Welcome to one of the largest selling Board Games around the world, Catan! Don't let the simplicity fool you, this is an addicting game to new and old players. It's easy to learn, highly engaging, and once you start you won't want to stop! Catan was created in 1996 by a German Game Board Maker, Klaus Teuber. Since then Catan has come out with 16 standalone games, 7 expansions, 7 extensions, and 10 Catan Scenarios. Just goes to show how influential Catan is to communities to create more experiences for their fans. However, with all their products it can be overwhelming for anyone to navigate which game is the best fit for your interest. So below is a brief description of what you will experience with the corresponding product.
Catan Standalone Games
Catan Standalone Games are games that do not need an additional Catan product such as expansions or scenarios. The standalone game you buy is ready to play with what is inside!
Catan (formerly Settlers of Catan)
(3-4 players, ages 10+, 60-90 minute playtime)
This Catan is the original Catan base game, and is the most basic version of Catan. Players try to be the dominant force on the island of Catan by building settlements, cities, and roads. Players collect these resources (cards) "wood, grain, brick, sheep, or stone" to build their civilization to get to 10 victory points and win the game. Sounds simple, but once you play you will realize how the simplicity can make this game complex.
Catan: 25th Anniversary Edition
(3-6 players, ages 10+, 60-90 minute playtime)
The 25th Anniversary Edition contains the standard Catan base game components, the Catan 5-6 Player Extension, the Helpers of Catan scenario, special iridescent anniversary wood pieces and dice, a resource sorting tray, and 180 clear Catan card sleeves. This is great for those who love Catan and want to gift the Catan experience to friends or family!
Catan: 3D Edition
(3-4 players, ages 10+, 60-90 minute playtime)
In Catan: 3D Edition, the island of Catan rises off the table for an immersive experience like no other. Your settlements grow from fertile grain fields, and your cities nestle into the sides of majestic mountains. The look of the land is based on terrain tiles hand-sculpted by game designer Klaus Teuber. The terrain is hand-painted for stunning color, and the intricately-designed player pieces are antiqued for a look that's full of history and character. This is the perfect gift for Catan fanatics!
Catan: Family Edition
(3-4 players, ages 10+, 60-90 minute playtime)
Catan Family Edition is the same concept and gameplay as the original Catan base game. The difference is that the Family Edition contains a smaller board, the numbers are already printed onto the hexagon tiles, and the roads, settlements, and cities are plastic instead of wood. This makes the setup easier, quicker, and less expensive.
Catan: Junior
(2-4 players, ages 6+, 30-40 minutes playtime)
Those who have played Catan before will recognize a similar structure to the Catan base game, but use different terms to follow a pirate theme. Players are pirates sailing the sea to build more pirate lairs and ships. Each pirate needs "gold, goats, wood, molasses, and cutlasses" to build. But be aware of the Ghost Captain that blocks resource production on the island he is placed on. The islands have preprinted dice numbers on the titles with the corresponding resource to make it more convenient for children. This is a great variation for younger players, but can also be a fun family game.
Catan Histories: Settlers of America
(3-4 players, ages 14+, 90-150 minute playtime)
This is part of the Catan Histories line that is based on the West expansion in the 19th century in the United States. The board of Settlers of America is a map of the United States. Players collect and trade resources in order to purchase, migrate and build settlements, forge railroads, and acquire locomotives. This game adds an additional resource, gold, to increase options for players.
Catan Histories: Rise of the Inkas
(3-4 players, ages 12+, 90 minute playtime)
Rise of the Inkas is part of the Catan History line series. The game takes place 2,000 years ago in northwestern South America where many tribes rapidly grew and declined. The Inkas rose, outcompeted all tribes, and created an empire. This game includes an innovative displacement mechanism that opens up new possibilities for players and confronts them with new game situations that will require tactical adjustments. Nature can reclaim settlements already built, allowing another player the chance to build their own settlement on a coveted site. Players have to develop 2 different tribes, but also have to watch each tribe decline one by one. The first to establish a third tribe wins!
