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Catan: Cities & Knights
The essential expansion that turns entry-level Catan into a deeper strategy game. You raise knights to hold off the barbarian attack, improve your cities with commodities (paper, cloth and coin), and add city walls and Progress Cards on top of that.
Rules
The target goes up to 13 victory points, cities start producing “commodities,” and you have to raise knights to hold off the barbarians coming in from the sea. Stopping the barbarians is a group effort, but only one player is rewarded for it. This is the heaviest and the most popular of the Catan expansions.
What stays the same / what you take out
Laying out the tiles, building settlements, cities and roads, producing resources on the dice, trading, the robber and the distance rule are all the same as in “Catan.” This guide only covers what changed.
Some base-game pieces go back in the box
Put away the base game's Development Cards, Building Cost Cards and “Largest Army” card. Development Cards are replaced by Progress Cards, and Largest Army is replaced by the defense of Catan against the barbarians. “Longest Road” stays in play.
The target is 13 victory points
The base game ended at 10. In Cities & Knights the first player to 13 wins.
What the expansion adds
| Component | Count | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Commodity Cards | 36 | 12 paper · 12 cloth · 12 coin |
| Progress Cards | 54 | 18 science · 18 politics · 18 trade |
| “Defender of Catan” victory point cards | 6 | 1 point each |
| Knights | 24 | 6 per color (2 basic · 2 strong · 2 mighty) |
| City walls | 12 | 3 per color |
| Metropolis pieces | 3 | One each for science, trade and politics |
| Development flip-charts | 4 | Track the city improvements you have bought |
| Barbarian Ship · Barbarian Tile | 1 each | The tile has the movement spaces printed on it |
| Merchant | 1 | The wooden cone moved by Merchant Progress Cards |
| Event die | 1 | 3 ship faces + 3 city gate faces (blue, green, yellow) |
Before your first game
You have to apply the stickers to all 24 knight tokens yourself. The black-and-white side is the inactive side and the colored side is the active side. The number of rings around the helmet shows the rank — 1 ring basic, 2 rings strong, 3 rings mighty.
Change ① You roll three dice
- 1Read the event die first. Depending on the result, the Barbarian Ship moves or players draw Progress Cards.
- 2Then use the sum of the red and yellow dice to produce resources and commodities as usual.
| Event die | Effect |
|---|---|
| Ship (3 faces) | The Barbarian Ship advances one space. When it reaches the last space, the barbarians attack |
| City gate (blue, green, yellow) | Players with city improvements in that color may be able to draw a Progress Card |
What happens on a “7” changes
Until the barbarians reach Catan for the first time, a production roll of 7 only triggers the hand-limit check and the robber stays put. After the first barbarian attack, move the robber and steal 1 card as in the base game.
In Cities & Knights you may build and trade freely on your own turn, commodity cards included.
Change ② Cities produce “commodities”
| Terrain | A settlement gets | A city gets |
|---|---|---|
| Forest | 1 lumber | 1 lumber + 1 paper |
| Pasture | 1 wool | 1 wool + 1 cloth |
| Mountains | 1 ore | 1 ore + 1 coin |
| Hills · Fields | 1 brick · 1 grain | 2 of the same resource (as in the base game) |
Commodities are only for city improvements
Paper, cloth and coin are never used to construct buildings. They go only into city improvements. That makes where you put your cities matter far more than before.
- 4 of the same commodity can be exchanged at the bank for any 1 resource or commodity.
- A 3:1 harbor lets you trade 3 of the same commodity for 1 card. A matching 2:1 harbor applies when trading that resource for a resource or commodity; it does not make the commodity itself tradable at 2:1.
Change ③ City improvements and the metropolis
City improvements are split into three areas, each going up to level 5. Pay commodities and flip the matching section of your development flip-chart to record it.
| Area | Commodity used | City gate color |
|---|---|---|
| Science | Paper | Green |
| Trade | Cloth | Yellow |
| Politics | Coin | Blue |
How you earn Progress Cards
When the event die shows a city gate color, check whether the red die rolled at or under the number of improvement levels you have in that area. If it matches, you draw a Progress Card of that area. The further you improve, the more often cards come.
The metropolis — reached at level 4
The first player to reach level 4 in an area places that area's metropolis on one of their cities. A metropolis is worth 2 extra victory points. There is one per area, so only 3 exist in the whole game.
If another player already holds that area's metropolis, you can only take it away by reaching a higher level than they have. Matching their level is not enough.
