This week's game...another expansion to the cult classic Eurogame of sheep and wheat, Catan: Cities & Knights.
(Note: The Settlers of Catan is required to play this expansion. Click here to learn more about the base game. Also, click here to learn about previously discussed expansion, Seafarers.)
Players: 3-4
Time: 90-180 minutes
Genre: Strategy
Catan: Cities & Knights is another unique expansion to Settlers that adds several layers of strategy and varying scenarios for those looking for deeper tactics and alternative approaches to victory. For starters, there's a new type of secondary resource called commodities, which come in three varieties: Paper, Coin, and Cloth. These commodities can only be earned through trade or resources produced by cities of the corresponding land types (Ex: A city on a forest tile will now produce one Wood and one Paper, rather than two Woods as was the case in the base version of Catan). Commodities are then used to upgrade your cities in one of three different categories: Trade, Politics, or Science! As you build these city improvements, you increase the likelihood of earning Progress cards of the corresponding category (which act as the replacement to Development cards of the base version). Reaching the third level of a city improvement also earns the player a special ability based off the category achieved, such as trading commodities at a 2:1 ratio or building stronger knights. The first player to reach the 4th level of a city improvement in a category and have an available city earns the metropolis achievement for that category, worth a grand 4 victory points (Note this expansion now requires 13 victory points to win a game).
This brings us to the other half of this expansion: Knights. Players can build knights to block roads, ward off robbers, or perhaps most importantly, defend Catan against the looming threat of barbarians. With the addition of a new die called the Event Die, barbarians have a 50% chance of approaching ever closer each turn to raiding the island (for those curious, the other three sides of the die are for determining when Progress cards are drawn). When the barbarians should reach shore, every player's available knights are called to arms to defend. The barbarians strength is equal to that of the number of cities and metropolis on Catan, while the players' strength is equal to that of each active knight and their level, which comes in strengths of 1, 2 (or 3 if the Politics branch is upgraded far enough). If the barbarians should win, the player with the lowest contributing strength has a city downgraded to a settlement. If Catan should emerge victorious though, the player with the highest contributing strength earns a Defender of Catan achievement, worth 1 victory point. Just bear in mind that all these knights will require wheat to be fed, active, and of any use.
There are also numerous other additions not mentioned above, such as walls that can be built to increase hand sizes, or the merchant that grants favorable trade rates of a given resource (plus an extra victory point) to the whomever control them. With so many new elements to consider, this is certainly an expansion that has a bit of a learning curve. And yet by that same token, the wealth of options allows so many interesting means and strategies to deploy, that there's never necessarily one right answer to achieve victory. It's up to the players to utilize these many tools and have the keen awareness to alter plans and adapt to the situations at hand. I recommend this expansion for those who enjoy more choice and complex consideration.
If you have any questions about this expansion, let me know in the comments. And stay tuned to hear more about other expansions and more in future installments of Tabletop Tuesday!
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