Love nothing more than a play of CATAN – Console Edition? Well, the hordes are coming as the new Cities & Knights expansion rolls out for battle.
Marking a bit of a departure from usual CATAN mechanics, Cities & Knihgts comes to the game with new rules, new ideas, new commodoties and more. And frankly, the stakes have never been higher as not only will you have to show your opponents who is boss, but you’ll need to beat back an ever-encroaching barbarian horde too.
New CATAN ideas
Available right now for CATAN – Console Edition players to enjoy, the Cities & Knights expansion and the official console version of the international board game hit has been in development courtesy of Dovetail Games, with help from Nomad Games.
Cities & Knights is one of the most popular expansions among avid CATAN players, especially those who are looking for a more complex gaming experience. It has remained a firm fan favourite since its release as an expansion to the original CATAN board game back in 1998 and this new console version faithfully replicates this experience, staying true to the original.
But what’s the change?
Players must improve their cities by transforming them into burgeoning metropolises through new and essential commodities: paper, coin, and cloth. In turn, players must also rally and upgrade their knights and work to inhibit other players as they try to improve their own cities.
All of this serves to repel barbarian invasions where the size of the horde depends on the total number of cities on the board. All players must pool together the total strength of their knights for the wider defence of Catan, with the weakest player seeing their city sacked and reduced to a settlement.
CATAN has always been about playing together and pnline play utilises cross-play to ensure players can enjoy CATAN – Console Edition: Cities & Knights together with players on other consoles.
Key features of Cities & Knights
- Develop a Civilisation Cities & Knights provides players with the opportunity to develop their cities into burgeoning metropolises by introducing new commodities to the game: paper, coin, and cloth. These commodities are essential for upgrading your city’s development in three areas: trade, politics, and science. These upgrade requirements increase per level of city improvements.
- Make progress Cities & Knights lets introduces the progress card mechanic. Gather and play progress cards to give your cities an advantage. Play a ‘Master Merchant’ progress card for example to look at another player’s resource and commodity cards, who has more victory points than you, and select two to add to your own stockpile.
- Shore up your defences Build and promote your knights to defend against the barbarian horde, and work to inhibit other players as they try to improve their own cities. Continue development, and you can eventually transform your city into a metropolis, making your city immune to barbarian attack!
- Repel the barbarians When the barbarians attack, the size of their horde depends on the total number of cities on the board. Combine your knights’ strength with those of other players, but be warned, should your gallant knights fail in the defence of Catan, the weakest player will see their city sacked and reduced to a settlement.
How to get involved?
Those who are brand new to CATAN – Console Edition and want to get in on the Cities & Knights action need to be aware that, as it is an expansion, players will need to ensure they own the base game of CATAN in order to play Cities & Knights.
The base game is available right now on Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 4/5 and Nintendo Switch. From there, grab the Cities & Knights expansion from the likes of the Xbox Store for £14.99.
Cities & Knights also serves as the final piece of content that makes up the complete Season Pass. Grab that and you’ll discover this, alongside the previously released The Helpers expansion alongside three seasonal content packs – Reap & Sow: Fall Content Pack, Ice & Snow: Winter Content Pack, and Bloom & Grow: Spring Content Pack.
Let us know if you’ll be battling the hordes in CATAN – Console Edition: Cities & Knights
CATAN – Console Edition: Cities & Knights Description
Your success on Catan has brought prosperity and wealth – along with unwanted attention. A merciless barbarian horde can smell the riches and are descending on Catan’s shores. Can you still come out on top as the winning Catanian with this threat looming over the island? Will your knights be strong enough to stem the tide alone, or can you put aside your differences with other cities in the greater defence of Catan? Every decision counts and the clock is ticking.
