The intersections marked with a victory point symbol are new. At the beginning of the game, here you place either a Catan chit from the Seafarers expansion or any other marker, e. g., a coin. The first player to reach a victory point intersection with a chit or marker on it by road receives that chit/marker and thus obtains a victory point.
These few rule changes add a very particular charm to the scenario.
The game map reflects the geographical features of North Rhine-Westphalia. The positions of the cities roughly correspond to their actual geographical position, and the distribution of the terrain hexes also corresponds to North Rhine-Westphalia's geography. For each city, Anette Nora Kara created an image of its landmark, and a short text informs about the landmarks' significance. During play, in a very casual fashion you'll also learn interesting facts about North Rhine-Westphalia and some of its cities.
The North Rhine-Westphalia edition can be played by 3 or 4 players. If you use the CATAN for Two variant, the game can also be played by 2 players.
The game map of North Rhine-Westphalia – first released in 2008 and out of print in 2012 – was reprinted in 2013. As all regional scenarios published since 2010, the North Rhine-Westphalia Edition is now larger in size, features illustrations by Michael Menzel, and is also suitable for 5-6 players.