Scoring

How tournament scoring works

Public tournaments

CATAN Championship 2025-2026 - scoring and stages

Wins, total VP (maximum 10 per game), sum of VP percentages, second-place finishes, then third-place finishes. Three-player tables add the mean VP rounded to the nearest whole point, with halves rounded up. Remaining ties use a stored random draw, unchanged by refreshes or settings saves.

Qualification and elimination stages

The active player count at round 1 determines the schedule. At least 12 players are required.

12-28 Players

Preliminary: 3 games

Advancement: Top 4 go directly to the final.

29-79 Players

Preliminary: 3 games

Advancement: Top 16 enter four semifinals. Each table winner reaches the final.

80+ Players

Preliminary: 4 games; players without a win after game 3 do not play game 4.

Advancement: Top 16 after game 4 enter four semifinals. Each table winner reaches the final.

From registration to champion

  1. Register the players before generating round 1. This locks the field and format; later registrations do not join the championship.
  2. Record every table result with one winner of at least 10 VP, then generate the next round. The app selects qualifiers and assigns their tables. Advancement requires this organizer action; it does not start automatically when the last score is saved. Earlier results lock when the next round is generated.
  3. Record the final results to determine the champion and final standings. Finalists occupy places 1-4, followed by semifinalists when present, then the remaining preliminary players.
At the tables: organizer and judge responsibilities
  • Check preliminary seating for repeated opponents, play-order rotation and friends/family conflicts. Scheduling prioritizes these in that order but cannot guarantee all preferences. For game 4 and knockout games, record the players' play-order choices in ranking order before starting.
  • Use one shared board per round and choose a new board for the next round. Run the map-study, placement and any turn timers separately; the app does not automate these phase timers or a per-player time bank.
  • Confirm scores and resolve disputes, withdrawals and conduct issues. An inactive qualifier blocks knockout advancement; the app does not choose a replacement. Resolve corrections before generating the next round.

Standard single-event championship workflow (section 1.1). The multiple-preliminary-session variant (section 1.2) is not supported. This preset is not official certification; organizers remain responsible for the full published rules.

Finalists rank first, followed by semifinalists and remaining preliminary players. Knockout table place comes first within each stage; ties use cumulative VP, percentage, second places, third places, then the stored draw.

Official tournament rules

Custom scoring rules

The result form calculates each player's game VP first, then converts the table order into round points used by the tournament standings.

Game victory points

  • Each settlement is worth 1 VP, up to 5 settlements. A player with no cities must have at least 2 settlements.
  • Each city is worth 2 VP, up to 4 cities.
  • Each victory point development card is worth 1 VP, up to 5 per player and 5 across the whole table.
  • Largest Army is worth 2 VP and requires at least 3 played knights. Played knights are limited to 14 across the table.
  • Longest Road is worth 2 VP and requires a road length of at least 5. A player can build 2 to 15 roads, and the longest-road value cannot exceed roads built.

Largest Army and Longest Road ties

The qualifying player with the highest value receives the bonus. If qualified players are tied, mark exactly one player as the person who claimed that title first; that player keeps the 2 VP bonus. A later player must exceed the current holder's value to take the title.

Claimed victory

Normally, players are ordered by total game VP. The claimed-victory override becomes available only when at least two players have 10 or more VP. In that case, the eligible player who actually claimed victory is placed first even when another player has more total VP. Exactly one eligible player must be marked as the claimant.

Round points

  • Four-player table: 1st = 5, 2nd = 3, 3rd = 2, 4th = 1.
  • Three-player table: 1st = 5, 2nd = 3, 3rd = 2.

These round points are separate from the game VP recorded at the table.

Tied places

When players tie on game VP, the round points for all tied positions are added and divided equally. For example, two players tied for second at a four-player table split 3 + 2 and receive 2.5 round points each.

Tournament standings and ranking priority

The organizer chooses the ranking criteria and their order when creating a tournament or in Tournament settings. Check the event's standings for its active rules; the order is not fixed for every tournament.

The default priority is total round points, total game VP, percentage, then wins. Each selected criterion ranks highest first. A win is a recorded first-place result. Organizers can reorder the criteria or leave criteria unused, but must select at least one. Unused criteria do not break ties. Remaining ties use player name alphabetically, then player ID for a stable order.

Virtual fourth score at three-player tables

The virtual-player option is enabled by default and can be disabled for each tournament. At a three-player table with all three distinct player results recorded, it adds the average of their VP, rounded up to a whole VP, to the table total used for percentages. It does not create a player, change anyone's game VP or round points, or award a win. Four-player tables, including those with a missing result, do not receive this adjustment.

Example: scores of 10, 7 and 5 total 22 VP. With the option enabled, the virtual score is ceil(22 / 3) = 8 VP and the adjusted table total is 30. The 10-VP player's share is 10 / 30 x 100 = 33.333...%. With the option disabled, the table total is 22 and the share is 45.454...%.

Percentage across rounds

For each recorded round, the share is the player's VP divided by that table's VP total, multiplied by 100. The tournament percentage is the sum of these unrounded shares, not their average and not the ratio of accumulated player VP to accumulated table VP. It can exceed 100%. A zero table total contributes 0%. The final displayed sum is truncated to three decimal places; ranking uses the untruncated value, so equal displayed percentages can still rank differently.

Reading standings and changing settings

Compact and Detailed views use the same scoring. Detailed view separates each round's table, round points, player VP and table VP. Table totals include virtual VP only when enabled; unplayed rounds do not contribute. The 3P badge marks a recorded result at a three-player table even when virtual scoring is disabled.

Changing the scoring settings recalculates normal and kiosk standings, exports and future standings-based pairings. It does not rewrite saved scores or move players at already generated tables. Compact or Detailed changes presentation only.