have 4, 4 and 10 have 3, 3 and 11 have 2, 2 and 12 have 1. A hex with 5 dots pays out about 5 times in 36 rolls. A hex with 1 dot pays out about once. Add the dots at the three hexes around a spot and you get a quick score for it.
When it applies. Every time you choose a settlement spot, and every time you compare two spots that look close.
When it fails. When two spots have the same total dots, the one that gives the resources you lack is usually better. Dots are a score for how often you collect, not for what you collect.
Example. One spot touches 6, 5 and 9 (5 + 4 + 4 = 13 dots). Another touches 8, 4 and 11 (5 + 3 + 2 = 10 dots). The first spot pays out more often.
Common mistake. Picking a spot because it has "a 6 and an 8" even though the third hex is a 2. Fix: add all three. A spot with two top numbers and one weak number is good, but compare it to other spots by the full total.
Cover many resources, and always get wheat
Why it works. To build a settlement you need brick, wood, wool and wheat. To build a city or buy a development card, you need ore and wheat. Wheat is used in both. Your first two settlements touch up to six hexes. If those six show many different resources, fewer turns are wasted waiting for the one thing you lack.
When it applies. Every game, especially when you are new. Try to see all five resources between your first two settlements. At the very least, have wheat and one of the other four.
When it fails. A strong ports plan can work with fewer resources. Many players also say it is fine to skip a resource if you can trade for it easily. If every player is short of the same one, though, nobody will trade it to you at a fair price.
Example. Your first settlement touches wood, brick and wheat. Your second touches ore, wool and wheat. You can now build every item in the game from your own hexes.
Common mistake. Taking two settlements that both touch only wood and brick, because the numbers are good. Fix: look at what you cannot make and use the second settlement to fill the gap.
Pair resources that build together
Why it works. Roads and settlements both need brick and wood. Cities and development cards both need ore and wheat. If your wood and brick hexes share a number, they pay at the same time, so you can build right away. If your wood is a 9 and your brick is a 10, you often get one without the other and have to trade.
When it applies. When two spots are similar in dots. Prefer the one where the matching pair shares a number, or at least has numbers that both have many dots.
When it fails. A shared number also means that on every other roll you get nothing from those two hexes. A robber on one of them breaks the pair: you still get the other card, but not the matching one you need to build. Some players like to spread numbers to smooth out luck.
Example. You have a brick hex with a 4 and a wood hex with a 4. Every time a 4 comes up you can build a road. If you rolled a 9 for wood and a 10 for brick instead, you would wait much longer.
Common mistake. Chasing pairs so much that you give up on variety. Fix: use pairs to break ties, not to ignore the big picture.
Leave room to grow
Why it works. You need open spots to build later settlements. If other players' buildings and the sea fence you in, you can have a great start and no place to expand. Settlements must be two edges from each other, so one enemy settlement can quietly kill the spot you wanted.
When it applies. Whenever your first settlement sits near a corner, an edge, or the starting buildings of an opponent.
When it fails. If you plan to win with cities and development cards, you may not need many more settlements. Then being boxed in costs you less. You only have five settlement pieces anyway, and each city frees one up.
Example. Your first settlement is in the middle of the board. Several open spots lie two edges away. You can build outward in more than one direction, so one rival cannot cut you off.
Common mistake. Placing your road toward a spot that another player can take first. Fix: before you place your road, ask who could reach the spot you want before you do.
Use the second settlement to fill in what you lack
Why it works. You take cards from every hex touching your second settlement. So it is both a place and a free hand of cards. Players choosing in reverse order also see what everyone else has taken, so the second choice is the most informed one.
When it applies. Whenever you choose your own spots. With the fixed setup in the rulebook the spots are chosen for you, so this applies to the variable setup.
When it fails. If the spot you need is gone or is too weak, do not take a bad spot just to get a missing resource. You can often trade for it later.
Example. Your first settlement touches wood and brick but no wheat. Your second spot touches wheat, ore and wool with good numbers. You now start with the cards to buy a development card on your first turn.
Common mistake. Picking the second spot first for the numbers and only then noticing you have no wheat. Fix: list what you lack before you look at the board.