Games Like Catan: Where to Play Catan Online Free, and What to Play Instead

By The Rondovo team · Published August 3, 2026 · Updated October 11, 2026 · 12 min read

If you want games like Catan, or a way to play Catan online with friends for free, you have more options than most lists admit. The official game is online in two places: Catan Universe (free to start, paid for the full game and expansions) and Board Game Arena (part of its Premium membership). Free fan alternatives such as Colonist and Twosheep run in the browser with the same roll, trade and build loop. And if your group wants something that feels like Catan without being Catan, Ticket to Ride, Splendor, Carcassonne and Bohnanza are the usual next steps.

In short

• Official and online: Catan Universe (Windows, Mac, iOS, Android) and Catan on Board Game Arena. Neither gives you everything free.
• Free and unofficial: Colonist is the biggest. Twosheep, Landover and a few smaller sites exist too.
• Most like Catan on the table: Bohnanza for trading, Ticket to Ride for the gateway feel, Stone Age and Concordia for resource planning.
• Two players: base Catan needs three. Look at Catan's own two-player card game, or a site that seats two.
• On Rondovo: Isle of Tides is our own hex island game for 2 to 6 players. It is not Catan, and we say so below.

What is Catan?

Catan is a trading and building board game first published in Germany in 1995 as Die Siedler von Catan, with an English edition in 1996. The base game is for 3 to 4 players aged 10 and up, and catan.com puts a game at 60 to 90 minutes. A separate 5 to 6 player extension lets bigger groups in.

The main expansions are Seafarers, Cities & Knights, Traders & Barbarians and Explorers & Pirates. There is also a two-player card game, known as Rivals for Catan and, in newer editions, Catan: The Duel. You can check all of this on the official Catan site.

How to play Catan online: the official options

These are the two licensed ways to play Catan online as of October 2026, plus a console version.

Catan Universe

Catan Universe is the official Catan app. Per its page on catan.com it runs on Windows, Mac, iOS and Android, your login works across devices, and it bundles the board game, the two-player card game and expansions including Seafarers and Cities & Knights.

The free tier is limited. At the time of writing (October 2026), the App Store listing says free players get base game matches against two other people, an introductory version of The Duel, and tutorial games against the computer. The full base game, the expansions, extra scenarios and the full card game are bought with Catan Gold. Gold is sold in packs inside the app; prices vary by store and country, so check before you buy.

Good for: groups who want the official rules, every expansion in one place, and play across PC and mobile. Less good for: a group that just wants a free four-player game tonight.

Catan on Board Game Arena

Board Game Arena (BGA) added Catan in June 2022 as an officially licensed version. It plays 3 to 4, runs in a desktop or mobile browser, and can be played live or turn by turn over days. Cities & Knights is there as an option, along with variants like Friendly Robber. Catan's publisher also lists Catan: New Energies on BGA.

Catan is a Premium game on BGA. On BGA, premium games generally need one Premium member to open the table, and friends on free accounts can then join. Check the game page before you plan around it. BGA's own announced prices are $5 a month or $42 a year (the yearly price rose from $36 in July 2025).

Good for: groups already on BGA, and slow games where everyone takes a turn when they can.

Catan on consoles

Catan: Console Edition is sold on PlayStation and Xbox. It suits a couch group with one console and controllers more than friends in different homes. Prices change often by region, so check your store.

Is there a free version of Catan online?

Not an official one that gives you the whole game. The closest official free play is the limited free tier of Catan Universe.

The free versions people actually use are unofficial games built on the same ideas. Game rules themselves can be reused; names and artwork cannot, which is why these sites look different and call things by other names. Here is what each offers.

Colonist

Colonist (colonist.io) is the best known free Catan alternative online. It runs in the browser, and there are iOS and Android apps. The base game is free, you can play as a guest, practise against bots, play ranked games, or open a private room and send the link to friends.

Extra maps, the expansions with ships and barbarians, and the 5 to 6 and 7 to 8 player modes are paid content. We could not confirm current prices, so look in its store before promising your group a six-player game.

Twosheep

Twosheep (twosheep.io) describes itself as a free Catan alternative with custom boards and adjustable rules. Directory listings describe it as community built, with free sea and knights style expansions. It is smaller than Colonist, so expect fewer strangers online, which matters less if you bring your own group.

