Cities & Knights strategy: tracks, knights and timing
Climb science first, raise a metropolis early, and never be the weakest defender when the barbarians land. In 10,000 games between our Veteran bots, the player who raised the first science metropolis won 72% of the time, three winners in four held a metropolis, and the barbarians won 45% of their attacks, sacking 5.5 cities a game.
Opening: where the city goes
Your starting city is the only city that makes commodities from turn one, so place it for them.
A city on forest makes paper, on pasture cloth, on mountains coin; on hills and fields it only makes resources. Put the city where a good number touches forest or mountains, and the settlement where the brick, wood and grain for roads and walls will come from. Grain matters more than in the base game: every knight you wake costs one.
Climb science first
Science pays for itself. Its third level, the Aqueduct, gives you a card of your choice whenever a roll other than 7 gives you nothing, so you never have an empty turn again. Its progress cards are the builders’ cards: Alchemy, Irrigation, Mining, Smithing, Engineering, Medicine.
The bots agree. Half the winners in our 10,000 games had climbed science highest, against 29% for trade and 20% for politics.
Race for the first metropolis
A metropolis is two points on top of its city, and the barbarians can’t touch it. It is also a sign you are ahead on commodities. In our games the player who raised the island’s first metropolis won 59% of the time, about twice what chance would give, and a first science metropolis won 72%.
74% of winners held at least one metropolis when the game ended. When you are one level from a metropolis, the Crane card or a trade for the commodity you lack can be worth more than a settlement.
Knights: never be the weakest
The barbarians landed 6.9 times a game and won 45% of those attacks. Only 2% of games ended without a single city sacked. When they win, only the weakest defenders who still have an ordinary city lose one, so the goal isn’t to beat the barbarians alone. It is to not be last.
- Watch the ship. Three of the event die’s six faces move it. When it is two or three spaces out, wake your knights; a knight woken this turn counts for the attack but can’t act until your next turn.
- Promote rather than recruit. One strong knight has the strength of two basic ones and needs one grain to wake, not two.
- Being strongest pays. 61% of our winners were named Defender of the island at least once, worth a point each time.
Walls and the hand limit
Commodities are cards, so a player saving for an improvement often sits on a fat hand. Each wall lets you keep two more cards on a 7, for two brick. Our winners finished with 2.4 walls on average. Build the first one as soon as you start saving commodities, and remember a wall falls with its city.
Progress cards worth holding
About 49 progress cards were played in an average game, so you will see plenty. You may hold four, so play the ordinary ones rather than waiting for a perfect moment.
- Alchemy sets the production dice before you roll: on a turn you need one card, it is a guaranteed harvest.
- Merchant is a point and a 2:1 trade. 51% of our winners held the merchant when the game ended.
- Sabotage and Wedding hit the leaders, so they are best when you are behind.
- Printing and Constitution are victory points the moment you draw them.
How we tested this
We let Hearthsea’s Veteran bots play 10,000 games of Cities & Knights, 2,000 at each table size from two to six, across all 27 islands of the mode. Every seat was a Veteran, so every player followed the same plan; the numbers show what went with winning when equal players met, not proof that one plan beats another. The full results are in We simulated 10,000 games of Cities & Knights.
Questions people ask
What is the best track in Cities & Knights?
Science, in our simulation: half the winners had climbed it highest, and the player who raised the first science metropolis won 72% of games. Its Aqueduct means a roll never leaves you empty-handed.
How many knights do you need?
Enough not to be the weakest defender among the players with ordinary cities when the ship lands. Being the strongest alone earns a point as Defender of the island.
Does going first matter in Cities & Knights?
Hardly. In our four-player games each seat won between 23.6% and 26.0% of the time.
How often do the barbarians win?
45% of their attacks, in our games, sacking 5.5 cities a game on average.
How long is a game of Cities & Knights?
About 24 rounds on average in our simulation, from 17 with six players to 33 with three.
Sources
The numbers come from 10,000 games of Hearthsea’s Veteran bots, simulated on 15 October 2026 with the game’s own rules engine. The rules follow the 2025 rulebook.
Keep reading
We simulated 10,000 games of Cities & Knights
Cities & Knights rules: everything that changes
Play Cities & Knights online, free
Test it against the Veterans
Cities & Knights is free on every Hearthsea account, today and after the free month: it was never behind a pass. Seat three Veterans and see whether science still wins.
Cities & Knights is free on every Hearthsea account, today and after the free month: it was never behind a pass. Seat three Veterans and see whether science still wins.
CATAN is a registered trademark of Catan GmbH. Hearthsea is an independent game and is not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by Catan GmbH or its publishers. Other game names belong to their owners and are used here only to describe and compare.