The island field guide
A little know-how.
A better game night.
Learn the rules. Find your opening. Make a deal worth taking. Catan and Colonist strategy resources, plus practical Archipelago guides to read before your next turn.
Prefer to learn by playing? ↗Interactive opening notebook
Which starting pair supports your plan? ↗
Compare expected resource production and number coverage. Edit the terrain, explore worked examples and see the maths behind each result.
Catan & Colonist strategy
Independent strategy resources from Archipelago: worked decisions, sources and clear game-by-game differences.
Catan strategy
Catan strategy for beginners: make a plan that can change
A practical beginner strategy for Catan: choose a workable opening, plan your next build, evaluate trades and recognise when to change direction.
Catan strategy
Catan starting settlements: compare the pair, not just the pips
Choose starting settlements in Catan by comparing production, resource gaps, number coverage and expansion. Includes a worked opening comparison and calculator.
Catan strategy
Catan strategy: ore–wheat–sheep or wood–brick?
Compare Catan’s city-and-development-card plan with road-and-settlement expansion. Learn when each opening works and how to recognise its bottleneck.
Catan strategy
Catan cities versus settlements: what should you build next?
Compare a city upgrade with a new Catan settlement using marginal production, road costs, resource access and contested space. Includes a worked example.
Catan strategy
Catan trading strategy: judge the next move on both sides
Make better Catan trades by comparing completed builds, timing, alternatives and opponent progress. Worked examples explain why a fair exchange can still be a bad deal.
Colonist strategy
Colonist strategy: what changes from four players to 1v1?
Compare Colonist four-player and documented ranked 1v1 strategy: self-sufficient openings, denial, ports, score planning and balanced-dice assumptions.
Rules and reference
Understand the board, legal moves, cards and scoring.
Start here
How to play Archipelago
Learn Archipelago’s island trading rules: starting settlements, resources, building costs, the robber and the race to ten points.
Rules and reference
Archipelago resources and terrain explained
Match wood, brick, wool, grain and ore to terrain, then learn how settlement position, cities and the robber affect resource production.
Rules and reference
Archipelago turn order: setup, rolls and actions
Follow a standard Archipelago turn from opening placements through dice, mandatory choices, trading, building and ending your turn.
Rules and reference
The settlement distance rule in Archipelago
Find out why a settlement location is blocked: adjacent buildings, road connection, setup exceptions and the five-settlement piece limit.
Rules and reference
Road placement and blocking rules in Archipelago
Learn where roads can connect, how an opponent’s settlement blocks a route, and why branch length differs from the number of roads you own.
Rules and reference
Archipelago development cards: types, costs and timing
A standard-deck reference for Knights, victory points, Road Building, Year of Plenty and Monopoly, including purchase cost and play restrictions.
Rules and reference
How to use a Knight card in Archipelago
Use a Knight to move the robber, protect production and build toward Largest Army. Learn timing, theft eligibility and the difference from rolling seven.
Rules and reference
Year of Plenty: choosing two resources in Archipelago
Use Year of Plenty to complete a build with two available bank cards. Understand same-resource choices, bank shortages and development-card timing.
Rules and reference
Road Building card rules in Archipelago
Place up to two free roads with Road Building while respecting connections, opponent blocks and piece limits. Plan both edges before playing.
Rules and reference
Archipelago robber rules: blocking, moving and stealing
Understand when the robber moves, which tile stops producing, who can be robbed and why a Knight does not trigger discards.
Rules and reference
Why did my tile not pay? Archipelago bank shortages
Diagnose missing resource production using the robber, matching numbers, finite bank supply and the special case for a single receiving player.
Rules and reference
Longest Road rules and strategy in Archipelago
Understand the five-road minimum, two-point award, tie rules, branches and interrupted routes when competing for Longest Road.
Rules and reference
Largest Army rules in Archipelago
Learn how three played Knights can earn Largest Army, why unplayed cards do not count, and how ties and two-point transfers work.
Rules and reference
How victory points work in Archipelago
Count settlements, cities, hidden cards and two-point awards correctly, including net city upgrades and the standard ten-point win condition.
Know the odds
Dice odds in Archipelago: random and balanced rolls
See the odds for totals 2–12 and understand Archipelago’s balanced dice: 24 draws from 36 outcomes, changing next-roll odds and a fresh reset.
Build a better plan
Make useful openings, trades and decisions all the way to the finish.
Build a plan
Starting settlement strategy in Archipelago
Choose better starting settlements by weighing dice numbers, resource coverage, expansion space and the cards from your second placement.
Make a deal
Resource trading strategy: players, bank and ports
Understand Archipelago’s player trades and 4:1, 3:1 and 2:1 exchanges, with examples of when a deal helps your next build.
Strategy
City or settlement: which should you build next?
Compare city upgrades with new settlements in Archipelago using resource costs, production, expansion space and point gain.
Strategy
Monopoly card strategy in Archipelago
Learn what Monopoly collects, when it can be played, and how public production and spending can help you choose a resource without knowing hidden hands.
Strategy
What to discard when seven is rolled in Archipelago
Check the more-than-seven threshold, rounded-down discard count and a practical way to keep cards for your next build.
Strategy
When is a port worth it in Archipelago?
Evaluate general and specialist ports by surplus production, road costs and the resources you need, with a worked wood-port example.
Strategy
Resource diversity versus production in Archipelago
Balance access to all five resources with stronger production, useful build combinations and the trade routes that cover a missing resource.
Strategy
Number diversity: spreading production across dice totals
Compare concentrated and spread-out number coverage in Archipelago without confusing expected cards, payout frequency or balanced next-roll odds.
Strategy
A wood-and-brick expansion strategy for Archipelago
Turn road production into settlements by planning grain, wool, legal destinations and piece limits instead of building roads without a purpose.
Strategy
An ore-and-grain city strategy for Archipelago
Build an Archipelago economy around city upgrades and development cards while managing blocked production, limited space and missing resources.
Strategy
Common Archipelago beginner mistakes and how to fix them
Avoid dead-end roads, unusable resource piles, incorrect trade assumptions and miscounted points during your first Archipelago games.
Strategy
How to learn from an Archipelago game replay
Review opening placements, resource bottlenecks and turning-point trades in Archipelago replays without judging decisions only by later dice rolls.
Get a game going
Practise the basics and bring your friends to the same table.
Game night
Play an island trading game online with friends
Set up an Archipelago game night in your browser: host a table, share its invite, check the island and get everyone ready to play.
Game night
How to practise Archipelago against bots
Use a standard practice game with three bots to learn setup, trades, cards and scoring, with a focused exercise and review checklist.
Game night
An Archipelago game-night checklist for hosts
Prepare an online Archipelago table: choose the standard rules, share the correct invite, help beginners and make room for a post-game recap.