Game Trade Magazine - GTM #211

GTM #211 - Catan For Two!

by Catan Studio, LLC

When you have an itch to play Catan, and don’t have opponents, it can be frustrating. It can be even more so if you only have one opponent — so close! But, if you have an opponent, a copy of the base Catan, a few coins, and the guidelines below, you can get Catan to the table in no time!

To get started:

Place 20 trade tokens next to the board. You can use Catan chits from Seafarers and other Catan product. Otherwise use coins. Take five trade tokens.

Place to the side the two sets of game pieces not chosen by you or your opponent. They’ll serve as game components for two imaginary neutral players.
For each neutral player, place one settlement (without a road) on one of the intersections of the game board marked in the following illustration.
Then place your two starting settlements with roads according to the normal variable set-up rules.

Unless stated otherwise the normal rules for Catan apply.

~ Rolling for Production ~

On your turn, roll the dice for normal resource production. Based upon the result of that dice roll, you and your opponent each produce resources or resolve a “7” result.

Then roll the dice a second time. If the result is the same as the first result, reroll. Continue rerolling until the result is not the same as the first result. Then, based upon this last result, you and your opponent each produce resources or resolve a “7” result.

Important: The two results must be different.

~ Building for the Neutral Player ~

When you build a road or settlement, you must also build (for free) ones for either of the neutral players. If there’s no legal settlement location for the neutral players, you must build a road instead. Nothing special happens when you build a city or buy a development card. The neutral players don’t receive resources. A neutral player can obtain the “Longest Road.”

~ Using Trade Tokens to Take Actions ~

On your turn, you may take one of these actions and pay the indicated cost:

Forced Trade: Draw two random cards from your opponent’s hand, then give your opponent two cards of your choice from your own hand. If either player only has one card, you may only exchange one card. If either has no cards, you may not take this action.
Move the Robber: You may move the robber to the desert hex.

If your victory point total is less than or equal to your opponent’s total, you must pay one trade token to take an action. Otherwise, an action costs you two trade tokens. Return spent trade tokens to the supply.

~ Replenishing Trade Tokens ~

You start with five trade tokens and can get more during set up and play:

When you build a settlement adjacent to the desert hex, take two trade tokens.
When you build a settlement on the coast, take one trade token.
When you build a settlement adjacent to both the desert and the coast, take three trade tokens.
Once during your turn, you may discard one of your face-up knight cards and take two trade tokens in exchange.

If you have ‘Largest Army’, then you do this:

Set it aside if you only have two knights after discarding one.
Set it aside if you have the same number of knights as your opponent.
Your opponent takes Largest Army with 3+ knights and more than you.