Landover and other small apps

Landover: Settle and Expand is a mobile game whose developer set out to make a 10 to 15 minute version of a Catan-style game with simplified rules. The base app is free with paid extras. Settlr is another small free app listed in the same space. Both are fine for a quick game; neither is the full experience.

Isle of Tides on Rondovo

Rondovo is our site, so read this part with that in mind. Isle of Tides is our own game about settling a hex island. It is not Catan, not licensed, and it uses its own names and art. The turn will still feel familiar to a Catan player: roll for resources, trade with the bank, the docks or each other, then build. You build camps, upgrade them to towns, lay canals, and race to ten lanterns. A seven brings the Storm, which blocks a hex.

What makes it worth a look:

• Free with no accounts for guests. One person hosts a room on rondovo.com, friends join on their own screens with a four letter code. Nothing to install.
• 2 to 6 players. It plays with two, which base Catan does not, and with five or six everyone gets a short building window between turns.
• A new map every game. The island is generated fresh each time. A host setting chooses whether the 6 and 8 tiles may sit next to each other.
• Seafarers mode. Turn it on and you start on a main island, then sail ships to small islands across the water. There are gold fields, a Kraken at sea, and two bonus lanterns for your first camp on each new island. The target rises by four.
• A TV is optional. In one room, open rondovo.com/tv in the TV's browser and add it to the room. Apart on a video call, everyone picks "Just this screen" and sees the whole board on their own device, so nobody has to share their screen.
• Computer players. The host can add bots to fill empty seats.

Where it is weaker: there is no ranked matchmaking with strangers, no Cities & Knights equivalent, and it is newer than Colonist, so it has had fewer years of polish. It is built for playing with people you invite.

Comparison: where to play Catan-style games online

Prices are as of October 2026. "Free" means you can play a full game without paying.

How to play Catan online with friends

The setup is similar everywhere.

1. Pick a host. On BGA the host needs Premium. On Colonist or Rondovo anyone can host.
2. Make a private game. Colonist gives you a link. Rondovo gives you a four letter code. BGA lets you invite friends to a table.
3. Get on a call. None of these replace talking, and Catan is a talking game. Trading is half the fun, so use voice if you are apart.
4. Agree on rules before the first roll. Points to win, turn timer, the friendly robber or not. Arguments about house rules start in round three otherwise.
5. Fill empty seats. Colonist and Rondovo both let you add computer players, which helps when only two of you turn up.

Catan refresher: how a turn works

If someone at the table has never played, this is the whole loop.

• The board is 19 land hexes, each producing one resource: brick, lumber, wool, grain or ore (the desert produces nothing). Each hex carries a number from 2 to 12.
• Setup: everyone places two settlements and two roads, the second round in reverse order, so last to place first gets two picks in a row.
• Your turn: roll two dice. Every settlement touching a hex with that number collects one of its resource; cities collect two. Then trade and build.
• Trading: with other players on any terms, or with the bank at 4 to 1. A harbour drops that to 3 to 1, or 2 to 1 for one resource.
• Building: a road costs brick and lumber. A settlement costs brick, lumber, wool and grain. A city costs two grain and three ore. A development card costs ore, wool and grain.
• Rolling a seven moves the robber. It blocks a hex and lets you steal a card, and anyone holding more than seven cards discards half.
• Winning: first to 10 victory points on their own turn. Settlements are worth 1, cities 2, and Longest Road (five or more connected roads) and Largest Army (three or more knights played) are worth 2 each.

Catan strategy tips that actually hold up

Most strategy advice for Catan comes down to probability. Two dice make 7 the most common roll (6 chances in 36), then 6 and 8 (5 in 36 each), then 5 and 9 (4 in 36). A 2 or a 12 comes up once in 36 rolls.

• Count the dots. The small dots under each number show how many ways it can be rolled. Add the dots around a spot before you settle there. A spot touching 6, 8 and 5 is worth far more than one touching 2, 11 and 12.
• Spread your numbers. Three hexes all showing 8 look tempting, but they pay together or not at all. Different numbers keep cards coming every turn.
• Pick a plan in setup. Brick and lumber feed roads and expansion. Grain and ore feed cities and development cards. Trying to do both from a weak start usually does neither.
• Do not ignore ore and grain. Cities double your income, and the city route often wins longer games.
• Watch the seven rule. Holding eight cards when a seven lands costs you four. Spend or trade before you pass the dice.
• Trade with the player in last place. They are happy to deal, and helping them costs you less than helping the leader.
• Use harbours. A 2 to 1 harbour on a resource you produce a lot of turns surplus into whatever you need.
• Keep development cards quiet. Hidden victory points are only hidden if you do not celebrate drawing them.

