Card stacks - If I have to place a card under a stack, can the stack contain zero cards?

General Questions

Yes. The Catanian rules system defines a stack as a place where cards are located or were located. Therefore, if a stack was completely depleted during the course of the game, it continues to be a stack and can be used to deposit cards there.

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

General Questions

On your own discard pile.

Card stacks - When exchanging cards, I may pay resources to search an expansion card stack. Do I have to draw from that stack, even if I don't like any of its cards?

General Questions

Yes. Once you have chosen a stack and looked at it, you also have to draw a card from it.

City expansions - May I place four city expansions in a city, or only two city expansions and two settlement/city expansions?

General Questions

You may combine city expansions and settlement/city expansions at will.

City expansions - May I swap the positions of the expansions in a city for optical reasons?

General Questions

As long as this doesn't have effects other than purely optical ones: yes.

Discard pile - Is it permitted to view all cards in the discard pile, in order to determine which cards are still in play or to check which cards are in the discard pile before playing a card that allows you to retrieve a card from it?

General Questions
  • You may only examine your own discard pile if you play a card that allows you to take a card from the discard pile.

 

  • You may only examine your opponent's discard pile if you play a card that allows you to take a card from your opponent's discard pile. Currently, Guido the Ambassador is the only card of this type.

Event - Celebration - Is the player who rolls the dice the only one to receive a resource?

General Questions

No. Either both players receive one resource each (if they don't have any skill points at all or an equal number of skill points) or only the player who has the most skill points receives one resource.

Event - Trade - Do I receive the resource for the trade advantage only if the trade token is physically placed on one of my settlements?

General Questions

You are entitled to the resource if you meet the requirements for the "trade advantage." The trade token serves as a reminder of this fact. The same applies to the hero token.

Event - Trade - Does my opponent loose a resource if I don't have room to accommodate it?

General Questions

No.

Extraordinary sites - Is it allowed to remove extraordinary sites?

General Questions

Yes.

Foreign cards - May I remove my opponent's foreign cards in my principality?

General Questions

No.

Foreign cards - May I remove my own foreign cards in my opponent's principality?

General Questions

Yes.

Foreign cards - What are foreign cards?

General Questions

Foreign cards are cards that a player builds in his opponent's principality but that do not become the opponent's property.

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

General Questions

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 - How is my hand limit affected if I'm allowed to draw cards during my turn?

General Questions

It is not affected at all.

Hand limit and drawing cards - How is my hand limit affected if I'm allowed to draw cards during my opponent's turn?

General Questions

It is not affected at all. Each player mustn't observe the hand limit until the end of his turn.

Heroes - What are heroes?

General Questions

Each unit whose text box shows the words "Unit - Hero" has hero status.

Metropolises (in general) - Can Metropolises be attacked by an Arsonist?

General Questions

No.

Placed cards - How many times during a turn can I use an expansion?

General Questions

During your turn, you can use most expansions as often as you like and can pay for (if payment is required). Some expansions of the Theme Sets can only be used once per turn, which is explicitly stated on the respective cards.

Placed cards - Is it allowed to remove buildings/units if there are still unoccupied building sites in the principality?

General Questions

Yes.

Placed cards - May the expansions in a city swap places?

General Questions
  • The upper two expansions may swap places with each other, and the lower two expansions also may swap places with each other.

 

  • An upper and a lower expansion may not swap places with each other.

Placed cards - Must a building which requires another building be built in the same city?

General Questions

No.

Placed cards - What happens with a card whose placement requires another card if the required card is removed afterwards?

General Questions

The card stays where it is and retains its effect. Requirements must only be met when playing the card; afterwards, they are irrelevant.

Placed cards - When does the removal of certain buildings affect the receipt of resources and victory points?

General Questions

In most cases, immediately. Exceptions are explicitly stated on the cards or in the game rules.

Playing cards - May I play action cards as often as I want?

General Questions

Played action cards are placed on the discard pile. There are various ways to get them back into your hand, and each time you succeed in doing so, you may play the card again.

Playing cards - May I play action cards that do not have any effect?

General Questions

No. If you know that an action card can't have any effect, you are not allowed to play it.

Playing cards and placed cards - During the action phase, may I perform the actions "expanding," "playing action cards," and "trading" several times each or only one time each?

General Questions

You may perform all actions as many times as you want and can pay for (if payment is required), unless the rules of the expansions used contradict it.

Playing cards and placed cards - If there are several cards of the same building, may I build that building several times?

General Questions

In principle, yes - unless the buildings are marked with "(1x)."

Region expansions - How much does it cost to build region expansions?

General Questions

Some region expansions are for free but have certain requirements. You may place them as soon as you meet the requirements. On other region expansions, the building costs are displayed in the top left corner or in the text box.

Region expansions - May I attack region expansions with an Arsonist?

General Questions

No.

Region expansions - May I build region expansions adjacent to a settlement?

General Questions

Yes.

Region expansions - What is a region expansion?

General Questions

Region expansions are cards you place adjacent to regions; they feature a brown text box.

Resources - What can I use gold for in the Introductory Game?

General Questions

Gold is only used for trading or for choosing cards you want to add to your hand. The Gold Ship allows you to trade gold for another resource at a 2:1 rate. In addition, the Goldsmith and the event Traveling Merchant enable you to trade gold 3:2 and 1:1, respectively. In the Theme Games, particularly in The Era of Gold, gold is more important.

Road complements - Can I protect a road complement via a Fire Brigade?

General Questions

No, but protection is not necessary anyway.

Road complements - Can I use an Arsonist to burn down road complements?

General Questions

No.

Road complements - Is it allowed to remove road complements?

General Questions

Yes.

Road complements - What are road complements?

General Questions

Road complements are units or buildings that are placed on roads - that way, they don't occupy building sites in settlements.

Note: Road complements belong to the Age of Darkness Expansion and Age of Enlightenment Expansion.

 

Roads - Why are there seven roads, although there are only five settlements?

General Questions

So that you can't prevent the opponent from settlement building by building the 6th road.

Trade token - My opponent has a city and three commerce points. I have four commerce points but no city. Who receives the trade token?

General Questions

You.

Units - May I build units twice?

General Questions

That depends:

Units which have proper names or are marked with "(1x)" may only be built once, all other units may be built as often as desired.

Versions of the game - Duel of the Princes - Which event cards are used in the Duel of the Princes?

General Questions

The following event cards are always included in the game: YuleInventionYear of Plenty, and Traveling Merchant. From the sets used, add the event cards that do not depict a half moon symbol, then add as many randomly drawn event cards depicting a half moon symbol until a total of twelve event cards is reached.

Versions of the game - Introductory Game - During the course of the game, do I have to draw cards from the stack I took the starting cards from?

General Questions

No.

Versions of the game - Introductory Game - In the Introductory Game, do I have to adhere to the region setup as specified there?

General Questions

The setup specified in the rules is the best option for beginners. Of course, once you have become more experienced, you can try to gather additional expertise by using different setups. In that case, however, you should add the Theme Sets, because there you can arrange the regions at your convenience.

Versions of the game - Theme Game - In the Theme Game, how are the cards that are placed face up brought into play?

General Questions

You may build the cards that are placed face up as soon as you can pay their building costs and have met their potential requirements.

Versions of the game - Tournament Game - Do I have to show my opponent the backs of the cards in my hand?

General Questions

Yes.

Versions of the game - Tournament Game - Where do I find the Tournament Game rules?

General Questions

You may download the Rivals for CATAN Tournament rules from the CATAN website: 

Versions of the game - Which cards are used in the Duel of the Princess?

General Questions

A compilation can be found here: