How to play Settler
In Settler you and up to five other players settle an island. Tiles produce resources when their number is rolled; you trade them and build roads, settlements and cities. Whoever reaches the victory point target first on their own turn wins. The game checks every rule for you, so you can learn while you play.
The island and its resources
| Tile | Produces |
|---|---|
| Forest | wood |
| Clay Hills | brick |
| Pasture | wool |
| Fields | grain |
| Mountains | ore |
| Desert | nothing (the Bandit starts here) |
Building costs
| Build | Costs | Brings |
|---|---|---|
| Road | 1 wood, 1 brick | Extends your network; counts towards Trailblazer |
| Settlement | 1 wood, 1 brick, 1 wool, 1 grain | 1 victory point, collects from up to three tiles |
| City | 2 grain, 3 ore | Replaces a settlement: 2 victory points, double yield |
| Project card | 1 wool, 1 grain, 1 ore | Knight, Road Crew, Windfall, Tribute or Landmark |
| Ship (Wide Seas) | 1 wood, 1 wool | Sails between islands |
Goal
Be the first to reach the victory point target on your own turn (the island suggests it: 8 on the small island, 10 on the medium, 12 on the large, 15 on the huge). Settlements give 1 VP, cities 2, each title 2 and each Landmark card 1.
Founding rounds
First comes the island overview: for 20 s everyone can look at the island, with its yields per resource and the founding order. It ends early once everyone has pressed “Ready to place”. Then everyone places a settlement and a road, then again in reverse order, with 120 s for each placement (Normal timers). Your second settlement pays out one card from each tile next to it.
Your turn
Roll the dice. Every tile with that yield number pays its resource to each settlement (1) and city (2) next to it. Then trade and build as often as you like, and end your turn.
Bandit raid (7)
A 7 pays nothing. Anyone holding more cards than the card limit returns half. The roller moves the Bandit to another tile, which then stops producing, and robs a neighbour of one random card.
Building
Roads extend your network. Settlements need a road of yours and an empty corner with no building on any neighbouring corner (spacing rule). A city upgrades your settlement.
Trading
On your turn, trade with other players (no gifts, no like-for-like) or with the bank at 4:1. A Free port gives 3:1, a resource port 2:1 for its resource.
Bank
An unlimited bank (the default) never runs out: every roll pays in full, Windfall always gives 2 cards and a bank trade never fails for lack of cards. The Classic bank holds 19 cards of each resource on the small and medium islands, 24 on the large and 30 on the huge. If it cannot pay everyone a resource after a roll, a single player owed it gets what is left, and with several nobody gets it; Windfall and bank trades take only what it holds. The project deck is always limited.
Project cards
Buy them for wool, grain and ore. Play at most one per turn, and never in the turn you bought it: Knight, Road Crew, Windfall or Tribute. Landmarks count on their own.
Titles
Trailblazer: the longest continuous road of at least 5. Marshal: the most played Knights, at least 3. Each is worth 2 VP and changes hands only when someone beats the holder.
5–6 players
Normal turns (the default): everyone builds, buys and trades only in their own turn, as with 3–4 players. The host may choose instead: Interim build, where after each turn everyone else may build or buy in order; or Lead + Partner, where after the Lead’s turn the player three seats along gets a short Partner turn to build, buy, play a card or trade with the bank.
Wide Seas
A Wide Seas table plays a scenario with several islands; everyone founds on the home island. A ship costs 1 wood and 1 wool and sails on an edge between two tiles, at least one of them explored sea. A ship line starts at your own settlement or city and goes on from your own ships; roads and ships join only at your own buildings. Once per turn you may move the open end of a line (not a ship built this turn, not one next to the pirate). A settlement may stand where your ship line ends, and your first settlement on a new island earns the island bonus. Gold rivers pay a resource of your choice. On a 7 or with a Knight you move the Bandit or the pirate: the pirate robs players with a ship next to it and closes the port on its tile. Fog hides tiles until a road or ship reaches them; every land tile you uncover pays you its resource. Roads and ships count together for the Trailblazer.
Crownlands (Beta)
On the large and huge islands with 3 to 6 players. Quarries give stone and fishing grounds (sea tiles with a number) give fish; fish can pay for missing grain in any cost. Build a workshop on one of your buildings for wood, brick and stone: the smithy makes tools (wood and ore), the weavery fabric (2 wool), the bakery bread (grain and fish); one of each per player, crafting in your build phase as often as you like. Goods are cards you can trade with players, never with the bank. Upgrade a city to a castle (3 stone, tools, bread: 3 VP) and a castle to a residence (2 stone, tools, fabric, 2 bread: 5 VP, yields 3 and a market with better bank rates). The Bandit never stands next to a castle or residence. The most castles and residences (at least 2) bring the Master Builder title (2 VP). New project cards: Masons' Lodge (1 tools and 1 bread), Port Charter (2:1 bank trades for the rest of your turn) and Feast (everyone holding the resource you name gives you one).
Newcomer protection
When enabled, the Bandit cannot be placed next to opponents with 2 or fewer visible victory points.
Timers
Each step has a time limit (Normal; Relaxed doubles it, Fast halves it, Off has none): founding placement 120 s plus a 60 s founding reserve once, roll 15 s (never under 10 s), returning cards 30 s, moving the Bandit 20 s, robbing 15 s, your turn 90 s plus a 30 s reserve once per game, Partner turn 45 s, interim build 20 s. The island overview takes 20 s at every setting, also with timers off. Trade offers close after 30 s, and every answer restarts that; a bot’s offer closes after 15 s at the latest, also with timers off. When time runs out, the game makes a safe move for you; after three in a row a bot plays for you until you press “I’m back”. Bots take their time like players and let each animation finish first; the table’s Bot pace (Relaxed, Normal, Fast) sets how long they think.
Glossary
Bandit: the hooded figure that blocks a tile. Port: a trading post on the coast with a better bank rate. Yield number: the number on a tile. Lead/Partner: the two players acting in a 5–6 player turn.
Tips for your first game
- Place your first settlements where good numbers meet: 6 and 8 come up most, then 5 and 9. Each settlement collects from up to three tiles.
- Spread out: a settlement on wood and brick helps you build roads early, ore and grain make cities later.
- A port changes everything once you have plenty of one resource: 3:1 at a Free port, 2:1 at a resource port.
- Cities double the yield of a settlement. They are often the fastest way to victory points in the middle of the game.
- Trade a lot. A fair offer to the others is usually better than 4:1 with the bank.
- Keep your hand small before a likely 7: anyone above the card limit loses half.