Catan Adventure: Elasund - The First City
(3-4 players, ages 12+, 90 minute playtime)
The game is based on the book, Die Sielder Von Catan, by Rebecca Gable. The book is inspired by the Catan base game. Instead of exploring the island of Catan, this game is focusing on building out the City of Catan. The board game focuses on a section of the land that you build with currency.
A Game of Thrones Catan: Brotherhood of the Watch
(3-4 players, ages 14+, 60-90 minute playtime)
Players fight to become the next Lord Commander. Instead of 'cities' there are 'keeps' and instead of the 'robber' there is 'Tormund.' There are three different types of Wildings: Climber, Giants, and Regular that can come from three different clans: Ice River Clan, Cave People Clan, or Hornfoot Clan. Players must defend the wall from invasion and find out who is worthy enough to be the new Lord Commander. This is a really fun game for Catan and GOT enthusiasts.
Catan: Starfarers (2nd Edition)
(3-4 players, ages 14+, 120 minute playtime)
Starfarers is set in the middle of the 3rd Millennium where settlers can colonize other planets. The game board consists of different planets that provide different resources. Players explore what planets have ore, carbon deposits, barren ice, alien folk, or wormholes. Points are given by what you build such as colonies, trade stations, transport ships, colony ships, trade ships, or spaceports. Players will experience new graphics, game material, rules, and mechanisms!
Catan: Star Trek
(3-4 players, ages 10+, 45-90 minute playtime)
The structure and mechanisms in the base Catan game are included in the Catan Star Trek. Instead of different land regions, there are different planets that contain different resources: dilithium, titanium, food, oxygen, and water. The goal is to be the first to 10 points earned by establishing Outposts, Starbases, or winning Victory Points. Catan Star Trek has Support Cards with special abilities featuring Star Trek Characters: Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Sulu, Uhura, Chekov, Chapel, Rand, or Sarek.
Catan: Star Trek - Federation Space
(2-4 players, ages 10+, 45-90 minute playtime)
The Catan Star Trek Federation Space board incorporates as many Star Trek Planets as they legally and creatively can by referencing "The Explored Galaxy" and using Star Trek Charts by Dough Drexler to accurately create the game. This game also comes with Star Trek objects such as a Nomad probe, planet killer, Deep Space Station, and much more. The level of detail that went into this set makes this a great gift for fans!
Catan Logic Puzzle
(1 player, ages 8+, 40 puzzles included)
The objective of the puzzles is to connect points. The game has a hexagon board and the same game pieces as the Catan base game. Players need to connect their settlements together using road pieces, but obstacles may interfere limiting what tiles can be used. This is a great game for those that love a challenge using critical thinking, logic, and organization. Also a great one-player option for Catan fans.
Catan: Traveler Edition
(2-4 players, ages 10+, 45-90 minute playtime)
Long road trip with the kids? Taking a train to another city? This compact Traveler Edition allows you to take Catan anywhere! This edition has a smaller map, and different-looking cities, settlements, and roads, but they have locking drawers, tray holders, and dice shakers to keep all the pieces secured. It is a travel-friendly Catan base game!
Catan: Rivals for Catan
(2 players, ages 10+, 30-75 minute playtime)
Rivals for Catan is a 2 player card game with the objective of building and collecting points just like the Catan base game. Rivals for Catan includes an introduction game that is similar to the Catan base game, and also has three additional theme games to play. The theme games add more depth to the player experience by adding more rules & different cards.
Catan: Rivals for Catan Deluxe Edition
(2 players, ages 10+, 30-75 minute playtime)
The Deluxe Edition provides card trays, 9 promo cards, and all the components from the original Rivals for Catan. The package includes the trays to keep the different card piles nice and organized, and the promo cards are just an added fun bonus!
Struggle for Catan: Card Game
(2-4 players, ages 8+, 30-60 minute playtime)
Struggle for Catan is a 2-4 player card game building roads, settlements, and cities. The first to expand their cities to 10 victory points wins the game, but be careful of your opponents because they can take valuable resources and knights from you during the game!
Catan: Dice Game - Clam Shell Edition
(1-4 players, ages 7+, 20-40 minute playtime)
This game is about building and gathering points, but with no cards or game board. Each player has their own score card called the building sheet. The building sheet is built out by drawing settlements and roads on the sheet. The dice are used to determine resources, and the player with the most victory points wins! This is a solitaire version of the game for a single player.
