Players start on a small island and then explore outward to discover new lands!
Requirements: Both Settlers of Catan and Seafarers of Catan are needed (and the 5-6 player expansion sets are also nice to have as they give you even more tiles to use.)
Set up: use starting island shown with 10 ocean tiles around starting island. Players receive 2 sets of pieces (30 roads, 30 ships, 8 cities and 10 settlements). Each player places 2 settlements (as shown on the right) and 2 ships/roads and receives one of each of the 4 resources (wood, sheep, grain, and clay).
Playing the Game: play is the same as in the standard settlers/seafarers with players alternating turns. Victory conditions are 20 victory points.
Discovery: All of the area outside of the starting island is unknown. As player build ships (and later roads, too) along edges toward an intersection where the hex tile is missing, a new tile is randomly drawn from all of the remaining tiles and placed on the board. If it is a land hex, a number chit is randomly drawn and the player receives one of that resource. If it is a port hex, the player must rotate the port so that it touches land. If no land is present, then place the port tile and if a land tile is subsequently drawn, the port is rotated so that it touches the land and then it is fixed for the remainder of the game.
Special Victory points: players receive one addition victory point for their first settlement on each new island they colonize (regardless if the other player has already colonized it). Place a seafarers VP chit under the settlement to delineate it. As long as it is not connected by land to any other island the player has already colonized, the victory point is granted--even if later the island is connected.
The Robber and Pirate: the robber enters the game once the first desert hex is drawn (place on desert). The pirate enters the game once the first port hex is drawn (place on port).
Have fun and ENJOY! !
