Cities And Knights is an expansion to Catan that introduces new gameplay systems focused on developing cities and protecting them from threats. It adds complexity to the original game by replacing development cards with progress cards, introducing commodities as new resources, and adding knights for defense. The goal is still to reach a victory point target, but the path to victory requires managing both internal growth and external dangers. Players must think carefully about how to balance building, upgrading, and defending their settlements.
City Development and Commodities
In the base game, cities simply double resource production, but in Cities And Knights, they also produce commodities—coin, cloth, and paper—based on terrain types. These commodities are used to develop three areas of advancement: politics, trade, and science. Each area has levels of improvement, and reaching the top allows a player to build a metropolis. A metropolis is worth four points and cannot be taken or destroyed. This system creates a new race for progress in addition to standard building strategies.
The Knight System and Defense Phase
Players can now train and place knights on the board to prepare for barbarian attacks. Each round includes a roll of the event die, which may move the barbarian ship closer to the island. When the ship reaches its destination, a check is made to compare all active knight strength to the total number of cities. If defense is insufficient, the player with the least contribution loses a city. If the players successfully defend the island, the most helpful player receives a reward card. Knights must be activated and sometimes upgraded to stay useful.
Main Additions in Cities And Knights
This expansion changes many elements of the original game and introduces new features, including:
· Three development paths linked to new commodity resources
· A knight system with activation, movement, and strength upgrades
· Progress cards that replace the original development cards
· A barbarian mechanic that introduces periodic threats
· Metropolises that provide points and cannot be lost
Each of these mechanics adds new layers of interaction and decision-making.
Player Interaction and Long-Term Planning
Unlike the base game, Cities And Knights creates stronger incentives for cooperation during certain phases. Players must work together to defend the island but still compete for metropolises, achievements, and resource access. Timing when to activate knights, when to invest in development, and how to position cities becomes a key part of winning. The expansion increases both the pace and the pressure of the game, making turns more meaningful and interconnected.
Cities And Knights builds on the original Catan structure but transforms it into a more advanced game of planning and balance. It challenges players to think several turns ahead, respond to group dynamics, and pursue multiple objectives at once. While it still follows the core rules of trading and building, it adds enough new elements to offer a fresh experience even to seasoned players.
