Backgammon vs. Catan
Comparing 2 standards across 20 specifications. 20 key differences identified.
Backgammon is a two-player racing and strategy board game played on a 24-point board with 15 checkers per player and a doubling cube. Players move checkers around the board based on dice rolls to bear them off. Official World Backgammon Federation (WBF) rules govern doubling cube progression (2 to 64), re-entry from the bar, and Gammon (2x) vs Backgammon (3x) victory multipliers.
Catan (The Settlers of Catan) is an economic resource management board game designed by Klaus Teuber. Players roll two dice to harvest resources across 19 terrain hexes, building roads, settlements, and cities to reach 10 Victory Points. Rolling a 7 activates the Robber, forcing any player holding more than 7 resource cards to discard half (rounded down).
Specification Comparison Table
20 Parameters| Parameter / Spec | ||
|---|---|---|
|
Governing Body
|
World Backgammon Federation (WBF) | — |
|
Board Structure
|
24 triangular points (pips) divided into 4 quadrants | — |
|
Checkers Per Player
|
15 checkers (Black vs White) | — |
|
Doubling Cube Values
|
2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64 wager multiplier | — |
|
Blot Rule
|
Single isolated checker on a point can be hit and sent to bar | — |
|
Bearing Off Prerequisite
|
All 15 checkers inside Home Board points 1 through 6 | — |
|
Single Win Payout
|
1 × Stake loser bore off at least 1 checker | — |
|
Gammon Payout
|
2 × Stake loser bore off 0 checkers | — |
|
Backgammon Payout
|
3 × Stake loser bore off 0 checkers and has checker on bar/opponent home | — |
|
Governing Publisher
|
— | Catan Studio / KOSMOS |
|
Base Game Player Count
|
— | 3 to 4 players |
|
Victory Target
|
— | 10 Victory Points (VP) |
|
Total Terrain Hexes
|
— | 19 hexes (4 Forest, 4 Pasture, 4 Field, 3 Hill, 3 Mountain, 1 Desert) |
|
Settlements Per Player
|
— | 5 wooden settlements (1 VP each) |
|
Cities Per Player
|
— | 4 wooden cities (2 VP each) |
|
Roads Per Player
|
— | 15 wooden roads |
|
Robber Discard Threshold
|
— | More than 7 cards (8+) lose half, rounded down |
|
Longest Road Threshold
|
— | 5 continuous roads minimum awards 2 VP |
|
Largest Army Threshold
|
— | 3 Knight cards minimum awards 2 VP |
|
Base Bank Trade Ratio
|
— | 4:1 four identical resources for any one |