Last Updated on June 5, 2026 by The Official Game Rules Team

Rivals for Catan rules introduce a deep two-player strategy card game based on the classic game CATAN, where you expand your principality, manage resources, and outplay your opponent through clever building and tactical card play. Below you’ll find a complete rewrite of the rules, including setup, gameplay, cards, theme sets, strategy tips, FAQs, and a conclusion.

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How to Play Rival for CATAN

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Introduction

Rivals for Catan is the modern, redesigned version of the original 1996 Catan Card Game, offering a tighter, more balanced two-player experience. In Rivals, you act as a prince or princess developing your own principality—expanding regions, building settlements and cities, and unlocking powerful advantages through buildings, units, and action cards.

This guide explains all Rivals for Catan rules clearly, walking you from the Introductory Game to Theme Sets and advanced play so you can master the full system.

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Components

• 180 cards divided into:
  • Basic Set (94 cards) — used for Intro and all Theme Games
  • Era of Gold (27), Era of Turmoil (28), Era of Progress (31) — used for Theme Games
• 2 wooden tokens: Hero (axe) and Trade (scale) — awardable advantages worth 1 VP each while held
• 2 dice: Production die (1–6) and Event die (five symbols)
• setup reference / scorepad / rulebook (not required but useful)

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Card backs and organization

• Cards are grouped by back art. Introductory Game uses only cards with the Basic Set back. Theme Sets are separated by their era symbol (1, 2, 3). Some cards in Theme Sets are marked with a half-moon and are excluded from certain combined games (see Duel of the Princes).
• Face-up center stacks (roads, settlements, cities) sit between players and are available to both.

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Setup — Introductory Game

1. Separate Basic Set cards. Put Theme Set cards back in box for now.
2. From Basic Set, take the red shield starting cards (9 cards): 6 region cards, 2 settlements, 1 road. Arrange them in front of the active player as your starting principality: two settlements connected by a single road, and six region cards positioned around them. Align each region so the edge with one resource symbol faces you (your stored resource count starts at 1) except gold field which starts with zero.
3. Opponent builds the same using blue shield starting cards, oriented toward them. Regions may have different production numbers.
4. Place the three center stacks (roads, settlements, cities) face up between players. These are unlimited—cards in each stack are identical and not shuffled.
5. Shuffle region deck and place it near center stacks.
6. Shuffle 36 Basic Set draw cards (cards with Basic Set symbol) and split into four draw stacks of 9 cards each. Place these near the city stack. These are the draw stacks players will draw from. (Do not shuffle these stacks together once split.)
7. Event deck: separate the special Yule card. Shuffle the remaining event cards, place 3 face down, place Yule on top of these 3, then place the rest on top to form the event deck. (This creates a Yule card “marker” near the deck.)
8. Determine starting player by rolling dice; highest goes first. That player draws the top 3 cards from one draw stack as their starting hand; other player draws top 3 from a different draw stack. Keep hands secret.

Rivals for Catan Rulebook – 1jour-1jeu.com

The illustration below shows the finished game set-up. You and your opponent are facing each other—each with your principality aligned towards yourself. Between the principalities are the stacks containing the roads, settlements, regions, and cities as well as the draw stacks and the event card stack.

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The Principality: regions, settlements, roads, and building sites

• Regions produce resources. Each region card has edges showing 0–3 resource icons. The edge nearest you indicates stored resources. Rotate card 90° CCW to add a resource, 90° CW to spend one. Max 3 stored. Production die increments by 1 (CCW rotation) on matching region numbers.
• Settlements: each settlement = 1 victory point and grants two building sites above and below it (slots to play expansions). Settlements also grant the owner two region cards when built (see build settlement).
• Cities: upgrade a settlement to a city (cost paid), city = 2 victory points and provides four building sites (two above, two below). Underlying settlement card remains but its VP is not counted when city present.
• Roads: placed between settlements to extend principality; you must have a road in place before you can build a new settlement adjacent to that road.

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Basic turn sequence

On your turn you perform these steps in order:

1. Roll both dice (production die and event die) and resolve their effects (order depends on event die symbol color).
2. Action phase (in any order, repeat as often as resources/cards allow): play expansion cards (green), play action cards (yellow), build center cards (road/settlement/city), trade resources.
3. Hand check: if under limit draw to hand limit, if over discard to bottom of a draw stack to meet hand limit.
4. Optional exchange: you may exchange one card from your hand by returning it to the bottom of a draw stack and either drawing a random card or paying 2 resources to search a draw stack and pick any one card from that stack (unseen order cannot be changed). Exchanged cards cannot be played until your next turn.

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Dice: production die and event die

Production die (1–6)

• For each region whose printed number matches the production die, rotate that region 90° CCW to gain one resource (up to 3). If a player already has 3 in that region, any additional resource is lost (no storage beyond 3). Multiple regions on same roll each produce.
• Regions’ numbers can change over the game (region deck draws, etc.), so distribution can shift.

