Speed Catan

A faster and simpler way to play

Speed Catan is a variation of the popular board game Catan that emphasizes game speed and simplicity for younger (or impatient) players. Setup, game play, and (most importantly) clean up are much faster.

It is played with a standard Catan game with a few altered rules.

Set out the terrain hexes (tiles) as usual. Do not place the circular number tokens (chits) nor the sea frame pieces. Harbor pieces are optional.

Set the five resource and development cards in a row in any order you choose. This is the card list. On your turn, the cards you draw will be based on their number in the card list.

Example

In order: 1) ore, 2) grain, 3) wool, 4) brick, 5) lumber, 6) development cards

On your turn, roll the two dice as usual. Each die "activates" the resource that corresponds to the number in the card list. Draw the number of resources that you produce of that type.

If the number corresponds to the development cards, then draw one.

Example

Ezra rolls a 5 and a 6, which correspond to the lumber resource and development card. One of his settlements is touching two forests, so Ezra draws two lumber resources. Then he draws a single development card.

The rest of your turn proceeds as normal.

Since you are no longer summing the dice when rolling, there is no way to trigger the robber. You can either leave the piece in the box or set it in the desert.

Development cards can be played on the turn you bought it.

When you play a "Knight" development card, steal one resource card from the player with the most victory points.

There are two options for winning. Select one before starting the game:

1. Victory Points: The first player to acquire x victory points wins. Considering playing to 10 like normal Catan or fewer for a faster game.
2. Most By: The player with the most victory points in x minutes wins. Consider capping the game to 10, 15, or 20 minutes.^[1]

Example

The timer goes off after 15 minutes. Samuel, Ezra, and Sean total their victory points. Samuel has the most with 8 is the winner.

Speed Catan was developed by Sean and Samuel McPherson.