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Ready to Play: The Desert Raiders Game Rules
Hey there! So you’re interested in playing the Desert Raiders game, huh? Well, you’ve come to the right place! I’m here to give you the lowdown on how to play this exciting game.
Objective:
Your goal in Desert Raiders is to have the most points at the end of the game. You earn points by collecting treasures, avoiding traps, and outwitting your opponents. The player with the highest score wins!
Setup:
First things first, let’s set up the game. You’ll need a game board, game pieces, treasure cards, trap cards, and event cards. Each player chooses a game piece and places it on the starting space. Shuffle the treasure, trap, and event cards separately and place them face-down beside the game board.
Gameplay:
Now, it’s time to start playing! The starting player takes their turn and play proceeds clockwise. On your turn, you’ll take the following steps:
- Roll the dice: Roll the dice to determine how many spaces you can move your game piece. Use the number rolled to move your game piece along the path on the game board.
- Encounter a space: When you land on a space, follow the instructions on that space. It could be finding treasure, falling into a trap, or triggering an event. Good luck!
- Draw cards: If you find treasure, trap, or event cards, draw from the respective deck. Follow the instructions on the card and hold onto them. They can be used later to help you or hinder your opponents.
- Strategy time: After completing your turn, you can strategize and plan for your next move. Think about your opponents’ positions and use your cards wisely to gain an advantage.
End of the Game:
The game ends when all players have reached the finish space on the game board. Take into account the points you’ve earned from treasures and any additional bonuses provided by event cards. The player with the highest score is crowned the winner!
So, are you ready to embark on an adventurous journey through the desert? Follow these rules, make clever moves, and may the best desert raider win. Good luck!
What you’ll need: The Settlers of Catan, The Seafarers of Catan, and a few extra components listed below.
The Goal
My mission is to establish settlements on the mainland and nearby islands of Catan.
However, there’s a twist. The wicked Desert Raiders are a constant threat, taking over our structures and stealing our precious resources every time we construct a new settlement or city.
Getting Started
Here’s how to set up the game:
Arrange the board just like the picture. The specific illustration you use will depend on how many people are playing.
The upper island, which has several Desert hexes, is our Home Island. It’s where we have to place our two starting settlements. But here’s the catch: each player must put their first Settlement on a coast and connect it to a Ship instead of a Road.
In this scenario, you won’t find any robbers or pirates. Instead, something different happens when a “7” is rolled. If you have more than seven resources, you’ll need to discard half of them. And here’s the twist – the player who rolled the “7” gets to take one random card from any other player!
Another change in this scenario is that the “Largest Army” victory point card isn’t used.
Now let’s talk about the Desert Raiders. They’re not on the main playing area but set up separately. The number of Raiders depends on the number of players:
- If there are three or four players, there will be 18 Desert Raiders.
- If there are five or six players, there will be 24 Desert Raiders.
There are also some special rules to keep in mind:
Hey there! So, here’s the deal. Whenever you build a Settlement or a City in the game, you gotta put some Desert Raiders on one of the mainland Desert hexes. The number of Raiders you put depends on how many players there are. If there are four or six players, you put 2 Raiders, and if there are three or five players, you put 3 Raiders.
Now, the Raiders have to be placed right in the middle of those Desert hexes, not on the corners or edges. Cool, got it? Now, once you’ve placed all the Desert Raiders, get ready for the “Storm of the Desert Raiders”! It’s gonna be wild!
So, here’s what happens: Every time we roll the dice for production, we check if the Desert Raiders start attacking. If the number rolled matches the number of a hex next to another hex with a Desert Raider, guess what? Yep, the Raiders attack!
You gotta take one of the Desert Raiders from any Desert hex and move it onto the hex that you rolled. It’s all about strategy and dealing with those Raiders, my friend. Good luck out there!
So, here’s the deal: when we’re talking about Desert Raiders, they’re basically these units that get put in certain locations on the board. You know, like if the dice roll reveals a hex that’s next to a desert hex, or if it’s next to a non-desert hex that already has a Desert Raider in it. In those cases, boom, a Desert Raider pops up in that hex.
Imagine this: You roll a three. The Brick hex with the number three is next to a land hex with a Desert Raider. Guess what happens? A Desert Raider is placed on the Brick hex from one of the Deserts. But hey, don’t worry, the Wool hex with the number three stays the same because it doesn’t border a hex with a Desert Raider.
What Happens When We Conquer?
A Desert Raider has some consequences when it comes to resource production. It acts just like the Robber – adjacent Cities and Settlements don’t produce resources anymore when the hex they’re on is rolled. However, on the turn that the Desert Raider is first placed in a hex, that hex still produces resources. So, it’s not a complete shutdown.
Now let’s talk about roads. If a road lies between two hexes covered by Desert Raiders, it gets rotated 90 degrees. Basically, those roads are cancelled out. Poof!
When Desert Raiders encircle a City or Settlement, they trap it in such a way that resources cannot be collected from any neighboring land hexes. The Raiders then seize control of the structure by tilting it on its side. As a result, the City or Settlement no longer adds to victory point totals.
If the Desert Raiders capture a player’s coastal City or Settlement that borders a harbor, the harbor becomes unusable.
It is possible to add Ships to existing shipping lines that originate from a coastal Settlement, even after the Desert Raiders take over that settlement.
