The official website for The Settlers of Catan

General Questions

• Card Stacks - If I have to slide a card under a stack, can it also be a stack containing zero cards?

  Yes. According to the Catanian set of rules, a stack is a place where Resource Cards are (or were) stored. Therefore, the stack remains a stack even if you have taken all cards from a stack as the game progresses.

• Card Stacks - In a tournament, on whose discard pile do I place the cards I took from my game partners and then played myself?

  On your own discard pile.

• Card Stacks - When exchanging or drawing cards, I’m allowed to sift through an Expansion Card stack if I pay resources. Do I have to draw from the chosen stack even if I don’t like what I see?

  Yes. Once you have chosen and viewed a stack, you must take a card from it.

• Center Cards - What are Center Cards?

  What most Center Cards have in common is that once they are placed in a principality, you can't move them until the game ends; at best, you can place other Center Cards on top of them (Citadels and cities on settlements, and Metropolises on cities). The Public Feeling in its capacity as an abstract Counting Card is an exception to this: it can be moved at any time during the game if a player wants to make different use of the building site it is placed on.

  Note: The Citadels belong to the theme set "Wizards & Dragons", which is part of the Catan Card Game – Expansion Set, the Public Feeling belongs to the Artisans & Benefactors Expansion Set.

• City Expansions - Can I place 4 City Expansions in a city, or only 2 City Expansions and 2 Region Expansions?

  You can combine City Expansions and Region Expansions at will.

• Event Trade Advantage - If I have no room for a resource, does my opponent also lose a resource?

  No.

• Foreign Cards - Can I place the Pawnbroker also on Foreign Cards that I placed in my opponent’s principality?

  Yes.

  Note: Foreign Cards and the Pawnbroker are part of the Catan Card Game – Expansion Set.

• Foreign Cards - Can I remove a Foreign Card that I placed in my game partner’s principality?

  Yes.

  Note: Foreign Cards are part of the Catan Card Game – Expansion Set.

• Foreign Cards - Can I remove Foreign Cards that my game partner placed in my principality?

  No.

  Note: Foreign Cards are part of the Catan Card Game – Expansion Set.

• Foreign Cards - What are Foreign Cards?

  Foreign Cards are cards that a player places in his game partner’s principality but that do not become his game partner’s property.

  Note: Foreign Cards are part of the Catan Card Game – Expansion Set.

• Game Turnd and Game Round - What’s the difference between a game round and a game turn?

  A game turn is the period of time in which one of the players performs the game actions and actively intervenes. A game round is the immediate succession of two game turns, where both players alternately are the active player and the passive player.

• Hand Limit - What needs to be considered in terms of the hand limit when players take cards back into their hand? Do I have to observe my hand limit only at the end of my turn?

  • The active player must observe his hand limit only at the end of his turn.
  • The passive player, however, must observe his hand limit at any time, meaning that he might have to discard cards in between.

• Hand Limit - When I’m allowed to draw cards during my turn, how does this affect the hand limit?

  It doesn’t affect it at all.

• Hand of Cards and Drawing Cards - How is my hand limit affected if I can draw cards on my turn?

  It is not affected at all. The active player – that is, the player whose turn it is – has to observe the hand limit only at the end of his turn.

• Hand of Cards and Drawing Cards - What do both players have to take into consideration regarding the hand limit?

  It is important for both the active and passive player to observe the hand limit at all times. If the passive player receives cards through events or actions performed by his opponent and thus exceeds his hand limit, he immediately must reduce the number of cards in his hand to the number allowed. Only then can the active player continue with his turn.

  Note: This rule is valid for the old Catan Card game. The rule for the Rivals for Catan is different.