How to play a Catan-style game with five or six players
A five- or six-player Catan-style game needs a bigger island and a way to cut the wait between turns. In Hearthsea the island grows to 30 hexes with 11 harbors, and on every turn the player three seats to the roller’s left gets a build phase of their own. That is the paired-turn rule CATAN now uses in place of the old special building phase.
Why does five or six players need different rules?
With five or six players, the base rules leave everyone waiting through four or five other turns and fighting over too few corners.
- The wait. With six players you roll once in every six turns, and in the base game you can only build on your own turn.
- The island. Six players place 12 starting settlements before anyone rolls, which a 19-hex island can’t hold well.
- The 7s. Six rolls pass between the end of your turn and your next chance to spend, so the chance that at least one is a 7 is 1 − (5/6)6 ≈ 67%.
The upside is more people to trade with, and a big table is a great game night when the pacing works.
How the official rules handle it
The CATAN 5–6 player extension adds hexes, harbors and pieces for two more colours. For years it also used a special building phase: after each turn, every other player could build in order. CATAN has since replaced that with a paired-turn rule, announced with the 5–6 player extension for CATAN Universe.
Under the paired rule there are two active players on every turn. Settler 1 rolls and takes a normal turn. Then Settler 2, the third player to Settler 1’s left, gets a trade and build phase of their own. Settler 2 may trade with the bank but not with other players. CATAN’s announcement says the rule “officially replaces the previous ‘Special Building Phase’”.
How Hearthsea plays five and six
Hearthsea uses the paired turn. Whenever five or six players sit at the table, each turn ends with a paired build phase for the player three seats to the roller’s left. In that phase you can:
- build roads, settlements and cities (and ships on Seafarers maps, passes on Highlands maps), and buy development cards;
- trade with the bank, at your harbor rates;
- play one development card.
You can’t roll, and you can’t trade with other players. Because the pairing moves round with the turn, everyone gets exactly one paired phase per round on top of their own turn. And if a build or a card in your paired phase takes you to the target, you win on the spot.
The bigger island
Hearthsea also grows the board. With five or six players, the Standard and Balanced islands deal the 30-hex layout of Big Island, and the deck grows to match.
| 2–4 players | 5–6 players | |
|---|---|---|
| Land hexes | 19 | 30 |
| Deserts | 1 | 2 |
| Harbors | 9 | 11 |
| Development cards | 25 | 34 |
| Knights in the deck | 14 | 20 |
Big Island uses the 30-hex layout at any player count. With a pass you can also choose the large map size, which gives five or six players a 37-hex island with room to spread out. Seafarers maps grow the same way, and each deals one extra gold field when five or six are playing.
Strategy at a crowded table
Make your first settlement count
Twelve starting settlements on 30 hexes use up the good corners quickly, and your second placement is often a leftover. Put the first one on the scarcest resource on the board, on numbers that pay, with room for a road toward a second spot. The strategy guide shows how to count pips and scarcity.
Use your paired phase to dodge the 7
The paired phase changes the 7 math. At a six-player table it comes after the next three rolls, so the chance of a 7 before you can spend again is 1 − (5/6)3 ≈ 42%, against 67% if you had to wait for your own turn. With five players it comes after two rolls, about 31%. If you end your turn holding 8 or more cards, plan to spend them in your paired phase.
Value harbors more
In the paired phase the bank is your only trading partner, so a harbor turns that phase into real buying power. The bigger island has 11 of them, two more than the standard one.
Trade on your own turn, and ask everyone
Player trades happen only on the roller’s turn. Offers go to the whole table at once, and with five rivals someone usually needs what you have spare. Just don’t feed the leader in the last few rounds.
Expect the robber
With five rivals, someone always has a 7 coming or a knight in hand, and the leader’s best hex draws the robber. Don’t race ahead early on points you can’t protect. With 20 knights in the deck, expect a fight for Largest Army too.
Settings for a big table
- Turn timer. Set 60, 90 or 120 seconds so one slow turn doesn’t stall five people.
- Bot speed. If bots fill some seats, the swift pace keeps their turns short.
- Points to win. Ten is the default. Raise it on the large map size, or drop it for a shorter night.
- Friendly robber. For a table with new players, it keeps the robber off anyone showing 2 points or fewer.
Online, a player who drops out has two minutes to rejoin before a Merchant bot takes the seat and plays on, so a big game never stalls on one lost connection.
How to play with five or six
Around one device
Pass-and-play is free. On the Set the table screen, tap Add a friend for each person, up to six seats, and the Standard and Balanced islands grow by themselves. It counts as one of the signed-in account’s 3 free games that day. Passing one phone round six people is slow, so a tablet in the middle of the table works better.
Online, everyone on their own phone
The host needs the pass for the mode: the Classic Pass at $3.99 a month or $29.99 a year, for sea maps the Seafarers Pass at $4.99 a month, for Highlands maps the Highlands Pass at $4.99 a month, or the All-modes Pass at $8.99 a month for all three. The host creates a room and shares the four-letter code. Friends join on free accounts, and for them the game counts as one of their 3 free games that day. Four friends and two bots make a full table. A pass also unlocks quick match, which finds strangers by mode, map size and player count.
Our guide to playing online with friends covers rooms and invites step by step.
Questions people ask
Can you play Catan with 6 players?
The base game is for three or four. The 5–6 player extension adds the board and pieces for five or six. Hearthsea, a Catan-style game, seats 2 to 6 in every mode and grows the island for five or six by itself.
What replaced the special building phase?
In the older 5–6 rules every other player could build after each turn. CATAN has replaced that with a paired turn: the third player to the active player’s left gets a trade and build phase, trading with the bank only. Hearthsea uses the paired turn.
Can you trade with other players during the paired build phase?
No. In the paired phase you trade with the bank and your harbors only. Player trades happen on the roller’s turn.
How can six people play a Catan-style game online?
In Hearthsea, one host with a pass creates a private room and five friends join with its four-letter code on free accounts. On a single device, pass-and-play for up to six is free, 3 games a day.
Which map is best for six players?
Any Classic island works: Standard and Balanced grow to 30 hexes for five or six, and Big Island is that size at any count. With a pass, the large map size gives six players a 37-hex island.
Sources
Facts about Hearthsea come from the game itself and its rules and pricing pages. Facts about other games come from their publishers and the sources below. All were checked on 8 October 2026.
- CATAN: CATAN Universe 5–6 player extension with new rule now available
- Colonist rules: 5–6 and 7–8 players (special build phase and deck sizes)
- Hearthsea rules: five and six players, table settings
- Probabilities are computed from the 36 equally likely outcomes of two six-sided dice.
Keep reading
Fill the table
Make a free account and play with up to six on one device, or with bots, on the Standard and Balanced maps, the Seafarers island New Shores or the Highlands map The Peaks, 3 games a day. A pass adds every map of its mode and online rooms for your friends, from $3.99 a month.
CATAN is a registered trademark of Catan GmbH. Hearthsea is an independent game and is not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by Catan GmbH or its publishers. Other game names belong to their owners and are used here only to describe and compare.