Catan vs. Checkers
Comparing 2 standards across 19 specifications. 19 key differences identified.
Catan (The Settlers of Catan) is an economic resource management board game designed by Klaus Teuber. Players roll two dice to harvest resources across 19 terrain hexes, building roads, settlements, and cities to reach 10 Victory Points. Rolling a 7 activates the Robber, forcing any player holding more than 7 resource cards to discard half (rounded down).
Checkers (American Checkers / English Draughts) is a two-player strategy game played on the 32 dark squares of an 8×8 board with 12 pieces per player. Official standards mandate that jumping/capturing is compulsory, pieces move forward diagonally, and reaching the back rank crowns a King, granting backward movement capabilities.
Specification Comparison Table
19 Parameters| Parameter / Spec | ||
|---|---|---|
|
Governing Publisher
|
Catan Studio / KOSMOS | — |
|
Base Game Player Count
|
3 to 4 players | — |
|
Victory Target
|
10 Victory Points (VP) | — |
|
Total Terrain Hexes
|
19 hexes (4 Forest, 4 Pasture, 4 Field, 3 Hill, 3 Mountain, 1 Desert) | — |
|
Settlements Per Player
|
5 wooden settlements (1 VP each) | — |
|
Cities Per Player
|
4 wooden cities (2 VP each) | — |
|
Roads Per Player
|
15 wooden roads | — |
|
Robber Discard Threshold
|
More than 7 cards (8+) lose half, rounded down | — |
|
Longest Road Threshold
|
5 continuous roads minimum awards 2 VP | — |
|
Largest Army Threshold
|
3 Knight cards minimum awards 2 VP | — |
|
Base Bank Trade Ratio
|
4:1 four identical resources for any one | — |
|
Governing Body
|
— | WCDF / ACF |
|
American Board Size
|
— | 8 × 8 (32 playable dark squares) 12 pieces per player |
|
International Board Size
|
— | 10 × 10 (50 playable dark squares) 20 pieces per player |
|
Mandatory Capture Rule
|
— | Compulsory (Must Jump) WCDF tournament standard |
|
Multiple Jump Rule
|
— | Must continue jumping in sequence if available |
|
King Crowning Rank
|
— | Opponent's baseline (Row 8 / Row 1) Turn ends on crowning |
|
American King Movement
|
— | 1 square diagonally forward or backward |
|
International Flying King
|
— | Moves/jumps any distance along diagonal 10×10 International only |