Remember, Desert Raiders cannot be placed on Water hexes.
Each Land hex can only have one Desert Raider.
Escape to the Neighboring Islands
To succeed in this situation, you need to establish a shipping line to the other islands before the Desert Raiders attack. On these neighboring islands, you will encounter two new types of terrain: Volcanoes and Jungles.
Volcanoes: You should follow the rules outlined in the “Volcano” scenario, but with a small change. Instead of receiving “gold” when the volcano erupts, settlements bordering the volcano will receive a Grain (or 2 for bordering cities).
Jungles: For the “Jungle” scenario, simply follow the existing rules without any modifications.
The Desert Raiders’ Retreat: There is a way to obstruct the invasion of the Desert Raiders. When you play a Soldier card, you have the opportunity to remove one Desert Raider from a Land hex of your choice and place it in front of you. The Soldier card will then be discarded.
If I remove a Desert Raider from a hex next to a cancelled Road, the Road will turn 90 degrees and become active again.
If I remove a Desert Raider from a hex next to a Settlement or City that the Desert Raiders have taken over, the piece will be placed upright and become active again.
As long as there are Desert Raiders remaining on the starting Desert hexes, another Desert Raider can reclaim a hex that has been freed by a Soldier if its number is rolled on the dice.
End of the Game
The game is won by the first player who earns 13 Victory points on their turn.
Components and Scenario Maps
The Desert Raiders game is designed for three or four players.
Components: The basic game and the Seafarer expansion.
To play the game, “Desert Raiders,” you need a few extra components. Specifically, you’ll need 18 Desert Raider pawns, 8 Number Tiles (3,4,5,6,8,9,10,11), 2 Volcano hexes, 3 Jungle hexes, and Discovery tokens.
Hexes
Let’s talk about hexes. Hexes are the building blocks of the game. They are hexagonal tiles that represent different types of terrain. Now, let me break it down for you. The game board is made up of several types of hexes, each with its own unique characteristics. We have Sea hexes, Desert hexes, Gold Fields hexes, Hills hexes, Mountain hexes, Forest hexes, Pasture hexes, Volcano hexes, and Jungle hexes. Each of these hexes has a specific number associated with it, which indicates how often that number will be rolled. Let’s take a look at the numbers:
| 17 | 4 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 53 |
Number Chits
Now let’s move on to number chits. These are the little tiles that represent the numbers that can be rolled on the dice. There are different numbers, ranging from 2 to 12. Each number chit has a certain number of tiles associated with it, indicating how often that number will be rolled. Take a look:
| 1 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 32 |
Oh, and before I forget, let me tell you about the ports. There are a total of 10 ports in the game. Some of them are special ports that offer unique advantages, while others are regular “3:1” ports. Keep an eye out for these ports, as they can be quite valuable!
The Desert Raiders for five or six players
If you’re playing with five or six players, you’ll need some additional components. In addition to the basic game and the Seafarer expansion, you’ll also need the 5/6 Player Expansion. Here’s a list of the extra components you’ll need:
- 26 Desert Raider pawns
- 8 Number tiles (3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11)
- 3 Volcano hexes
- 3 Jungle hexes
- Discovery tokens
Make sure you have all these components ready before you start the game. Trust me, you won’t want to be missing anything when the adventure begins!
Hexes
| Sea | Desert | Gold Fields | Hills | Mountains | Forest | Pasture | Volcano | Jungle | Total | |
| 19 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 3 | 3 | 67 |
Number Chits
| 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | Total |
| 1 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 32 |
Number of Ports: 11 (5 Special Ports + 6 “3:1” Ports)
Hey, did you know that in the game “Settlers of Catan,” there are different types of land that you can settle on? These lands are called hexes, and they each provide different resources, which you can use to build and grow your settlements. Let me break it down for you.
First, we have the Sea hex, which doesn’t provide any resources, but it’s essential for trading with other players. Then, we have the Desert hex, which also doesn’t provide any resources, but it can be a strategic location for your settlements.
Next up, we have the Gold Fields hex, which provides gold resources, the Hills hex, which provides hills resources, and the Mountains hex, which provides mountains resources. These resources are crucial for building roads, settlements, and cities.
We also have the Forest hex, which provides forest resources, the Pasture hex, which provides pasture resources, and the Volcano hex, which provides volcano resources. These resources are vital for developing your settlements and growing your civilization.
Lastly, we have the Jungle hex, which provides jungle resources. These resources are unique and can give you an advantage in the game.
In total, there are 67 hexes on the Catan board, each with its own resources to offer. It’s important to strategize and choose your settlements wisely to make the most out of the resources available.
Apart from the hexes, there are also number chits in the game. These chits represent the probability of rolling a specific number on the dice. The number chits range from 2 to 12, with varying probabilities. For example, the number 2 and 12 have a lower probability of being rolled compared to the number 6 and 8.
Additionally, there are ports in the game that allow you to trade resources more efficiently. There are a total of 11 ports, including 5 special ports and 6 “3:1” ports. These ports can be advantageous when it comes to acquiring the resources you need to expand your settlements.
So, as you embark on your journey in the game of Catan, keep in mind the different hexes, number chits, and ports available to you. With a strategic approach and a bit of luck, you can build a prosperous civilization and emerge as the ultimate settler of Catan. Good luck!