Catan has to be one of my favourite games of all time. It is genre defining in its resource management mechanisms and that monopoly geek within me just loves a trade and to barter. Not only do I find it fun, but so do almost 20 million other people worldwide. The success of this franchise lead to various spin offs, card games, travel editions and even a 2003 fiction book. Today, we’re going to delve into the Catan expansions and discuss which built upon the original mechanics, improved, or even downright flipped the script.
Table of Contents
- Catan Seafarers
- Catan Cities and Knights
- Catan Explorers and Pirates
- Catan Traders and Barbarians
- FAQs
- Conclusion
Catan Seafarers
Catan Seafarers adds another layer to the base game – the endless sea. It was the very first Catan expansion all the way back in 1997 and holds a special place in my heart. The game introduced new ship pieces, which cost 1 lumber and 1 wool. They work similarly to roads in the fact that they are creating a shipping route, but the exception is that you can change the position of the front ship on the route; this allows more flexibility. I can’t be the only one who gets frustrated when my opponent decides to cut off my road!
In addition to this, Catan Seafarers expansion adds gold fields and the pirate to the game. Gold acts as new resource, pretty much as a wildcard. If you have placed a settlement on which a gold hex rolls you can choose any one resource. If you have a city on that hex you can choose any two. Clearly gold acts as an incredibly powerful resource because you can tailor it to your needs. To balance this, Gold hexes normally appear on islands making them harder to reach and settling on them more competitive!
The pirate on the other hand acts more like a robber. The pirate can only be placed on water hexes and stops players placing a ship at that location – this slows down players reaching an island and in most cases, gold. When a player rolls a seven they will move either the robber or the pirate. This often means that each piece will move less frequently. A great value in this is that if player A wants to place the Robber in a tactical spot, if they re-roll a seven a few turns later they do not need to move the robber off of that tactical spot. It can be very frustrating when you are forced to move the Robber off its best possible location.
Catan Cities and Knights
The Catan City and Knights Expansion added more tactical depth and complexity to the game, as such it also increased the average length of a game. This expansion changed the way a few core mechanics worked.
First, Cities: this game added 3 new commodities, Coins, Cloth, and Paper; which you would get from Mountain, Meadow, and Forest hexes. Instead of getting two of the same resource, when a dice roll lands on a city-adjacent hex you would get a resource and a commodity. These commodities can then be used to build city improvements that give various benefits to the cities’ owner.
Second, Soldier cards: whereas before getting three Soldier cards would give you +2 victory points (as well as moving the robber), these soldiers are replaced with knights, which are now physical objects. They can be placed on roads to claim areas and to move the robber. These knights also protect the island against barbarian invasions. If the island is successfully defended the player with the most knights gets a bonus, while the player with the fewest is penalised.
The barbarians, in my mind, are a fairer mechanism than the robber as they can hit all players equally. A player with many knights can use them improve their own points as well as tactically harm the points of the players that have not chosen to prioritise their military.
The biggest criticism this Catan Expansion gets is that it is too different from the base game, but this is also its biggest strength. After a few hundred hours of the base game it can get repetitive, the strategies become familiar and games can seem to blend into one. Cities and Knights flips this on its head and gives you a brand new experience.
Catan Explorers and Pirates
Explorers and Pirates tales the island ideas from seafarers and takes it a step further. In this game you have the familiar hexagonal Catan base to the left of the board and to the right you have islands in the new world that you must explore.
Exploration here is the emphasis, not just in the title, but literally too. The Islands in the new world all begin facedown, so you don’t know what’s on the island or how valuable it may be until you have made landing.
This expansion adds a new movement phase to the game: traditionally you might have the following two phases in Catan:
- Dice Roll, players with settlements on hexes with corresponding numbers to the roll gain resources.
- Trading, with the bank or with other players.
Now here’s where phase three comes in: Ships that may carry settlers, which cost the same as a settlement – and basically act as a pop up settlement; or crews, which may attack pirate lairs.
Pirate lairs can be beaten when 3 crew members are placed on a lair and players receive gold and gain mission points. This expansion does away with the longest road or largest army bonuses and instead gives a mission tracker that can award players bonus points.
Other ways to advance up the mission track involve delivering the following to “the council of Catan” a brand new neutral hex:
- Fishing for Catan – deliver fish to the council for bonus points
- Spice replaces pirate lairs and acts essentially like fishing hexes, but on land.
Catan Traders and Barbarians
This expansion adds many variants to the base game with the added bonus of not having to use all of them at once. It is more of a group of mini expansion than a dedicated expansion in itself.
- Friendly Robber – The robber can’t attack players with less than 2 victory points, this helps newer players learn, but also stops pounding down the weakest player and allows them to grow.
- Event Cards – A substitute for rolling dice, but also gives events, for example, pass a resource to the player to your right.
- Harbour Master – Alongside longest road and largest army, harbour master gives 2 victory points for the most settlements and cities next to a harbour. This is a great addition because in most cases harbours are not as advantageous as interior hexes, because you can never border three hexes on a harbour. This card gives added incentive to go for a harbour spot.
- 2 Player Variant – This two player variant adds a commercial chip which forces trades between players. Many people consider this variant take it or leave it.
- Caravans – Camels are placed in caravans throughout the board which make cities be worth points if they are connected on a caravan route.
- Barbarian invasion – Plays similarly to the barbarian invasion in cities and knights, but comes as part as a different scenario pack.
- Traders and Barbarians – Adds a castle that needs to be rebuilt in Catan using new resources glass and marble.
This version also adds the fishermen of Catan and rivers of Catan which came from previously magazine released scenarios. Traders and Barbarians is an interesting expansion because it gives the most possible variety, with its numerous scenarios, but it doesn’t stand by itself in the way seafarers or cities and knights does.
FAQs
What is Rivals for Catan?
Rivals of Catan was released on the 15th anniversary of the original card fame and acts a complete overhaul of mechanics to make it easier for beginners. It does not technically count as an expansion for the board game, but it is a great 2 player experience which the board game never quite captures.
How many Catan Expansions are there?
There are 4 Expansions, 5 Extensions, as well as numerous mini expansions from magazines etc.
What is the Difference Between Catan Expansions and Extensions?
Expansions are add ons to the original base game and add new mechanics, objectives, and ways to play. Extensions on the other hand increase the numbers of players up to 6. You must have the correct extension to play with the correct expansion
Can You Use 2 Catan Expansions at Once?
Definitely! It adds more depth to the game, but more expansions means more playtime. This is good news for some, but others don’t want to be dragged into a two or three hour game!
Conclusion
Each Catan expansion has its ups and down and none are quite perfect, but all enjoyable in their own right. Its hard to give them an outright ranking, but certainly can give them mini-awards.
Best Catan Expansion for Beginner Players
Seafarers is the best for beginners, it adds simple mechanics to the game and is overall not too complicated.
Best Catan Expansion for Advanced Players
Cities and Knights adds many layers and overhauls some mechanics. It adds more depth to strategy and is the longest expansion to play.
Best Catan Expansion Overall
Traders and Barbarians is the best overall expansion because it gives a bit of everything. It has some aspects of cities and knights, some of explorers, and you can mix and match scenarios for increased replay ability.