The same tips work in Isle of Tides and in the fan versions, because the dice maths is the same.

Board games like Catan to play on the table

If your group likes Catan but wants a change, pick by what they enjoy most about it.

For the trading

• Bohnanza. A card game that is almost nothing but trading. You plant beans in a fixed order, so you must bargain away cards you cannot use. Plays up to seven.
• Sidereal Confluence. For 4 to 9 players who want trading at full volume: everyone deals at once, with a long rulebook to match.

For the gateway feel

• Ticket to Ride. Collect coloured train cards and claim routes between cities. 2 to 5 players, easier to teach than Catan, and less arguing. Our Night Express is a rail game in the same family, across a map of the USA; more in games like Ticket to Ride.
• Carcassonne. Draw a tile, place it, claim a road, city or field. 2 to 5 players, calm and quick.

For the resource engine

• Splendor. Take gem chips, buy cards, and let each card make future cards cheaper. 2 to 4 players, about half an hour. On Rondovo, Prism is our gem and patron game in this style; see games like Splendor for more.
• Stone Age. Place workers to gather wood, brick, stone and gold, then turn them into huts and cards. 2 to 4 players.
• Concordia. A calm, deep Roman trading game for 2 to 5 that many Catan fans move on to.
• Terraforming Mars. Much longer and heavier, with a big engine to build. 1 to 5 players.

For the Catan family itself

Seafarers adds ships and islands, Cities & Knights adds barbarians and city upgrades, and the two-player card game turns Catan into a duel. If your group loves the base game, these are the safest next buy.

Ticket to Ride, Splendor, Carcassonne, Concordia, Stone Age and Terraforming Mars can all be played online on Board Game Arena, several as Premium games.

Which one should we play tonight?

• Three or four friends, want official Catan, one person will pay: Catan Universe or BGA.
• Free, in a browser, strangers welcome: Colonist.
• Two of you: Catan's two-player card game, Isle of Tides, or Prism.
• Five or six on a budget: Isle of Tides, which seats six with no paid add-on.
• Everyone in one room with a TV: Isle of Tides on the TV, or Atlas if the group would rather buy up a city (see games like Monopoly). Our TV games without a console guide shows the setup.
• Something lighter after a long game: see our list of free board games online with friends.

Questions people ask

Can you play Catan online for free?

Partly. Catan Universe has a free tier with limited base game matches, and the full game costs Catan Gold. Catan on Board Game Arena needs one Premium member to host. Unofficial games like Colonist let you play a full base game free.

What is the best Catan alternative online for free?

Colonist is the most popular free Catan alternative and the easiest place to find strangers. For a group of friends who want two to six seats with no paid add-ons, Isle of Tides on Rondovo is our own free option.

How many players can play Catan?

The base game is for 3 to 4. The official 5 to 6 player extension takes it to six. Two players need the separate card game or a fan variant.

Can you play Catan with two players online?

Not in the base game. Catan Universe includes the two-player card game, and several unofficial sites, including Isle of Tides, seat two on the board.

Is Colonist the same as Catan?

No. Colonist is an unofficial game with its own name and artwork, made by a separate company. It uses a very similar roll, trade and build loop.

Is Isle of Tides the same as Catan?

No. Isle of Tides is Rondovo's own hex island game. It shares the basic idea of rolling for resources, trading and building, with its own names, art, a fresh map every game, and a Seafarers mode with ships, gold fields and a Kraken.

How long does a game of Catan take?

Catan's publisher says 60 to 90 minutes for the board game. Online, a turn timer is the easiest way to keep it near the short end.

Ready to try a hex island with your own group? Open a room, read out the four letter code, and the first tide stones roll in under a minute.

Catan, Catan Universe, Die Siedler von Catan, Seafarers, Cities & Knights, Traders & Barbarians, Explorers & Pirates, Rivals for Catan, Catan: The Duel, Catan: New Energies, Catan: Console Edition, Board Game Arena, Colonist, Twosheep, Landover, Settlr, Ticket to Ride, Carcassonne, Splendor, Stone Age, Concordia, Terraforming Mars, Bohnanza, Sidereal Confluence, PlayStation, Xbox and App Store are trademarks of their owners. Rondovo is not affiliated with them.