What the book suggests
The beginner picture arranges mountains, pastures, forests, fields, hills, and the single desert exactly as shown, then drops number tokens in the matching order so wheat-and-ore cities still feel satisfying without anyone touching tiles first.
First settlement ideas
- Touch three different goods so trades are easier later.
- Grab at least one six or eight if you can without giving up diversity.
- Keep an eye on ore and grain if you want to double houses into cities.
- Glance at harbors—sometimes one step toward the coast buys a long-term trade engine.
Common first-night mistakes
- Both houses hugging the same resource—you will stall when the dice wander.
- Skipping brick and wood—roads cannot appear without them.
- Dropping the robber on a random color—aim at whoever is clearly ahead.
- Roads with no plan—aim each segment toward a new intersection or port.
When you are ready to shuffle
Switch to fair mode on the home page for random terrain that still avoids touching sixes and eights, or share a link so every table copies the same island during a teach night.