Through the Desert + Cities & Knights

What you need

CATAN, Seafarers, and Cities & Knights. Gather the Through the Desert frame and three-desert setup, its land/sea/harbor/pirate pieces and VP supply, plus the C&K barbarian-track frame, cards, boards, cubes, walls, knights, 6 VP tokens, barbarian ship, merchant, and event die.

• Players: 3 or 4.
• Required games: CATAN + Seafarers + Cities & Knights.
• Generator mode: randomized / variable board.
• 3 players: the Through the Desert 25-land + 10-sea board with 22 discs, 8 active harbors, and 24 VP tokens, plus 1 C&K board, 3 cubes, 3 walls, and 6 knights per player.
• 4 players: the Through the Desert 30-land + 12-sea board with 27 discs, 9 active harbors, and 32 VP tokens, plus the same per-player C&K additions and fourth-player supplies.
• Published target: 16 VP.

Before you generate

The generator creates a randomized Through the Desert board with its fixed desert strip, sea, harbor edges, and smaller-region footprints, varying the published main and unexplored contents, then adds the Cities & Knights track and starting pieces. Choose 3 or 4 players before generating.

Set up the table

1. Use Configure this setup above. It opens the 4-player variable selection by default; choose 3 players when needed, then generate.
2. Use the Cities & Knights barbarian-track frame, place the three fixed desert hexes and the generated Through the Desert board, then gather both games’ supplies.
3. Put the barbarian ship on the first track space, the robber beside the final space, and the pirate on the final track space. After the first barbarian attack, use the scenario rule for the pirate’s destination.
4. On the main island, place each player’s first settlement with a road or legal coastal ship, followed by a city with a road or legal coastal ship; take starting resources from the city, with Through the Desert starting placement restricted to that island.

Combination notes

The Through the Desert board combined with the verified Cities & Knights setup.

• The published target is 16 VP for this combination. Keep the three deserts unnumbered and follow the scenario rules for crossing and Cities & Knights play.

Source reference

CATAN — Cities & Knights Rules, 2025 sixth edition, pages 2–5 and 12; CATAN — Seafarers Rulebook, 2025 sixth edition, pages 10–11.