Host Frequently-Asked Questions
Thank you for your interest in hosting a CATAN® National Qualifier Tournament.
Here are some answers to frequently-asked questions!
Last revised: July 2024
Every year, players worldwide compete in their country’s CATAN National Championship. Formats vary, but in the United States, Canada, and the UK, players will face off against other Local Qualifier winners to become the year’s National Champion. Please see your country’s home page for details on country formats.
Every two years, National Champions are sent to the CATAN World Championship. The next World Championship will be held in Germany, sometime early in 2025.
CATAN players are looking to join into a larger community. As the Host, you provide a venue for the players looking to further explore their own personal journey with CATAN. You are the entry point into the CATAN Championship community.
We offer social media assets that you can use to promote your event. We will also provide online support both on the Catan Events website, social media, and our Newsletter. Additionally, we have Tournament Kits, which contain prizes for your Semi-Finalists & Finalists. When you schedule your tournament with CATAN Studio, we will give you instructions on how to obtain the prize kit for your event.
As a Host, you will be responsible for hosting a sequence of three groupings: the preliminaries, the semi-finals, and the finals. The first group in a Qualifier tournament is called the preliminaries. The preliminaries are a series of three separate games of base CATAN. The scores that all players earn from the preliminaries determine who will move to the semi-finals.
After all games in the preliminaries have been completed, you will rank the players based on all scores from all the preliminary rounds. The top 16 players will move to the Semi-Finals. The Semi-Finalists play a single game; the winner of each Semi-Final table will advance to the Finals. The Finalists play a single game of CATAN, and the winner of that final game wins a guaranteed seat at the next National Championship
Your Champion will be responsible for their own transit, hotel, and badge (if necessary) to your country’s National Championship.
As a Host, you are required to organize and run a tournament following our structure and rules. You will supply all the games needed to run the National Qualifier tournament. You can use older copies of the game, but all games must be the same version. As example, you’re welcome to use all 4th edition or all 5th edition. You cannot mix the two editions.
You can also obtain the Tournament Kit (for your semi-finalists and finalists). It is not required, but something nice for your participants. For retailers, these will be available through your regular Asmodee Sales rep. Conventions, charities, and other non-retail hosts will receive instructions after submitting the Event Request form.
You have two options for administrating your Qualifier event.
- Use the app. We have partnered with Best Coast Pairings to develop an app to assist our Tournament Hosts with seating, scoring, and reporting their events.
- Score, administrate, and report manually. You are welcome to use your own tools to administrate your tournament.
Whichever option you choose, once you finalize your date, location, and event details, fill out our Submit Official Event form. CATAN Studio will create your event in Best Coast Pairings and add you as a Tournament Organizer, giving you full editing rights to the event as well as scoring permissions. We will also add your event to our official event listings on catanevents.com. You will receive an email when these steps are completed with any additional information or follow-up questions.
Hosts using the app should read our step-by-step instructions at catanevents.com/bcp. It will guide you through changing any event details, registering players, running your event, and submitting your results when you’re finished.
Hosts opting for manual administration of their event must, once the tournament is complete:
- Fill out our online reporting form, including winner information, final table scores, and contact details for all players at your final table.
- Send a complete list of players and their emails to op@catanstudio.com.
- Include any photos or interesting anecdotes from your event.
