Traders and Barbarians isn’t so much a single expansion as a bundle of small add-ons, which can be variously added and removed in different combinations. Network N earns commission from qualifying purchases via Amazon Associates and other programs. Try it out if you’ve grown a little too comfortable with Catan, and you’re after a challenge. There’s more to do, more to think about, and another layer of metagame to consider. And when barbarian ships arrive to raze your cities, knights will defend Catan, while earning the player who contributed the highest number of the heroic warriors some tasty Victory Points.Ĭities and Knights adds a lot to Catan, changing not only its fundamental strategies, but basic rhythm of play. That’s a lot about cities, but where do the knights come in? Well, they replace the slightly obsolete soldiers of the base game, and can be recruited to block opponents’ roads, or kick out the robber who’s been swallowing up that vital ore you’ve been needing for half the game. Besides that, walls can now be built around your cities to increase your hand limit, and the pesky Robber is joined by the friendly Merchant, who grants a boon to your resource trade-in rate.
Distributed randomly through rolls of the dice, their powerful effects are more varied than the base game’s cards. Each improvement grants special bonuses and abilities, and if you fulfil one construction path in its entirety, you’ll earn an impressive Metropolis for your trouble.ĭevelopment Cards are out, too, replaced by Progress Cards that are earned (you guessed it), through constructing city improvements. No longer merely tall settlements, cities can now be enhanced with additional structures, as players advance along three categories of enlightenment: science, trade, and politics. Tabletop partners: These are the best couples’ board games Secondary resources produced only by cities, these add another layer of resource-collection to the game, and are used to unlock the second major addition of this expansion: city improvements. The biggest immediate change is the introduction of commodities.
Grander in scope, and more confrontational, expect your Catan games to be longer, more complex, and a touch more antagonistic. Buy now Catan: Cities and KnightsĬatan’s beefiest expansion, Cities and Knights adds new mechanics to the base game, and replaces many of its existing systems with new ones of greater depth. Our picks also happen to all be available in retail stores, so you won’t have to go hunting through car boot sales in the hopes of a lucky score, either. Largely, this amounts to those add-ons that can be used with the current version’s interlocking ocean tiles.
And in the interests of playability, we’ve selected only those compatible with the latest edition of the base game. To save you any false starts, we’ve created this list of the best Catan expansions you should try. You could enjoy Catan forever without any spin-offs, but if you’re looking to shake up your resource-trading, land-grabbing excitement, take an expansion pack for a spin.
Some add minor mechanics, while others overhaul the focus of play some are hits, while others are misses. Over 25 years old, Catan’s had several expansions in its time. Robust strategy mixed with gamified luck, and a healthy dollop of player interaction, make Catan as much a joy on your first playthrough as it is on your hundredth.īut the vanilla game isn’t all that’s on offer. Many players’ first introduction to tabletop games outside of Monopoly, few would contest its status as one of the best board games of all time.