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Player Instructions — Basic Variant

Your Goal

Reach more than 8 victory points to survive. You earn victory points by building settlements, upgrading settlements to cities, and playing victory-point development cards.

Any player who passes 8 victory points wins by surviving — multiple players can win, or no one can.

Your Turn

On your turn, follow these four steps in order:

Step Required? What You Do
1. Roll Yes Roll two dice. The number matches a hex on the board — see "Requesting Resources" below. Rolling a 7 produces nothing.
2. Trade No Trade with the bank at 4:1 (give 4 of one resource, get 1 of any other). If you're on a port, you may trade at 3:1 or 2:1 instead. You cannot trade with other players.
3. Build No Spend resource cards to build roads, settlements, and cities or buy development cards. Check your Building Cost Card for the exact costs.
4. Play a Development Card No If you have a development card (victory point or progress), you may reveal it and follow its instructions.

Requesting Resources

When any player rolls a number that matches a hex where you have a building, you may request resources from the bank:

  • Settlement → request up to 3 cards of that resource
  • City → request up to 6 cards of that resource

You can always request fewer than your maximum, or none at all. You are never forced to take the full amount.

Request order: The player who rolled goes first, then the remaining players in turn order: Red → Orange → White → Blue.

Important Rules

  • No talking. You may not communicate with other players about the game in any way.
  • No player-to-player trading. You may only trade with the bank.
  • The bank is hidden. You cannot see how many resource cards remain. If a resource runs out, the instructor will tell you it is "temporarily depleted" — nothing more.
  • Refer to yourself by your color (Red, Orange, White, or Blue), not by name.

Building Costs (Standard Catan)

Build Cost
Road 1 Lumber + 1 Brick
Settlement 1 Lumber + 1 Brick + 1 Wheat + 1 Wool
City (upgrade) 2 Wheat + 3 Ore
Development Card 1 Wheat + 1 Wool + 1 Ore