While our popular board game Settlers of Catan is based on the basic foundations of any primitive civilization — agriculture, transportation, the building of settlements and cities — we here at Mayfair Games strive to make gameplay as in-line with the real world as possible. To that end, we are issuing a series of amendments to the current rules to more accurately reflect the balance of power in society. Implement these adjustments as you see fit and as always, enjoy playing!
1. The player with the most development cards in-hand at any given time may borrow rolls from other players to produce resources. Whether these rolls are paid back or not is irrelevant to the ability to build. If this person builds enough settlements, they are made President of Catan, regardless of the outcome of the popular vote.
2. Trades on your own turn are conducted as usual. Trades during someone else’s turn may take place in secret, under the table, and the beneficiary of the trade does not need to disclose the trade, even when asked specifically about it by another player. The players may also lie to one another about what cards they are trading in secret trades, as there will be no record of these trades to check against.
3. Rather than each player taking the standard five settlements, four cities and fifteen roads to start, players whose fathers taught them the game may select up to three additional settlements, and non-white players should only take nine roads. Female players take the traditional spread of cards, but at the end of the game, their victory points only count for 7/10 as much as the victory points of their male counterparts.
4. Previous editions have included the “Distance Rule” specifying that you may only build a settlement at an intersection if all three of the adjacent intersections are vacant. The rule stands but can be circumvented by “Unscrupulous Landlord” and “Corrupt City Council” cards that forcibly remove residents from settlements that another player wishes to build on. These new cards can be found in our “Gentrification” expansion packs.
5. The card for Longest Road has been discontinued. Instead, Largest Settlement will be declared a player and may take a turn and collect resource cards on behalf of its builder. This rule, Catanians United, gives official personhood status to settlements and classifies rolls as speech.
6. Over the past year, Mayfair Games has received a number of reports of players attempting to use resource cards from the Russian edition of the game during play on the English-language board. While this practice isn’t condoned or endorsed by Mayfair Games, it is not technically against the rules and we are unable to monitor the transfer of cards across borders. The director of MayfairRussia mysteriously disappeared six months ago, and his replacement won’t return our calls.
7. We publicly recognize the genocide of the Native Catanians. Henceforth, each new game of Settlers of Catan will start with a minute of silence in their honor. Mayfair acknowledges, with deep regret, that the cruelty inflicted against the Native Catanians can never be undone or repaid. This acknowledgment should not influence gameplay at all. Terrain should still be settled as quickly and vigorously as before, if not quicker.