Catan Expansions
Catan Expansions require the Catan base game to play. Each expansion set provides different themes, narratives, and goals for the Catan world. Some of the expansions can be combined with other expansions as well, allowing players to fully experience an extreme Catan game. Expansions add more depth, challenges, and difficulty to the player experience.
Catan: Seafarers Expansion
(3-4 players, ages 10+, 60-120 minute playtime)
Players are on a voyage to sail the seas of Catan to gather resources from nearby islands to build settlements and ships. Players may even be lucky enough to encounter precious gold. The first to 13 points wins the game! Seafarers provides nine different scenarios that add new directions, maps, and goals to the game. The scenarios are an immersive experience to discover the history of Catan. The scenarios are designed to be played in order because they follow a storyline and get increasingly more difficult.
Catan: Cities & Knights Expansion
(3-4 players, ages 12+, 90-120 minute playtime)
Cities & Knights introduces new tactical complexity to the game. There are knights who protect the land from barbarians. There are 3 commodities: paper, cloth, and coin that can gain a player city improvement cards that add advantages to players. Each commodity has a different type of city improvement: paper brings scientific advantages, cloth brings trade advantages, and coin brings political advantages. This expansion is more challenging and complex, but is super fun and engaging. Just beware of the Barbarians!
Catan: Traders & Barbarians Expansion
(2-4 players, ages 10+, 60-120 minute playtime)
This expansion offers a lot of variety to Catan. Traders & Barbarians introduces four different variants of the game and five different scenarios. The different variants change one element from the base Catan game. For example, replacing the dice with even cards. Scenarios act as different levels to the Catan, and each Scenario gets more challenging.
Catan: Explorers & Pirates Expansion
(2-4 players, ages 12+, 90-120 minute playtime)
Explorers & Pirates have three islands instead of the one island in the Catan base game. At the beginning of the game, players will only know the landscape of the starter island. Players can still make roads, and settlements but instead of cities, players can build ports to and from other islands. Gold is an additional resource that can save you from pirates. Explorers & Pirates includes 5 scenarios and 3 missions. Catan scenarios provide a different storyline and rules to the game. Some of the scenarios have specific missions for the game.
Catan Scenarios
Catan Scenarios are micro-changes to the Catan experience. Scenarios are never standalone games and will need the Catan base game or another expansion. However, it can be argued that the Scenarios bring just as much change as the expansions. For those new to Catan scenarios can be confusing. What are Catan Scenarios? Catan Scenarios act as levels, chapters, or new rules to challenge players, and create more depth.
Catan has not created defining terms for the different types of Scenarios, but we like to identify three different types of Catan Scenarios: Scenarios Within The Expansions, Scenarios for base Catan, and Scenarios for Expansions. The Scenarios within the Expansions act like levels and are to be played in order since they get increasingly more difficult. The expansions that have scenarios within their package are: Explorers & Pirates and Traders & Barbarians. Scenarios for Expansions act as guided storylines. They use chapters to take players on an interactive storyboard game. Lastly, Scenarios for the base Catan Game add new rules.
Scenarios for the base Catan Game
Helpers of Catan Scenario
(3-6 players, ages 10+, 45-90 minute playtime)
This scenario gives players 10 Catan characters to discover. Each character has their own special ability or skill that can help players be at an advantage. This scenario can only be found in the package of the Catan: 25th Anniversary Edition
Catan: Geographies Scenario - Rickshaw Run
(3-6 players, ages 10+, 45-75 minute playtime)
This Catan map reflects the real region of the Rickshaw Run rally in India. The map also contains information on historical cities and landscapes found in the region. Since the map is already set, settlements, roads, and cities can only be built on marked spaces.
