Catan: Traders & Barbarians - Variant: The Rivers of Catan

Variant: The Rivers of Catan

The Rivers of Catan is a variation which introduces rivers on the island of Catan. Though in the same spirit as the independently-released The Great River mini-expansion (The Great River having also been part of the German-only Atlantis expansion), the two have significant differences.

At the start of the game, seven hexes are removed for two rivers - one three hexes long and one four hexes long. Whenever a settlement or road is built along the shore of either river, the player earns a coin. Bridges may also be built across the river, which earn three coins for the player and is considered to be part of a player's road network (though bridges cost two bricks and one wood, or six fish). Coins may be used to purchase resources, and are considered trading material, but are not considered themselves to be resources.

Throughout the game, the player with the most coins is named the Wealthiest Settler, which gives the player one additional victory point (no points are awarded in a tie), while the player(s) with the fewest are named Poor Settlers, which penalizes two victory points.

When combined with Cities and Knights, a player whose city is being downgraded to a settlement can pay 5 gold instead. This does not apply in Traders and Barbarians, even though it uses the same gold coins.