Catan Cidades e Cavaleiros (expansão)

Catan Cities and Knights games are played with 13 victory points instead of the usual 10. One of the most important changes in this expansion is the so-called event matrix. On each roll of the dice, players will, in addition to the two dice normally used, roll a third die that can result in the barbarians advancing on their expedition to Catan, or that players can obtain progress cards if their city is sufficiently well developed. In Catan Cities and Knights, players can protect themselves from the thief and his effects by reinforcing the walls of their city. They can build these walls by paying two bricks and this will increase the maximum number of cards they can have on hand when the thief appears.

Another way to protect yourself from the thief is through knights. In this expansion there are no more development cards, so to get knights, players must buy them directly. These knights are placed directly on the board and can be used to ward off the thief, to cut off other players’ trade routes, to protect their own crossroads, or to fight barbarians. Each time barbarians arrive in Catan, all players will have to add the strength of their knights to face them. If they are unsuccessful, players who have contributed the least to the overall effort will see one of their cities razed to the ground.

The last big new feature of this expansion is the three new materials; Paper, Fabric and Coin, which can only be obtained in cities that border Forests, Meadows and Mountains, respectively. These new materials are what allow cities to progress and make it possible to obtain the new development cards, as well as obtaining the Metropolis status of the most advanced cities in each of the progression types. Achieving this status grants players 2 victory points.