Crop Scenario: Crop Trust
(3-4 players, ages 12+, 60-90 minute playtime)
Crop Trust is an engaging and fun game experience for the family that may lead to a thoughtful understanding of the importance of crop diversity to our food supply. Players must weigh their need to harvest crops against a collective goal to store and preserve seeds in the seed vault. The game was developed in collaboration with the Global Crop Diversity Trust (Crop Trust for short). The Crop Trust is an independent international organization whose goal is to preserve crop diversity in order to protect global food security. When you purchase this Catan Scenario, Catan Studio donates a portion of the proceeds to the Crop Trust, and you help to strengthen the foundation of our food system.
Scenarios for Expansions
Catan: Treasures, Dragons, & Adventures Scenario Pack
(3-4 players, ages 12+, 60-180 minute playtime)
This scenario requires the Catan base game, Seafarers, and Cities & Knights. The Treasures, Dragons, & Adventure Scenario contains 6 individual scenarios. Players will defeat dragons, dig canals, and discover islands off the Catanian coast. The scenario allows players to manipulate/modify the game. This is a great option for players who want to be creative and want a taste of being game maker.
Catan: Seafarers Scenario - Legend of the Sea Robbers
(3-4 players, ages 10+, 95 minute playtime)
In order to play this game, you need the Catan base game and Seafarers. The game takes place about 70 years after the first settlers of Catan. This Scenario shifts towards a storyline and character play experience. The game still has rules and components like other Catan games, but there are chapters, chapter points, and legend points. Instead of being a player, you are now a clan leader. The chapters are the most exciting part for Catan fans because they give fans more context to explore the Catan world. Having these Chapters incorporated into the game allows fans to interact and experience the Catan world themselves.
Catan: Cities & Knights Scenarios: Legend of the Conquerors
(3-4 players, 14+, 90-120 minute playtime)
In order to play this scenario, you need the Catan base game and Cities & Knights. The game continues the storyline from Legend of the Sea Robbers. This version takes place 570 years after the first Catan settlers. An enemy army lands and the knights from Catan must join together to defend their home. In this game, you will learn the story behind Cities & Knights of how barbarians and old-world countries affect Catan. While discovering these new chapters you also get to experience the journey yourself by playing.
Catan Extensions
Catan: Seafarers 5 -6 Player Extension
Catan: Starfarers 5-6 Player Extension
Catan: Explorers & Pirates 5-6 Player Extension
Catan: Traders and Barbarians 5-6 Extension
Catan: Cities & Knights 5-6 Player Extension
Other Catan Products
If you ever wondered what the Catan commodities would look like as Plush Animals, Catan already has you covered! The commodities have come alive as cute plush animals. These Plushies can be used with any Catan game.
Catan: Cities & Knights Replacement Cards, Catan: Traders & Barbarians Replacement Cards, Catan: Replacement Base Game Cards
If you have lost cards from the base game, Traders & Barbarians, or Cities and Knights expansions...look no further! We know cards can be displaced, worn down, or damaged over time and we've got your back with replacement cards.
If you want an aesthetically, innovative, and enhanced dice roller, then you have to get the Hexatower! The Hexatower is designed with soft fabric to create a comfortable experience and creates a pleasant sound.
The Hexadocks will keep all your wooden player pieces safely stored and organized in a wooden parts holder. These boxes are of great quality and durable, and the best part is that players can play directly from the box!
Catan Hexadocks Extension Set includes the extension set colors, green and brown. The Hexadocks will keep all your wooden player pieces safely stored and organized in a wooden parts holder. These boxes are of great quality and durable, and the best part is that players can play directly from the box!
Catan: Trading Post Convertible Card Tray
The all-in-one solution to carry, organize, and hold your Catan cards during the game. There are 6 card compartments that accommodate sleeved cards. The upper level seamlessly slides backward to allow free access to all cards. There are small notches at the bottom to conveniently access the last card. The cover of the Trading Post can be removed and converted into a dice tray.
Catan has many pieces and parts that make the game fun, but it can also make the game a mess! The E-Raptor Insert is durable and high quality and makes the game look clean and organized. The best part is that when the box is closed the components are kept in order!
Gamegenic Matte Board Game Sleeves: Catan
Translucent sleeves with a matte finish to help reduce glare and increase longevity!
Gamegenic Prime Board Game Sleeves: Catan
Translucent sleeves that are compatible with Catan cards.
