Catan: Explorers & Pirates

1 Overview

Catan: Explorers & Pirates is a major expansion requiring the Catan base game. It adds exploration of an unknown island chain, ships that can carry settlers and resources, harbor settlements, fish, and spices as new resources, and a mission-based victory system. It's one of the most complex and rewarding Catan expansions.

2 Ships & Seafaring

Unlike the Seafarers expansion where ships form static routes, Explorers & Pirates ships are mobile units. A ship can:

• Move up to 3 sea hexes per turn
• Carry 1 settler or 1 resource aboard
• Be built for 1 Wool + 1 Ore

Ships explore the unknown island chain by flipping face-down hexes when they enter adjacent spaces. Unknown hexes can be sea, productive land, pirate lairs, or fishing grounds.

Pirate Lairs: If your ship enters a hex with a pirate lair, combat occurs. Fight pirates by rolling dice, success clears the lair and earns a reward; failure damages your ship (it's returned to your supply and must be rebuilt).

3 Harbors & Outposts

When a ship with a settler aboard reaches a new island's coast, build a harbor settlement on an empty coastal intersection. Harbor settlements work like regular settlements for production but also enable on-island building.

Advance a harbor settlement to an outpost (using roads/paths and resources) to establish a permanent base on the new island. Outposts count as victory points like regular cities.

4 Missions

Explorers & Pirates uses missions instead of the standard Catan longest-road/largest-army bonuses. Missions are revealed during setup and scored when completed:

• Explore Mission: Reach specific hexes on the map
• Fish Mission: Deliver fish (caught at fishing grounds) to Catan's main island
• Spice Mission: Deliver spices (found on new islands) back to Catan
• Settlement Mission: Build a harbor settlement on designated island locations

Completing missions earns victory points. The game uses a fixed number of missions based on player count.

5 Scenarios

Explorers & Pirates includes five scenarios of increasing complexity:

1. To Catan and Beyond: Basic exploration, no missions
2. Fish for Catan: Adds fishing and fish delivery missions
3. Spices for Catan: Adds spices
4. The Pirate Islands: Full pirate lair exploration system
5. Explorers & Pirates (Full): All mechanics combined

Learn scenarios 1–2 before attempting the full game. Each adds rules and components.

6 Strategy

Early Ships Win Games

Reaching new islands first grants exclusive harbor settlement spots and mission progress. Invest in ships early even if it costs production development.

Don't Neglect Catan's Main Island

Production still comes from the main island. A player who fully abandons main-island development for exploration will run out of resources to build ships. Balance early expansion with main-island production.

Missions Are Your Victory Path

In the full game, missions replace standard Catan bonus cards. Understand which missions are active and plan your exploration toward mission completion rather than aimless discovery.