Event die (5 symbols)

• Black symbols (4 types) — these indicate events or bonus resource effects. When a black symbol is rolled, resolve production first, then resolve the event die effect (draw event cards, choose options printed on die, etc.).
• Red symbol (brigands/club) — brigand attack: resolve brigand effects immediately before production. Brigand effects may cause resource loss, strengths checks, etc. Resolve exact text on event die and event cards.
• If event die shows question mark, draw the top event card and resolve it (then return it to bottom of event deck). If you draw Yule, you must reconstruct event deck: shuffle remaining event cards, place 3 face down, place Yule on top of them, then place rest on top, then draw and resolve the top event card.
• Always follow the printed timing on dice and event cards. If ambiguous, production resolves before black event.

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Action phase — what you can do (in any order)

You may perform any number of these actions provided you can pay costs and follow prerequisites:

Play expansion cards (green text box)

• Settlement/City expansion cards (buildings, units, heroes, trade ships). Must be placed on an empty building site adjacent to a settlement/city. Pay the cost printed on the card; place card on site and effect becomes active immediately (unless card text specifies otherwise).
• Units subdivided into heroes and trade ships. Trade ships improve trade rate for a resource (see trading).
• Some expansion cards are marked 1x — you may have only one copy in your principality.

Play action cards (yellow A box)

• Action cards cost nothing to play from hand. Read and resolve their immediate effect, then place face up in the discard pile (removed from game). Effects vary widely: resource gain, region rotation, damage, search effects, etc.

Build center cards (roads, settlements, cities)

• Center cards are visible to both players and can be purchased by active player by paying printed cost. Roads and settlements are placed in principality at legal placement location; cities upgrade a settlement (pay cost and place on top).
• When you build a new settlement, you immediately draw top 2 region cards from the region deck and place them adjacent to the new settlement aligned with 0 resources closest to you (they start at zero stored). This expands your production map.
• Important: there must always be exactly one road between two settlements; you may not place roads that violate adjacency rules.

Trading resources

• Base trade rate: 3 of the same resource → 1 of any other resource (resources taken from one or multiple regions of the same type).
• If you have a trade ship expansion that applies to a resource type, improved rate becomes 2 for 1 for that resource (as indicated by trade ship). Use any resources from any region(s) of that resource type to pay.
• Trading is done during action phase and unlimited as long as you can pay.

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Hand limits and drawing

• Base hand limit = 3 cards.
• Each progress point (book symbol) you have in your principality increases your hand limit by +1.
• At end of your action phase, draw random cards from the top of draw stacks until you reach hand limit. If you exceed limit (rare if you acquired cards mid-turn), you must discard immediately down to limit by returning cards to bottom of any draw stack (chosen by you).
• Cards drawn to replenish hand cannot be played until your next turn.

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Exchange one card

• You may, once per turn when checking hand or before ending your turn, exchange exactly one card from your hand by returning it to the bottom of any draw stack. Then choose either:
  • Draw the top card from any draw stack (random), or
  • Pay 2 resources of your choice and look through an entire draw stack (without changing order) and take a specific card from it. Place the selected card in your hand and return the stack order as found. (You cannot rearrange the stack.)
• Exchanged cards cannot be used this turn.

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Resource accounting — rotation method

• Regions track resource storage by rotation. Edge closest to you with resource pips indicates stored resources. A region can hold 0–3. To add a resource rotate card 90° CCW. To spend remove resource rotate 90° CW. For clarity, track the face edges as 0/1/2/3 markers.

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Strength and commerce advantage (tokens)

• Cards sometimes display axe (strength) or scale (commerce) icons. Each such icon counts as 1 point in that category.
• Hero token (axe-shaped): if you have 3 or more strength and more strength than your opponent, you take and place the hero token on one of your settlements/cities — it is worth 1 VP while held. If you later lose strength advantage, token is removed (and awarded to opponent if they meet conditions, otherwise set aside).
• Trade token (scale-shaped): same mechanics using commerce points.
• Tokens can swing VP totals; protect and contest them via cards.

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Skill points and progress points

• Skill points (harp icon): used by some event results (e.g., Celebration) to trigger bonuses — treat them as immediately available for those card effects.
• Progress points (book icon): increase your hand limit by 1 each. Visible and cumulative.

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Playing center face-up expansion cards (Theme sets)

• Theme sets add face-up expansion stacks that both players may build from directly. These cards are marked 1x and are outside of draw stacks. They are available to build by paying costs.

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Event deck card handling (Yule mechanics clarified)

• When you draw the Yule card during event resolution you rebuild the event deck: shuffle remaining event cards (both Basic and Theme if used), place 3 face down, put Yule on top of those 3, then place the remaining cards on top. This ensures periodic reshuffling and timing.
• Many event cards instruct both players to gain or lose resources or to perform a shared effect; follow text precisely.

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Building examples

• Build a road: pay cost shown on road center card, place road adjacent to your left or right settlement into an empty road slot.
• Build a settlement: pay settlement cost, place settlement adjacent to an open road end; then draw two region cards from the region deck and place them adjacent aligned with 0 resources.
• Upgrade to city: pay city cost and place city card on top of settlement; settlement still remains hidden below but its VP is not counted separately.

