Cities and Knights of Catan

by MayFair Games

Product Features

• Family Board Games
• Ages 12&Up - 3 to 4 Players

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 13 x 13 x 3 inches ; 1 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B00005LDWX
• Item model number: 4098902
• Manufacturer recommended age: 12 years and up
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #55,809 in Toys & Games (See Top 100 in Toys & Games)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (34 customer reviews)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes

Product Description

From the Manufacturer

Dark clouds are gathering over the peaceful island of Catan. Wild barbarians, attracted by the wealth of Catan, sailed to attack the country. Fortunately, warning has given Catan time to meet the danger. The size of the barbarian army corresponds to the number of cities in Catan. Thus, for Catan to fend off the barbarian attack, the players must form a knight force as strong as the barbarian force. In addition to the barbarians, players compete to build the three great metropolises of Catan. Each of these magnificent centers are worth two additional victory points. To build a metropolis, players must invest in city improvements. To acquire these improvements, players must acquire the three new types of Trade Cards: Coinage, Paper, and Cloth. These cards can only be gained by building a city next to mountain, forest, or pasture hexes. 2-4 Players, requires ownership of Settlers of Catan to play.

Product Description

Expand the Fun and Strategy! Building on the original game, Cities and Knights adds many new, exciting elements to the Settlers of Catan. Dark clouds are gathering over the peaceful island of Catan. Wild barbarians, attracted by the wealth of Catan, sailed to attack the country. Fortunately, warning has given Catan time to meet the danger. The size of the barbarian army corresponds to the number of cities in Catan. Thus, for Catan to fend off the barbarian attack, the players must form a knight force as strong as the barbarian force. In addition to the barbarians, players compete to build the three great metropolises of Catan. Each of these magnificent centers are worth two additional victory points. To build a metropolis, players must invest in city improvements. To acquire these improvements, players must acquire the three new types of Trade Cards- Coinage, Paper, and Cloth. These cards can only be gained by building a city next to mountain, forest, or pasture hexes. Prepare for new challenges and a longer game! The Original Settlers of Catan is required to play Cities and Knights. Includes 5-6 Player Expansion for Cities and Knights. (ages 10+)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

62 of 62 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars great expansion, January 30, 2004

By 

Isabella Valentine - www.IsabellaValentine.com (Bloomington, IN) - See all my reviews

= Durability:5.0 out of 5 stars  = Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars  = Educational:5.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Cities and Knights of Catan (Toy)

After falling in love with the original game, I decided to get an expansion pack and this is the first one I got. Great decision.

A little note if you are considering this expansion: be prepared to spend more time learning the game. It takes a lot of looking back at the manual to get the hang of it.

Once you get going, you will become even more hopelessly addicted to the game. You get to build giant cathedrals which are twice the value of cities. You also get to fight the barbarian with your knights - which brings all the people playing the game to side WITH each other instead of AGAINST each other.

But I think the ultimate feature in this expansion are the new cards involved. When you draw a development card, you get the coolest options such as viewing everyone's cards and basically taking what you want... as well as other things... such as being able to hold up to 13 cards in your hands if you have the right amount of cities, etc.

Also new in this game is the merchant which allows you a 2 for 1 trade which can be moved around just like the robber.

Get this expansion!!! You will love it!

54 of 54 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars excellent enhancement to Catan, July 3, 2003

By 

"weymot" (Alexandria, VA United States) - See all my reviews

= Durability:5.0 out of 5 stars  = Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars  = Educational:4.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Cities and Knights of Catan (Toy)

I been playing Settlers for nearly 8 years (since living in Germany) and I have tried all the expansions. This is the only one I would recommend. Cities & Knights takes Catan to a different level. I felt that the other expansions merely added more of the same to Settlers. C&K lives up to its billing as an expansion: it adds layers of strategy and fun.

There are more ways to get points (13 points needed to win instead of 10) which allow players to better adapt to their situations. Settlements and cities count the same, as does the longest road. The development cards have been replaced by three decks of Progress Cards (Yellow, Green and Blue), one deck for each area of focus in the game: Commerce, Construction, and Diplomacy. These cards are very helpful and can really help turn the tide of a game. Each deck also contains a VP. One of the VPs is in the form of a merchant, who allows a player to trade a resource of their 2:1 as long as the merchant is present. In time, each area of concentration can generate a metropolis, worth 2 points. The key to both the progress cards and the metropolises are Commodity Cards, gained only by cities. There are also Defender of Catan points availabe if you can build the most knights. Knights have multiple abilities including fighting off barbarian invaders, protecting squares from the robber, and blocking opponents from building. Sheep are required to build knights, so no more avoiding the sheep tiles :)

Bottom line: there are a lot of new options. It is a great fit for avid players of the original. Since I have played C&K, I've never gone back to basic Settlers, which now feels overly simple.

One note of caution: The learning curve is fairly significant. It is possible for some early games to be much longer than those in basic Settlers, especially if some of the players are notoriously slow. In the back of the manual there is a "quick start" option. I would recommend using this until the players become familiar with game. After a few rounds the average time should become comparable to that of a normal Settlers game.

65 of 67 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars More details for Settlers of Catan, July 1, 2003

By 

Joshua Koppel (Chicago, IL United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

= Durability:5.0 out of 5 stars  = Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars  = Educational:4.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Cities and Knights of Catan (Toy)

This is another expansion for the popular Settlers of Catan game. There are three main changes that have been added in this expansion.

1) The wandering robber (raider) has been replaced by barbarian hordes that attack the entire island. Players must field and equip knights to protect the island from this force.

2) Trade goods may be produced. Your raw materials (wood, wool, clay, etc.) may be used to produce trade goods such as cloth and books.

3) Cities can now be improved by adding specific buildings to its structure. These buildings are required for the production of the trade goods. Cities can also be upgraded to one of three great metropolises.

This expansion adds more detail to the classic game and extends playing time significantly (don't expect to play it more than once in an evening). But the detail also adds more interest to the game.