By Eric

Catan Expansions Ranked: Which One Should You Buy First?

Catan has been around for 30 years. It’s accumulated a lot of expansions — some essential, some forgettable, and at least one that should probably be avoided entirely. If you’ve played the base game enough to start feeling restless, the right expansion doesn’t just add content. It changes the game.

Here’s a ranked breakdown of the main expansions, in the order we’d recommend buying them.

If you haven’t read our full take on the base game yet, start with our Catan review.

First: Seafarers ($40–$50)

Buy this one first. It’s the best expansion Catan has.

Seafarers adds a scenario system, boats (which work like roads over water), and multiple islands separated by sea hexes. The basic game becomes an exploration game: players now compete to discover and settle new islands, with bonus victory points for being the first to reach them.

Why it works so well:

It extends the game without breaking it. The base Catan rules work exactly the same. Boats are a natural addition — same cost as roads, placed differently. There’s no rule bloat, no new resources, no new mechanics that need a second rulebook. If you can teach someone Catan in 20 minutes, you can teach them Catan + Seafarers in 30.

The scenarios fix the endgame problem. One of the main criticisms of base Catan is that the endgame can feel stale — everyone is settled in, the board is locked, and the last few points come down to dice luck. Seafarers’ scenario structure creates mid- and late-game expansion goals that keep the map alive longer.

It plays better at five or six players. The Seafarers expansion comes with additional pieces for expanding to five or six players (as does the base 5-6 player extension). A larger island system accommodates more players without cramping. If your group regularly plays with five or six, Seafarers is the correct base expansion to start with.

Best scenario to start with: “The New World” — a simple setup that captures the exploration feel without overwhelming new players.

Second: Cities & Knights ($45–$55)

Get this second. It’s more complex but dramatically raises the strategic ceiling.

Cities & Knights is the expansion that converts Catan from a resource-accumulation game into a city-building and defense game. It adds:

• Commodity cards (paper, cloth, coin — produced by cities, separate from the five base resources)
• City improvements (three tracks you can develop using commodities, each granting powerful abilities)
• Knights (placed on the board to repel the barbarian invasion and activate hexes)
• The barbarian ship (which advances each turn and attacks Catan when it arrives — everyone must contribute knights to defend or suffers collective penalties)

The barbarian mechanic is the most important addition. Instead of purely competing, players must also cooperate to defend against the barbarian invasion. The player who contributes the most to the defense when the ship arrives gains the “Defender of Catan” bonus. This creates a compelling tension between competing for resources and cooperating for survival.

Why it’s second, not first: Cities & Knights significantly increases game length (plan for 2–3 hours), adds a meaningful amount of rule complexity, and changes the feel of Catan substantially. First-time expansion players are better served by Seafarers’ gentler addition of mechanics. But once you’re comfortable with Seafarers, Cities & Knights is the best upgrade to the game’s depth.

Note: Cities & Knights and Seafarers can be combined. Playing all three together is a substantial undertaking — budget 3–4 hours and only attempt it with a table of experienced players.

Third: Traders & Barbarians ($45–$55)

A solid mid-tier expansion — worth it if you want variety without committing to Cities & Knights’ complexity.

Traders & Barbarians is actually a collection of five smaller scenarios and variants rather than a single cohesive expansion. Highlights:

• The Fishermen of Catan: adds fish tiles and fish tokens that can be traded for powerful benefits — a minor but elegant addition to the resource economy
• The Rivers of Catan: starting resource variant that gives each player a set of starting resource cards based on settlement placement
• Traders & Barbarians (scenario): caravans transport marble and spices across the board; players earn money for delivery

The fishermen variant in particular is excellent for groups who want a small mechanical tweak without restructuring the game. It fits easily into a regular Catan session and adds genuine decision points without extending play time.

Best for: groups who have played the base game extensively and want fresh scenarios rather than deeper rules.

Fourth: Explorers & Pirates ($50–$60)

Interesting but niche — skip it unless you’ve exhausted the others.

Explorers & Pirates is the most ambitious standalone expansion. Players build ships and explore a completely open ocean map, establishing new home islands, fishing grounds, and spice routes. It’s almost a different game built on Catan’s bones.

The problem: it’s complex in ways that don’t always pay off. The scenario structure requires significant setup time, the rules are dense, and the game can run very long. It’s also harder to teach than any other expansion — the exploratory mechanics require explaining the goal system before players understand why they’re doing anything.

For highly experienced Catan groups who want a substantially different experience, it’s worth the investment. For most groups, Seafarers and Cities & Knights already provide more replay value for less complexity cost.

What to Skip

Catan: Ancient Egypt, Star Trek Catan, Catan Junior — These are licensed versions or simplified variants. Catan Junior is a well-designed children’s introduction to the Catan concept (8+ years, 30–45 minutes), but it’s a separate product rather than an expansion. The licensed editions play identically to the base game with different art; there’s no strategic reason to buy them unless you specifically want the theme.

Catan Histories: Settlers of America, Rise of the Inkas — These are standalone games using Catan mechanics with a different map and victory conditions. They’re fine but redundant if you already own the base game with expansions. Traders & Barbarians covers similar territory at lower cost.

Recommended Buying Order

One final note: expansions require the base game. You need the base Catan box before any of these. If you’re buying for a group that doesn’t own Catan, start there — and check out our review if you’re still deciding whether it’s worth it.

The base game is still the right answer for most groups. But if you’ve played it a dozen times and you’re ready for more, Seafarers is the safest first expansion you’ll ever buy.