Catan Board Generator
A standard board has 19 hexes, 18 number tokens and 9 harbors. In a simulation of 1,000 fully random boards, about 86% had a 6 or 8 touching another 6 or 8, and nearly all had two same-resource hexes touching, which is why the balance options matter.
How to use
- Press New board for a random map. Keep No touching 6 and 8 ticked for the usual fair setup, and tick No same resource touching for an even spread.
- Check the pip totals per resource. A resource with far fewer pips than the others is a weak spot, so press New board again if the table looks lopsided.
- Press Copy link to share the exact board. Anyone who opens the link sees the same map, because the board is built from the seed in the link.
How it works
The board uses the standard 3-4 player makeup: 19 hexes (4 forest, 4 pasture, 4 fields, 3 hills, 3 mountains, 1 desert), 18 number tokens (one each of 2 and 12, two each of 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10 and 11, no 7), and 9 harbors (four 3:1 and one 2:1 for each resource). The desert gets no number.
Hexes and numbers are shuffled with a seeded random generator. If a balance rule is on, a shuffle that breaks it is thrown away and a new one is tried (the numbers are redone on their own when only the number rule fails), up to 20,000 times, so every valid board is equally likely. The same seed and options always rebuild the same board.
Pips are the dots under each number, which show how many of the 36 dice rolls produce it: 6 and 8 have 5, 5 and 9 have 4, 4 and 10 have 3, 3 and 11 have 2, and 2 and 12 have 1. All numbers together always total 58 pips. Per-resource pip totals show how generous each resource is on your board. This is a fairness check, not an official rule.
Harbors keep the common 3-3-4 spacing around the coast. With Shuffle harbor spots on, that pattern is rotated to a random place around the island. The harbor types are always shuffled.
Balance rules explained
| Option | What it does | Effect on play |
|---|---|---|
| No touching 6 and 8 | Red numbers (6 and 8, the most likely rolls) never share a hex edge | Stops one corner from collecting several top numbers |
| No same resource touching | No two forests, pastures, fields, hills or mountains sit side by side | Spreads each resource over the whole island |
| Shuffle harbor spots | Rotates the harbor pattern around the coast | Changes which hexes sit beside harbors |
Setting up from the screen
- Match the hexes row by row from the top, using the text list under the picture if the labels are small.
- Place number tokens on the same hexes. Red numbers (6 and 8) are shown in red with five dots.
- Place harbors on the coast as drawn: each harbor sits on the hex edge its two lines touch.
- The seed is just six letters and digits, so you can also read it out to friends and have them type it in.
FAQ
Is this an official Catan tool?
No. This is an unofficial fan tool and is not affiliated with, endorsed or sponsored by Catan GmbH or Catan Studio. Catan is a trademark of its owners. The page uses its own plain graphics and no official artwork, logos or text.
Does it work for the 5-6 player expansion?
No. It makes the standard 3-4 player board with 19 hexes. The 5-6 player frame needs 30 hexes and a different number and harbor set.
Why can some boards still look uneven?
Balance rules only remove the worst patterns. A random board can still give one resource a weak number spread, so check the pip table and press New board if you want a closer match.
How does the share link work?
The link carries a short seed and your option choices. The page rebuilds the identical board from them, so nothing is stored on a server and the link keeps working indefinitely.
Can I use my own seed?
Yes. Type 3 to 12 lowercase letters or digits in the Seed box and press Apply. The same seed with the same options always gives the same board. Changing an option changes the board too.