How to play

Ten minutes to learn. A lifetime spent blaming the dice.

The goal

Be the first player to reach the chart's victory-point target — 10 VP on Drowning Isles, 7 on Skerry, 12 on Long Coast. Settlements are worth 1 VP, cities 2 VP, and bonuses and hidden estate cards make up the rest.

A turn, in order

Roll the dice. Every tile with that number pays its resource to every player with a settlement (1 card) or city (2 cards) on its corners.
Build, trade, buy — in any order, as much as your hand allows.
End your turn and pass the dice.

What things cost

Road		Connects your network. You have 15.
Settlement +1 VP		On an empty corner touching your road, two corners clear of any neighbour. You have 5.
City +2 VP	3× 2×	Upgrades one of your settlements; produces double. You have 4.
Dev card		Drawn from a 25-card deck. Playable from your next turn.

Trading

On your turn, after rolling: propose a player trade (any cards for any cards — others accept, you pick who to close with), or trade with the bank at 4:1 — improved to 3:1 or 2:1 when one of your settlements sits on a matching port.

The seven & the robber

A roll of 7 produces nothing. Every player holding more than 7 cards discards half, then the roller moves the robber to any tile: that tile stops producing, and the roller steals one random card from a player on it.

Development cards

Knight

Move the robber and steal — playable even before you roll. Three played knights earn Largest Army (+2 VP); a bigger army steals the title.

Road building

Place two roads, free.

Year of plenty

Take any two resources from the bank.

Monopoly

Name a resource — every other player hands you all of theirs.

Victory Point

A hidden victory point. Revealed only when it wins you the game.

Bonuses

Longest Road (+2 VP): first unbroken road of 5+; taken by anyone who builds a longer one. Largest Army (+2 VP): first to play 3 knights, taken by a larger army. The game log records every change of hands.

The charts

Drowning Isles — the classic 19-tile chart, 3–4 players, 10 VP. Skerry — a tight 10-tile outpost for 2–3 players, 7 VP, done in under half an hour. Long Coast — a 30-tile sprawl for 4–6 players, 12 VP. The host picks the chart in the lobby; the map itself is drawn fresh at game start.

Maps & scenarios

Every map plays the core rules above — these are the rules each one adds.

Base game

The classic rules, nothing added.

First to 10 victory points on your turn wins.
Settlements are worth 1 VP, cities 2. Longest Road (5+ segments) and Largest Army (3+ knights) are worth 2 VP each and can be stolen.

Quick game

A pocket map tuned for ~20 minutes.

Only 7 VP wins here, on a 10-hex map for 2–3 players. Everything else is the base game.

Large board

A bigger island for bigger tables.

12 VP wins, 4–6 players, 30 hexes. Everything else is the base game.

Island hop

Your first ships: one channel to a small island.

10 VP wins. A 4-hex island sits across a one-hex channel — one ship crosses it.
Your FIRST settlement on an island you haven't settled is worth +2 VP.
Ships (1 lumber + 1 wool) are roads for the water: a road needs an edge touching land, a ship an edge touching sea — a coastal edge can take either, and the picker asks when both fit.
Roads and ships join ONLY at your own settlement or city. At an empty corner, a ship may extend only your ships and a road only your roads.
Longest Trade Route counts roads and ships together, but a road may meet a ship only at your own building on that corner.
Once per turn you may MOVE a ship instead of building one: only a ship at the open end of a route (none you built this turn), to any legal edge. Glowing ships can be picked up.
The pirate is the robber's sea twin. On a 7 (or a Knight), tap open water to place the pirate instead: it blocks all ship building and movement on its hex's edges and robs a player with a ship there.

New Shores

Full seafaring: outer islands, gold, the pirate.

14 VP wins. Four one-hex islands ring the mainland; your first settlement on each pays +2 VP.
Gold hexes produce a resource OF YOUR CHOICE for each adjacent settlement (two for a city) when their number rolls.
Setup is on the mainland only; you reach the islands by ship.
Ships (1 lumber + 1 wool) are roads for the water: a road needs an edge touching land, a ship an edge touching sea — a coastal edge can take either, and the picker asks when both fit.
Roads and ships join ONLY at your own settlement or city. At an empty corner, a ship may extend only your ships and a road only your roads.
Longest Trade Route counts roads and ships together, but a road may meet a ship only at your own building on that corner.
Once per turn you may MOVE a ship instead of building one: only a ship at the open end of a route (none you built this turn), to any legal edge. Glowing ships can be picked up.
The pirate is the robber's sea twin. On a 7 (or a Knight), tap open water to place the pirate instead: it blocks all ship building and movement on its hex's edges and robs a player with a ship there.

The Four Islands

No mainland — start anywhere, discover everywhere.

13 VP wins. Four islands, open water between them.
Setup can be on ANY island. Each island you settle beyond the ones you started on pays +2 VP for its first settlement.
Two gold hexes pay a resource of your choice on their roll.
Ships (1 lumber + 1 wool) are roads for the water: a road needs an edge touching land, a ship an edge touching sea — a coastal edge can take either, and the picker asks when both fit.
Roads and ships join ONLY at your own settlement or city. At an empty corner, a ship may extend only your ships and a road only your roads.
Longest Trade Route counts roads and ships together, but a road may meet a ship only at your own building on that corner.
Once per turn you may MOVE a ship instead of building one: only a ship at the open end of a route (none you built this turn), to any legal edge. Glowing ships can be picked up.
The pirate is the robber's sea twin. On a 7 (or a Knight), tap open water to place the pirate instead: it blocks all ship building and movement on its hex's edges and robs a player with a ship there.

