- BGG rating
- 6.5
Catalyst: Solo mode
- 1 player
- 20–30 min
- 2019
- BGG rank
- BGG #8,746
- BGG rating
- 6.6
Catalyst
2018
Rules assistance for Catalyst
Plain-language explanations of turns, card effects and disputed situations, with official source references and saved question history.
- 2–4 players
- 20–40 min
- 10+
- Complexity 2.0/5
For 2 players
Rules assistant for Catalyst
What would you like to know?
Answers come from the official rulebook, with the page to check.
Catalyst is a board game released in 2018 for 2–4 players, 20–40 minutes per game, and ages 10 and up. It was designed by Martino Chiacchiera, Roberto Corbelli, Sergio Roscini, Per Abrahamsson, and David Fröjmark and its main mechanics are Set Collection and Open Drafting.
Expansions
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About the game
It is the Age of Rebirth, thanks to the discovery of a new type of catalytic energy and the special individuals who are able to exploit it. These rare individuals, known as “Catalyst”, use this energy to act together in a sort of interconnected network. Can you make the most of their superhuman abilities to lead your city to fame and fortune? This is a simple yet deep game of engine-building and powerful combos. You will carefully build up your chain of actions, and then finally pull the trigger to perform all them at the same time! At the beginning of the game, a random Goal card is revealed. This will set various ways to score extra victory points at the end of the game, thus deeply affecting the available strategies. The game is turn-based and on your turn you must choose to perform one action among the following three: -Take a number of coins equal to the highest cost visible on the Catalyst cards displayed on the board. -Pay the indicated number of coins to recruit one of the available Catalyst cards on the board. The cost is altered by the current position of the card on the board. Once recruited, you can put the Catalyst card in one of the buildings you have managed to build. -Activate one of your recruited Catalyst cards to perform its effect. These will provide you several bonuses and actions like gaining extra coins, building new buildings, recruiting other catalyst cards from the board, obtaining military power tokens which will score for majorities at the end of the game, or allowing you to immediately activate other Catalyst cards. Whenever you activate a Catalyst card which is located in one of your buildings, the building provides an additional effect. Activated Catalyst cards go into your scoring pile, while buildings always remain in front of you. Buildings are also extremely important due to the fact each additional scoring indicated on the Goal card is related to a specific building; this means that you can score for it only if you first have managed to build that building. When the deck runs out of cards, there is a final round and then the game ends: players score points according to the Goal card as well as for the majority of Military power tokens and activated Catalyst cards. Whoever gathered the most victory points is the winner. -description from publisher
Categories
Mechanics
Publishers
- DV Games
- Atalia
Questions and answers
Catalyst supports 2–4 players according to the catalogue. This range comes from the publisher’s listed player count, so the game can be set up for any group size within it. Some setups, rules and scoring details may still vary by player count, so check your edition’s rulebook for the exact configuration.
The listed playing time for Catalyst is 20–40 minutes. This is the publisher’s estimate for a full game. The actual duration depends on the group, the player count and familiarity with the rules: first sessions usually run longer, while experienced groups often finish faster. Setup and teaching time are not included in this estimate.
The catalogue lists Catalyst for ages 10 and up. This is the publisher’s recommendation and reflects reading demands, rule complexity and small components rather than theme alone. Younger players can often join with help from an adult, so check the age guidance on your edition and consider your group’s experience with board games.
Catalyst has a complexity rating of 2.0 out of 5 from BoardGameGeek players, which makes it a medium-light game. The rating reflects how much rules knowledge, planning and decision-making a typical game demands. Expect a longer first teach for heavier games, and use a preparation guide before game night.
Catalyst belongs to these categories: Card Game. Its main mechanics are Set Collection and Open Drafting. Categories describe the theme and setting of a game, while mechanics describe what players actually do on their turns. Each mechanic links to a catalogue hub with similar games, which helps when you want something comparable.
The credited designers of Catalyst are: Martino Chiacchiera, Roberto Corbelli, Sergio Roscini, Per Abrahamsson, and David Fröjmark. These credits come from the published game data and name the people responsible for the game’s design, not its illustrators or publishers. Designer pages on MeepleRules collect other titles by the same designers, which helps when you enjoy a game and want to find similar ones.
The catalogue lists Catalyst as a base game. It can be played on its own with the components in the box and does not require any other title. Expansions, if any exist, add new content or rules on top of it and are listed separately in the catalogue with a link back to this base game.