Play proceeds clockwise. On your turn you always roll, optionally trade, and then build — in that order.
Every turn:
- Roll both dice. Every player (including you) collects one resource card per settlement adjacent to a hex whose number matches the roll, or two cards per city on the same hex. The robber blocks the hex it occupies — no one collects from it.
- If you roll a 7, no one produces. Instead, any player holding more than 7 resource cards discards half (rounded down), and you move the robber to any hex, then steal one random card from a player who has a settlement or city next to it.
- Trade before or after building: negotiate any deal with other players, trade 4:1 with the bank, or use a harbor you occupy for a 3:1 generic rate — or 2:1 for the harbor's specific resource.
- Build by spending resources: a road costs 1 brick + 1 lumber; a settlement costs 1 each of brick, lumber, wool, and grain; a city (upgrading a settlement) costs 2 grain + 3 ore; a development card costs 1 wool + 1 grain + 1 ore.
- You may play one development card per turn. A Knight is the only card you can play before you roll; all other development cards must be played after rolling. Road Building lets you place two free roads; Year of Plenty gives you any two resources from the bank; Monopoly lets you name a resource and take all cards of that type from every other player. Knights move the robber and count toward Largest Army.
Major expansions such as Seafarers and Cities & Knights add new modules and mechanics, but they all run on top of this same roll-trade-build core.
