Spicy expansion on Catan, in which players deploy knights to protect the island against invading barbarians and develop their cities into metropolises. A copy of the base game is required to use this set. It is also possible to combine Cities and Knights with The Mariners of Catan.

Cities and Knights now also has new artwork and playing pieces for even more gaming experience! This expansion set can only be combined with the latest edition of the base game (the 2012 edition with the plastic parts).

In Cities and Knights you start with a city instead of a village. The game features commodities such as coins and paper, which you get when a number is rolled to your city. You need these commodities to expand your cities in three areas to higher levels, with the ultimate goal of creating a metropolis worth no less than 4 points. Just like in the basic game, you roll the dice at the start of your turn, but now a symbol die is added. This determines whether you earn a development card or whether the barbarian ship comes closer.

When the barbarian ship arrives on the island, the players must defend themselves with knights. Knights cost 1 ore and 1 wool and must be activated with a grain. Anyone who does not arm themselves properly can easily lose a city to the barbarians. However, if you have the most activated knights, you will be declared the savior of Catan and rewarded with a point. To win Cities & Knights, you have to collect 13 points.

Cities & Knights is an exciting expansion to the base game that requires more strategy and planning. It makes the game a little more complex, but you get a lot of fun in return.