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Sample turn

1. Start of turn: player rolls Production die = 4 and Event die = black star (example). Resolve production: any regions with number 4 rotate CCW and each player increases stored resources accordingly.
2. Resolve Event die black star: event gives both players 1 resource of their choice. Active player chooses wool and takes by rotating appropriate pasture region. Opponent does similarly.
3. Action phase: active player uses resources to pay 3 brick to build a road from center stack and places it next to settlement; then uses 2 ore + 1 grain to build a city on top of one settlement (upgrade). Immediately gains 2 VP for city; places city card over settlement.
4. Hand check: active player has 1 card in hand and may hold up to 3; draws 2 cards from draw stack to reach limit.
5. Exchange option: active player chooses to exchange 1 card by returning a low-value action card to bottom of draw stack and draws top card from another draw stack. End of turn.

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Scoring and game end — Introductory and Theme Games

• Introductory Game end: when a player has 7+ victory points at end of their turn they win immediately. VP sources: settlements (1), cities (2), hero/trade tokens (1 each while held). Example: 2 cities + trade token + one settlement = 2+2+1 = 5 — not yet win.
• Theme Games: play until a player reaches 12+ victory points at end of their turn (Theme sets add VP from city expansion icons and other sources). In Duel of the Princes (full combination) win at 13 VP.
• If a player reaches the VP target at the beginning of their turn (before rolling), an immediate win may be possible per theme rules — consult specific Theme set rule if listed.

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Theme Sets — overview & specific additions

Each Theme Set (Era of Gold, Era of Turmoil, Era of Progress) adds new card types and mechanics. General Theme rules always apply when a Theme Set is used:

Common Theme mechanics

• Face-up expansion stack: extra 1x cards available to both players to purchase directly.
• City expansions (red text box): can only be placed on building sites adjacent to cities (not settlements). Provide various one-time or ongoing advantages and many carry VP icons.
• Extraordinary sites: unique cards that function as special locations with one-off or ongoing text.
• Requirements: some cards require you to have the trade advantage, a specific building, or other preconditions to play.

Era of Gold

• Introduces gold economy cards, gold caches and trade-heavy mechanics. Adds face-up Merchant Guild cards and new draw stacks.

Era of Turmoil

• Adds aggressive cards and harassment (steal/trade disruptions). Adds Hedge Tavern face-ups.

Era of Progress

• Focuses on development and progress points (books), University face-ups, and engine building.

(For each Theme Game the end condition is 12 VP; the Duel of the Princes end condition is 13 VP.)

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Duel of the Princes

• After mastering all three Theme Games, you may combine all Basic Set and allowed Theme cards and play Duel of the Princes. Construction of draw stacks and event deck uses removals for half-moon marked cards per box instructions. Duel plays to 13 VP and uses expanded draw stack and event preparation rules (choose Theme non-half-moon event subsets, etc.). The Duel uses all previously learned mechanics; no new rule types are typically added beyond Theme cards.

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Common rulings and edge cases

• Card timing: Action cards played during action phase resolve immediately then sent to the shared discard (out of play). Effects that modify dice or resource counts are resolved in listed order on card.
• Out of resources on region: if production would give a resource to a region already at 3, the extra is lost. No bank conversion.
• Simultaneous effects: if multiple effects occur simultaneously (rare), active player’s choices take precedence; otherwise follow text ordering.
• Card limits: cards marked 1x are unique; you cannot play a copy if that card already exists in your principality even if removed; consult specific card text for exceptions.

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Strategy tips

• Balance region numbers: distribution of production numbers matters more in long Theme Games. Avoid clustering production on a single die face.
• Spend before build: stored region resources cap at 3 — spend proactively to avoid waste.
• Protect tokens: hero and trade tokens are easy +1 VP swings — contest them.
• Use face-up stacks: when a needed card appears face-up, pay for it rather than scavenging draw stacks.
• Plan upgrades: converting settlement→city gives immediate VP and building slots; planning resource flow for this is key.
• Event awareness: track event deck; Yule and certain events can reshuffle timing; hold resources if a brigand is likely.

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Examples of play interactions

• Brigand attack (red event): may cause players to lose a resource from a region; the card text will specify which players and which region types are affected. Use skill/strength to mitigate.
• Coup for tokens: if you can produce cards that add commerce or strength quickly, take the token early and make it difficult for opponent to wrest it away.

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FAQ – RIvals for Catan Rules

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Quick reference — card color meanings

• Green text box — Settlement/City expansions (permanent, placed on a building site)
• Yellow with A — Action card (one-off, immediate effect)
• Red text box (Theme) — City expansion (placeable on cities only)
• Axes / Scales — Strength / Commerce points for tokens
• Book icon — Progress point (increases hand limit)
• Harp icon — Skill point (used for some events)

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Conclusion

These Rivals for Catan rules encompass setup, complete turn flow, dice & event handling, card types, building/trading mechanics, Theme Set integration, Duel play, examples, rulings, and strategy. This should provide a robust, unambiguous reference for both new and experienced players. Play the Introductory Game until the basics feel natural, then add Era of Gold, Era of Turmoil, and Era of Progress one at a time until you are ready for the Duel of the Princes.