Catan

Goal: Be the first to reach 10 victory points by building settlements, cities, and development cards!

Setup

The board is made of 19 hexagonal terrain tiles arranged in a larger hexagon. Each terrain (except the desert) produces a specific resource: Forest → Wood, Hills → Brick, Pasture → Sheep, Fields → Wheat, Mountains → Ore.

Number tokens (2–12, excluding 7) are placed on hexes. When the dice roll matches a hex's number, that hex produces its resource for every player with a building on on one of its 6 corners.

Initial Placement: Each player places 2 settlements and 2 roads in a snake draft. Each settlement grants its owner the resources of the adjacent hexes on the very next dice roll.

Each Turn

1. Roll Dice — Sum of 2 dice determines which hexes produce resources this turn.
2. Trade (optional) — Trade with the bank (4:1), with a port (3:1 or 2:1 for a specific resource), or with other players.
3. Build (optional) — Spend resources to construct roads, settlements, cities, or buy development cards.
4. End Turn — Pass to the next player.

The Robber

Rolling a 7 activates the robber:

• Every player with more than 7 resource cards must discard half (rounded down).
• The current player moves the robber to a new hex — that hex is blocked from producing until the robber moves again.
• The current player steals 1 random resource from a player with a building adjacent to the new robber hex.

Building Costs

• Road 🛣️ — 1 Wood + 1 Brick
• Settlement 🏠 — 1 Wood + 1 Brick + 1 Sheep + 1 Wheat (worth 1 VP)
• City 🏙️ — 2 Wheat + 3 Ore (upgrades a settlement, worth 2 VP, produces 2 resources)
• Development Card 🃏 — 1 Sheep + 1 Wheat + 1 Ore

Development Cards

• Knight 🥷 — Move the robber and steal a resource. Playing 3+ Knights total claims Largest Army (+2 VP).
• Victory Point ⭐ — Worth 1 VP, revealed at game end.
• Road Building 🛣️ — Place 2 free roads.
• Year of Plenty 🌾 — Take 2 resources of your choice from the bank.
• Monopoly 👹 — Pick a resource; all players must give you all their cards of that type.

Ports

The board has 9 ports on its outer edge. A settlement or city on a port corner unlocks special trades:

• Generic port (3:1) — Trade 3 of any one resource for 1 of any other.
• Specialty port (2:1) — Trade 2 of the port's specific resource for 1 of any other.

Simplifications

Player-to-player trading is implemented: offer any combination of resources to one opponent, who accepts or declines. Longest Road (5+ segments → +2 VP) and Largest Army (3+ knights → +2 VP) bonuses are fully implemented. Building must follow the standard distance rule (no settlement adjacent to another settlement).

Controls

• Click Roll Dice to roll.
• Click Build buttons to enter placement mode, then click the highlighted position on the board.
• Click Trade buttons to execute port or bank trades.
• Click development cards in your hand to play them.
• Hot-seat mode: Pass the device when prompted.

Initial Placement is Critical: Your first 2 settlements often decide the game.

• Prioritize hexes with 6 or 8 tokens (red) — they roll most often.
• Aim for a balanced resource mix: Wood + Brick for roads, Ore + Wheat for cities and dev cards.
• Try to place a settlement on a port with your second settlement if you have a resource surplus.
• Don't ignore Sheep — it's needed for settlements and dev cards.

Resource Strategy:

• Ore is the rarest and most valuable (only 3 hexes). Cities win games.
• Brick and Wood are needed for roads and settlements — early-game kings.
• Wheat is the most flexible resource (settlements, cities, dev cards).
• Stacking one resource + matching port (2:1) can be powerful if you control multiple hexes of it.

When to Build Cities vs Settlements:

• Cities double production on a hex you already control — high ROI.
• Settlements expand to new hexes and block opponents.
• Don't over-invest in roads — each road is worth 0 VP by itself.

Development Cards:

• Buy a dev card every turn you can afford it — VPs add up.
• Hold Knights until you need to disrupt a leader or steal a key resource.
• Don't forget you can only play 1 dev card per turn (and not the turn you buy it).

Robber Tactics:

• On a 7, target the player with the most cards or the one threatening to win.
• Block high-production hexes (6 or 8 tokens) owned by opponents.
• Keep your hand under 7 cards to avoid forced discards.

End Game:

• Watch opponent VP closely — a hidden VP card can swing the game.
• Cities (worth 2 VP each) are the most reliable path to 10.
• Don't unlock ports you can't use — they only benefit opponents.

Catan (originally The Settlers of Catan) is a landmark strategy board game designed by Klaus Teuber and first published in 1995. It is widely credited with launching the modern Eurogame movement, popularizing resource management, trading, and modular board design outside of Germany.

The game's elegance lies in its interlocking systems: dice rolls produce resources, resources fuel construction, construction expands your board presence, and board presence generates more resources. Every decision involves trade-offs: build now or save for a city, trade with the bank or wait for a better ratio, place a road to expand or a settlement to claim a port.

Psychology: Catan is a masterclass in resource evaluation under uncertainty. Players reveal their risk tolerance through initial placement choices, their planning depth through road networks, and their social reading through trade behavior. The robber introduces direct player interaction — a fascinating study in targeting decisions and retaliation cycles.

This implementation features:

• ✅ Authentic 19-hex board with standard number token distribution
• ✅ 9 ports (5 specialty 2:1 + 4 generic 3:1)
• ✅ Full development card deck (14 Knights + 5 VP + 2 Road Building + 2 Year of Plenty + 2 Monopoly)
• ✅ Robber mechanics (7 roll, discard over 7 cards, move + steal)
• ✅ AI opponents with 3 difficulty levels using heuristic + Monte Carlo evaluation
• ✅ Hot-seat multiplayer (3-4 players on one device)
• ✅ Bank and port trading (4:1, 3:1, 2:1)
• ✅ Undo support and full event log

Player-to-player trading is implemented as one offer at a time: any resource combination can be offered to one opponent, who accepts or declines. Longest Road and Largest Army bonuses are fully implemented (each +2 VP).

Note: For entertainment and strategic self-reflection. Not affiliated with or endorsed by Catan GmbH.