The Great Crossing

Two shores, one channel, big tables.

14 VP wins, 4–6 players. A 22-hex mainland faces a 9-hex far shore across one channel.
Your first settlement on the far shore pays +2 VP.
Ships (1 lumber + 1 wool) are roads for the water: a road needs an edge touching land, a ship an edge touching sea — a coastal edge can take either, and the picker asks when both fit.
Roads and ships join ONLY at your own settlement or city. At an empty corner, a ship may extend only your ships and a road only your roads.
Longest Trade Route counts roads and ships together, but a road may meet a ship only at your own building on that corner.
Once per turn you may MOVE a ship instead of building one: only a ship at the open end of a route (none you built this turn), to any legal edge. Glowing ships can be picked up.
The pirate is the robber's sea twin. On a 7 (or a Knight), tap open water to place the pirate instead: it blocks all ship building and movement on its hex's edges and robs a player with a ship there.

New World

The map itself is drawn fresh every game.

13 VP wins. Coastline, islands and water are GENERATED anew each game — no two boards repeat.
Your first settlement on each island beyond your starting one pays +2 VP.
Ships (1 lumber + 1 wool) are roads for the water: a road needs an edge touching land, a ship an edge touching sea — a coastal edge can take either, and the picker asks when both fit.
Roads and ships join ONLY at your own settlement or city. At an empty corner, a ship may extend only your ships and a road only your roads.
Longest Trade Route counts roads and ships together, but a road may meet a ship only at your own building on that corner.
Once per turn you may MOVE a ship instead of building one: only a ship at the open end of a route (none you built this turn), to any legal edge. Glowing ships can be picked up.
The pirate is the robber's sea twin. On a 7 (or a Knight), tap open water to place the pirate instead: it blocks all ship building and movement on its hex's edges and robs a player with a ship there.

Through the Desert

The frontier is sand, not sea.

12 VP wins. A six-hex desert belt splits the island; there is no water and there are no ships.
The land beyond the desert scores like a new island: your first settlement there pays +2 VP.
Setup is on the main region only — you cross the desert by road.

The Fog Islands

The map is hidden until you sail into it.

12 VP wins. Fogged tiles hide their terrain and number until one of your roads, ships or settlements touches a corner of the tile.
Revealing a LAND tile pays you one of its resource on the spot. Revealing open sea pays nothing.
There are no island bonuses on this map — exploration itself is the reward.
Ships (1 lumber + 1 wool) are roads for the water: a road needs an edge touching land, a ship an edge touching sea — a coastal edge can take either, and the picker asks when both fit.
Roads and ships join ONLY at your own settlement or city. At an empty corner, a ship may extend only your ships and a road only your roads.
Longest Trade Route counts roads and ships together, but a road may meet a ship only at your own building on that corner.
Once per turn you may MOVE a ship instead of building one: only a ship at the open end of a route (none you built this turn), to any legal edge. Glowing ships can be picked up.
The pirate is the robber's sea twin. On a 7 (or a Knight), tap open water to place the pirate instead: it blocks all ship building and movement on its hex's edges and robs a player with a ship there.

The Forgotten Tribe

Eight islands, already inhabited — bearing gifts.

13 VP wins. The tribe's small islands can never be settled and never produce.
Gifts wait along their coastlines: build or move a ship onto a gift edge to claim it — victory point chits, development cards, or harbours.
A gifted HARBOUR is yours to place: on a shore edge beside one of your buildings, never next to an existing harbour. It works immediately.
The robber starts on a desert, may never enter the tribe's islands, and once it leaves its home desert it can never return there.
Ships (1 lumber + 1 wool) are roads for the water: a road needs an edge touching land, a ship an edge touching sea — a coastal edge can take either, and the picker asks when both fit.
Roads and ships join ONLY at your own settlement or city. At an empty corner, a ship may extend only your ships and a road only your roads.
Longest Trade Route counts roads and ships together, but a road may meet a ship only at your own building on that corner.
Once per turn you may MOVE a ship instead of building one: only a ship at the open end of a route (none you built this turn), to any legal edge. Glowing ships can be picked up.
The pirate is the robber's sea twin. On a 7 (or a Knight), tap open water to place the pirate instead: it blocks all ship building and movement on its hex's edges and robs a player with a ship there.

Cities & Knights

A second economy — and an invasion to hold back.

13 VP wins. There are NO development cards — knights and progress cards replace them.
Cities on forest, pasture and mountains produce 1 resource + 1 COMMODITY (paper, wool→cloth, ore→coin). Commodities buy city improvements.
Three improvement tracks (Trade, Politics, Science): level N costs N of that commodity. Level 3 grants an ability, level 4 founds a METROPOLIS (+2 VP), level 5 makes it permanent.
KNIGHTS stand on corners: build (ore+wool), activate (grain), promote (ore+wool, once per turn). An active knight can chase the robber or block corners; moving is along your own roads.
The EVENT DIE rolls with every throw: barbarian faces advance the invasion ship; gate faces pay progress cards to players with matching improvement levels.
When the barbarians land, the island's defence is the sum of active knight levels vs the number of cities. Win: the top contributor takes Defender (+1 VP). Lose: whoever contributed least loses a city. All knights deactivate.
The robber starts OFF the board until the first invasion. A 7 still forces discards.
Hand limit is 7 plus 2 per city wall (walls cost 2 brick).