How To Set Up Your Board Like An Expert

Below are 5 simple steps to prepare for a game of Catan.

1. Always make sure the table is clean. Assemble the sea frames with the numbers at the ends of the frames matched with each other. Place the harbour tokens randomly on the sea frames.

2. Shuffle the terrain hexes, then place them in any order, as long as you make sure to put one down first before flipping it face-up.

3. Before placing the number tokens in a spiral alphabetically, roll the dice. The red dice indicates the starting corner, which has the same number as the sea frames. The yellow dice determine the direction of the spiral: clockwise with an odd result and anti-clockwise with an even result. Remember to skip over the desert and place the robber on it. Also, the board will look more professional if you keep all the number tokens face the same direction.

4. Shuffle dev card stack. Place it, along with resource card stacks, the Longest Road, and the Largest Army special cards neat and handy.

5. Everyone rolls the dice. The one with the highest result goes first, then the 2nd highest. Players with higher dice results have higher priorities in selecting their colours. Everyone then takes their roads, settlements, cities, and "Building Costs" card if needed.

Now that everything is set, let the game begin!