Catan: Cities & Knights Trivia Game | Board Games

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. As the title of the game suggests, knights are integral to "Catan: Cities & Knights". Which of these is NOT a type of knight used in the game?

Answer: Super Knights

The different knights are represented not only with different pictures, but also with outlining rings to represent their strength. Players have two each of the following:

The basic knight has a single ring and an open-faced helmet. It has a strength value of one.

The strong knight has two rings and a full helmet. It has a strength value of two.

The mighty knight has three rings and a full helm adorned with a glowing sun. It has a strength value of three.

2. To 'hire' a knight, one needs to expend one resource each of ore and wool. Which resource is needed to activate the knight?

Answer: Grain

It costs the same to hire a knight (ore and wool) as it does to upgrade a knight. Your first purchase is always a basic knight (although you CAN pay double to upgrade to a strong knight right away). Mighty knights cannot be upgraded to until certain city improvements have been made.

The knight tokens have two faces - on one side the knight is depicted in black and white (inactive) while on the other it is in colour (activated).

3. Once activated, knights can aid in the defense of Catan against the invading barbarian army, but that is not their only function. Which of these is NOT an action that a knight can also do?

Answer: Attack an opponent's settlement or city

"Catan: Cities & Knights" is a game of competing trade and development with the added threat of a barbarian army attack. The primary purpose of the knights is for the coordinated defense of Catan, and while the knights have other abilities, the game is not about attacking each other.

That said, the actions of displacing an opponent's knight or placing your knight at the end of your road system in such a way that it splits your opponent's road in half are not necessarily friendly moves.

In order to displace an opponent's knight (move it away from somewhere you want to build or control), your knight must be stronger.

4. The cities in "Catan: Cities & Knights" are also slightly different from "The Settlers of Catan". They still produce twice as much as a settlement, but some resource tiles will also produce a commodity. Which of these resource / commodity pairings does not exist?

Answer: Brick / pottery

As in "The Settlers of Catan", a settlement produces one resource of the type of terrain hex it is adjacent to (when the number on that tile rolls). A city, however, acts differently for three of the resource types in "Catan: Cities and Knights". Grain and brick act the same, simply producing two resources when accessed through the adjacent city.

The other three terrains, however, will produce one resource and one commodity. With one lumber you get one paper, with one ore you also get one coin, and with one wool you also get one cloth.

5. Three large, flat square pieces are available to purchase - they are city walls and each one will increase the number of cards you can safely hold in your hand by two. What resources and/or commodities are needed to construct a city wall?

Answer: Two bricks

The city wall is a lovely addition to the game, and while it is not advantageous in terms of victory points, the protection it offers for your hand of cards can be invaluable. The difficulty lies in when someone rolls a seven. When that happens, if you have more than seven cards in your hand, you must return half of them to the bank. For every city wall you build, that number increases by two, so if you have built all three city walls, you can safely hold 13 cards in your hand when someone rolls a seven.

It may not translate directly to victory points, but just getting to keep your resources and build something instead of just wasting them might just make the difference for victory or defeat.

6. Instead of having Development Cards that can be purchased (in "The Settlers of Catan"), the "Catan: Cities & Knights" game has Progress Cards. These cannot be bought, but must be earned by upgrading buildings within your city with commodities. There are three types of Progress Cards - which of these is NOT one of them?

Answer: Religion

The first time you upgrade one of the areas it costs one commodity (coin for politics, paper for science, and cloth for trade). Each upgrade after that costs one more commodity, with a total of five upgrades possible.

Once you have made your third upgrade, a bonus ability becomes available for use. For politics, you will finally be able to upgrade knights to the level of mighty knight. For science, you will have the ability to take a free resource from the bank if the dice roll a number that you receive no production on. With trade, you will receive the ability to trade commodities to the bank (for other resources or commodities) at a rate of 2:1 (instead of the normal 4:1).

7. Whether or not you have a chance in receiving a Progress Card is not only based on your city improvements, but also on the roll of the event die. Each of the three types of Progress Cards is represented on a face of the die - what is represented on the other three faces?

Answer: A black ship

With half of the six sides of the event die consisting of the black ship (representing the barbarians), it rolls this event roughly 50% of the time. When it does, a black ship token moves one space closer to shore and the inevitable barbarian army attack (that you need your activated knights to defend against). It only takes the black ship being rolled seven times for the barbarians to land, so it is important to be ready with your knights.

Once the barbarian ship lands, it goes back to the beginning of its tile for another advance towards land, and the next attack.

8. Once you have made four city improvements within one of the types of progress, you can earn a metropolis (worth two victory points), if you are the first person to reach that milestone. Once earned, the metropolis cannot be lost.

Answer: False

There are three metropolises available in the game, one for each of the Progress upgrades (Politics, Science, and Trade). The first person to reach the fourth upgrade in each of those areas earns the metropolis (and two victory points), but it only becomes permanent once that person also upgrades to level five. If someone else reaches the fifth upgrade before them, they lose the metropolis.

In addition to being worth two victory points, the metropolis also has the benefit of making your city impervious to the barbarian attack.

9. "The Settlers of Catan" had 'The Longest Road' and 'The Largest Army' that you could earn for two victory points. Which one of these is not in play in "Catan: Cities & Knights"?

Answer: The Largest Army

Because of the role of knights in "Catan: Cities & Knights", there are no 'soldier' cards in any of the Progress Card decks. In "The Settlers of Catan" a large number on 'soldier' cards were available in the Development Card deck, and when one person played three of them, they earned 'The Largest Army'.

An equivalence to 'The Largest Army' comes for the player that has the most active knights when the players successfully defend Catan against the barbarian attack. If one person stands above the rest in number of activated knights when that happens, they earn a 'Defender of Catan' card, worth one victory point. This is available every time the barbarians attack (there are six available).

If more than one person has the same highest number of activated knights, then instead of each earning a 'Defender of Catan' card, they each get to draw a free card from one of the Progress Card piles.

10. There is another piece in the game that is only found in "Catan: Cities & Knights" - it is a purple cone. Called 'The Merchant', it allows you to choose a resource that you can trade at a rate of 2:1. While you control it, how many victory points is it worth to you?

Answer: One

Having the ability to trade multiples of resources that you have an abundance in can be a terrific advantage in "Catan: Cities & Knights". Competition becomes fierce for control of the merchant during the game, and oftentimes the playing of 'The Merchant' card (found in the Trade Progress Card deck) gives the player that last victory point needed to win the game.

This is also another difference between the base game and "Catan: Cities & Knights". This version requires 13 points to win, while "The Settlers of Catan" only needs 10. Apart from the other ways mentioned in this game, points are received by having settlements (one VP), and cities (two VPs). There are also Progress Cards worth one VP (one each in the Politics and Science decks).

Source: Author reedy

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor WesleyCrusher before going online.
Any errors found in FunTrivia content are routinely corrected through our feedback system.

Catan: Cities & Knights Trivia Quiz

"Catan: Cities & Knights" is an expansion of the base game "The Settlers of Catan". Here are a few questions specific only to aspects of the expansion that are different from the base game. Enjoy!

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