"Settlers of Catan" Gameplay Trivia Quiz

Answer: Seven

When throwing two dice, seven is the most common dice roll, rolling at a frequency of 1/6. Because of its relative commonality, none of the board hexes are numbered with "7". Instead if a player rolls a seven, any players with over 7 cards must discard half their hand, rounded down, and the rolling player can move the robber to any hex of their choosing, blocking production until further notice. That player can also steal one hidden card from a blocked opponent of their choosing.

Answer: 15 Roads

"Longest road" is worth two victory points and credit can start at 5 roads. However, anyone who uses up all 15 of their roads and maintains the integrity of their road path earns "Longest Road" and the card can no longer be taken away, as there aren't any more physical roads to use at that point.

Answer: Whatever hexes their second settlement was placed on

Players begin the game with two settlements and two roads attached to these settlements. At the very start of the game, whoever places their first settlement first must place their second settlement last. This is called a "serpentine order". Where the second settlement is placed determines the resources received.

For example, if player 2 places her second settlement on a hex that is touching an 11-ore tile, a 10-ore tile, and a 3-wheat tile, she would then receive 2 ore and 3 wheat.

Answer: Seven

Largest army begins at "three knights", but the owner of the card can switch if someone else overtakes him or her. Because there are exactly 14 knights in the deck, whoever plays seven knights first cannot be overtaken. Even if they are tied for seven knights with another player, that player cannot steal the "largest army" card from them.

Answer: Ore and Brick

There are a total of 18 resource-producing tiles in Catan. Of these 18, four produce wool, four produce wheat, four produce lumber, three produce ore, and three produce brick. As a result, even though brick and ore (depending on their assigned numbers) can be more plentiful in some games, they are on average the rarest two commodities on the board. Brick is excellent for early game development, and ore is excellent for late game development, as it is the resource most needed to build cities.

Answer: 20%

Out of the 25 total development cards, 5 are "Victory Points" meaning that at the very start of the game, whoever buys the first card has a 1/5 chance of earning a victory point. Even though victory points are valuable, they are not generally useful in the early game, as the player needs knights to keep their hexes unblocked, or utility to expedite development. Growth in Catan is exponential, so even a small delay can be very costly.

Answer: False

Each player has five settlements to use; if one settlement is upgraded to a city, then they can add another settlement. The number of plastic settlements for each player is limited to five, however. As a result, a player that has not been able to upgrade a single settlement into a city can have at most 5 points. Even if they have also managed to hold "Largest Army" and "Longest Road", that would bring their total to 9 points. Because 10 points are needed to win the game, the player must either pull a "Victory Point" from the Development Card deck, or upgrade one of their settlements into a city to win the game.

Answer: Wheat

Wheat is arguably the most crucial resource in the game; you can do without ore in the early game, and you can do without brick in the late game, but wheat is crucial at all points of the game. These are the prices to purchase items in Catan:
Road: Wood + Brick
Settlement: Wood + Brick + Wool + Wheat
Development Card: Wool + Ore + Wheat
City: 3 Ore + 2 Wheat
Due to its importance in the game, many Catan players have coined the phrase: "No wheat equals defeat".

Answer: Monopoly

The "Victory Point" is hidden and does not gain any resources in the turn that it is received. When the "Knight" is played, the player may steal only one resource. The "Year of Plenty" allows the player access to exactly two resources of their choice from the bank. Meanwhile, the "Monopoly" if used correctly, can be devastating.

The "Monopoly" allows the player to effectively monopolize an entire single resource by stealing all copies of that resource from opponents' hands. Well executed monopolies can steal 10 or more cards from opponents.

Answer: Their turn to play

Players can only initiate trades if it is their turn to play. After rolling the dice, players can then talk to others about their needs and offers. Because players can only take actions on their own turn, it is always most advantageous to trade on your own turn.

Theoretically, players can talk about trading when it is not their turn to play, but in order for a trade to go through and be legitimate, one of the two plays must have an ongoing turn.