Change ④ Knights
- To place a knight, pay 1 ore + 1 wool. Put it inactive on any empty intersection connected to your roads.
- Promoting a knight swaps it for the next rank up: basic → strong → mighty.
- Activating a knight turns it to its active side. Only active knights count toward defending against the barbarians.
- Active knights can chase away the robber, break an opponent's road, or move to a new position.
Knights are worth no victory points. And yet without them the barbarians take your cities. “You must invest in something that never scores” is the tension this expansion runs on.
Change ⑤ The barbarian attack
- 1Every time the event die shows a ship, the Barbarian Ship advances one space. When it reaches the last space, they attack.
- 2Barbarian strength = the number of cities on the whole island. Metropolises count as cities. Add up every player's cities.
- 3Defense strength = the combined strength of every player's active knights.
- 4Compare the two.
| Result | What happens |
|---|---|
| Defense holds (knights ≥ barbarians) | Catan is saved. The single player with the highest active knight strength takes a “Defender of Catan” victory point card (1 point) |
| Tied for highest | Nobody gets a victory point card. Instead each tied player draws 1 Progress Card |
| Defense fails (knights < barbarians) | Among players who own cities, the player with the lowest active knight strength loses 1 city, reduced to a settlement. Players with no cities or only metropolises are excluded. Among the remaining players, anyone who contributed no knights is automatically lowest; if several tie, each loses a city |
After an attack, every knight goes back to inactive
Whatever the outcome, the Barbarian Ship returns to its starting space and every knight on the board is turned back to its inactive side. Activating them again costs again.
If you own a city and contribute no knights, a failed defense can leave you as the weakest contributor and cost that city. Players with no cities or only metropolises are excluded from that comparison. Choose how much strength to activate by looking at both your cities and your knights.
Change ⑥ City walls
- Pay 2 brick and place one under one of your cities.
- Each city wall raises your safe hand limit on a 7 by 2 cards. (7 → 9 → 11 → 13)
- They cannot go under settlements. One wall per city, and a maximum of 3 per player.
- If the barbarians reduce a city to a settlement, its city wall is destroyed with it.
Rules people get wrong
Q. Can I play this with just the expansion?
No. It is an expansion, so you need the board, tiles and resource cards from the “Catan” base game.
Q. How many victory points end the game?
13. Using the base game's 10-point target makes it end far too quickly.
Q. Do we still use the Development Cards?
No. The base game's Development Cards and the “Largest Army” card are set aside. Progress Cards take their place. Longest Road stays.
Q. Do I move the robber when a 7 is rolled?
Until the first barbarian attack, you only check for oversized hands and leave the robber in place. After that first attack, move the robber and steal 1 card as in the base game.
Q. Can I build roads or settlements with commodities?
No. Commodities go only into city improvements.
Q. Are knights worth victory points?
No, which is exactly the dilemma. You do get 1 point from a “Defender of Catan” card if you lead the defense, though.
Q. Does barbarian strength only count my cities?
No. It adds up every player's cities. When someone else builds a city, you are in more danger too.
Q. What if I never build a knight?
If you own a city, contributing no knights can make you the weakest contributor and cost a city. Players with no cities or only metropolises are excluded from that comparison.
History and editions
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Designer | Klaus Teuber |
| First published | 1998 (originally “Die Städte und Ritter”) |
| Original game | “Catan,” 1995 — winner of the Spiel des Jahres |
| Reputation | The heaviest of the Catan expansions, and the one recommended most often |
There is a separate 5–6 player extension. The base game's 5–6 player extension and the Cities & Knights 5–6 player extension are two different products, so you need both.
Sources
Official Catan Studio rulebook (Catan: Cities & Knights, English)Korea Boardgames Korean-edition rulebook, “Catan: Cities & Knights” (2015 revision)Cross-checked against Wikipedia: Catan: Cities & KnightsCross-checked against Namuwiki: Catan (Korean)Rule summaries are reference content written by us, not quotations from the official rulebook. Always check the official rulebook for exact rules. Diagrams are original schematics, not rulebook illustrations.
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Last updated 2026-09-14
💡 Master tip
Before the barbarians attack, compare your active knight strength with the cities you still have at risk. If the defense fails, the weakest eligible contributor loses a city, and tied players can each lose one. Focusing your commodity improvements in one area can also bring stronger Progress Card opportunities sooner.
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Barbarian Ship attack counter
Counts the spaces left and adds up every player's active knight strength
City improvement track chart
Shows the bonus at each paper, cloth and coin improvement level
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