Seafarers is the first CATAN expansion I'd buy. It adds islands and ships without making the game much heavier.
Needs: Just the base game
Adds: Ships, a pirate, gold fields, new islands to settle and a campaign of nine map setups.
Fixes: Long-time players find the same board stale; adds sea exploration.
Cities & Knights is worth it once your group wants a deeper, longer game. It's the biggest change to how CATAN plays.
Needs: Just the base game
Adds: Knights, barbarian attacks, commodities, city improvements and progress cards. Game goes to 13 points.
Fixes: Base game feels too simple; adds city upgrades, knights and barbarian attacks.
Traders & Barbarians is a box of smaller variants, including 2-player rules. Get it after Seafarers and Cities & Knights.
Needs: Just the base game
Adds: A box of variants: 2-player rules, event cards instead of dice, fishermen, rivers, and a five-scenario campaign.
Fixes: Adds variety without a big rules jump, including gentle scenarios for newer players.
Explorers & Pirates is for groups that already love CATAN and want a campaign-style twist. It can't be combined with Cities & Knights.
Needs: Just the base game
Adds: Ships that move freely, hidden islands, and missions: fight pirate lairs, haul fish, and trade spices.
Fixes: Open sandbox play feels aimless; adds missions, exploring and pirates.
Only worth it if you own Seafarers and play with the same 3-4 people. It is a four-part story campaign, and the US edition is out of print.
Needs: Seafarers first
Adds: A four-part story campaign built on Seafarers. Points carry over between chapters, with treasure chests and combat cards along the way.
Only buy this if you regularly have five or six players. Each expansion then needs its own matching 5-6 box too.
Needs: Just the base game
Adds: Two more player colors, extra hexes and cards, and a turn rule that keeps everyone involved so 5 or 6 can play.
Only worth it if you own Seafarers and often play with five or six. It also needs the base-game 5-6 extension.
Needs: CATAN – The Game 5-6 Player Expansion and Seafarers first
Adds: Extra pieces so 5 or 6 players can play Seafarers.
Only worth it if you own Cities & Knights and often play with five or six. It also needs the base-game 5-6 extension.
Needs: CATAN – The Game 5-6 Player Expansion and Cities & Knights first
Adds: Extra pieces so 5 or 6 players can play Cities & Knights.
Only worth it if you own Traders & Barbarians and often play with five or six. It also needs the base-game 5-6 extension.
Needs: CATAN – The Game 5-6 Player Expansion and Traders & Barbarians first
Adds: Extra pieces so 5 or 6 players can play Traders & Barbarians.
Only worth it if you own Explorers & Pirates and often play with five or six. It also needs the base-game 5-6 extension.
Needs: CATAN – The Game 5-6 Player Expansion and Explorers & Pirates first
Adds: Extra pieces so 5 or 6 players can play Explorers & Pirates.
Buy CATAN base game:CATAN Shop (opens in a new tab)
Seafarers. Seafarers is the first CATAN expansion I'd buy. It adds islands and ships without making the game much heavier.
Our verdict: buy this first. It adds: Ships, a pirate, gold fields, new islands to settle and a campaign of nine map setups.
Yes. Legend of the Sea Robbers needs Seafarers first.
CATAN – The Game 5-6 Player Expansion extends it to 6 players. Our verdict: depends on your group.
We’d buy Seafarers first. See the side-by-side comparison for what each adds and needs.
Rankings are our editorial picks, built from the reviews linked on each expansion page. Last checked 2026-09-27.