In the game, players are trying to be the first to have ten victory points, with points coming primarily from cities and settlements built on the game board. On a turn, the active player rolls dice and players receive resources based on the die roll and what they've built on the board. The active player can then trade with opponents and build roads, cities and settlements depending on the resources in hand and available space on the board.

In this travel version of the game, the land spaces aren't individual hexes, but six pieces of material that can be rearranged in different ways to change up the game board. The player pieces and resource cards fit into drawers on the side of the game board, which folds into a trapezoid.

Catan: Traveler includes a two-player variant using cards that allow one player to force a "trade" with the other. When this happens, the first player takes two cards from the opponent, then gives that player any one card in return.