That said, i f you’re really into space and like Catan but want something a little different, I definitely recommend Catan Starfarers. That’s why I would personally go for an expansion to the original Catan. However, except for the 5-6 players expansion, Starfarers has no expansions. To sum up, Catan Starfarers is the best standalone Catan expansion. This nice mechanic helps slower or less lucky players to keep up with the rest. In addition to throwing dice to determine the distribution of resources, players with few victory points get a guaranteed resource each turn. The mechanics or Starfarers differs somewhat from the original Catan, most notably is the new catch-up mechanism. The most fun part is that these upgrades (engines, cannons, fame rings) literally have to be build on your spaceship. Every player has it’s own mother ship that are upgraded during the game to give it special abilities. These spaceships are the most distinct feature of Starfarers. Instead of roads to travel on, there are spaceships. The biggest difference from the original Catan is that there are no roads. The space theme is very nicely done, and it is definitely based on Catan, without being too similar. It is one of the best standalone expansions that I know. Sometimes, standalone expansions of a game are not much more than the old game with a new look. So you don’t need the original Catan game to play it. Note that in order to play the Explorers and Pirates expansion for 5-6 players, you also needs the 5-6 players Base game expansion.Ĭatan Starfarers is a space themed standalone Catan game. But Explorers and Pirates is close to being the best Settlers of Catan expansion.ĭo you want to play Catan Explorers and Pirates with more than 4 players? Than you should buy the Explorers and Pirates expansion and the Explorers and Pirates for 5-6 players expansion. Only because we like Cities and Knights so much, we place that expansion above this one. That said, more experienced players, looking for a challenge should definitely consider buying this expansion. Especially for more casual players, this might not be the best expansion to start with. However, in our experience, the combination of new elements and dynamics, makes it quite hard to master. Because of the movements of the ships, the game is much more dynamic than the base game, or the other expansions. We love the different ways that victory points can be obtained. The Explorers and Pirates expansion is by far the most elaborate expansion.

This ensures a very elaborate game with a lot of different strategies, new ways to interact with fellow players and much more opportunities to acquire victory points. The ultimate way to play this Explorers and Pirates is to play all modules at once.

Settlers of catan expansion pack