Map intelligence

Catan Board Analyzer and Starting Position Calculator

Turn a saved board into a practical opening plan. The analyzer compares every legal settlement intersection, recommends compatible opening pairs, and explains how the board changes for different seats.

Try an example Generate a Classic Catan board · 3–4 players Generate a 5–6 player Expansion board

Example board

This example highlights the best starting spots and an opening pair. Generate your own board to explore the full analysis.

Intersection map
All Ixx settlement spots are shown directly on the board.
Top 10 overall
Best pair spots
Best pair link
Wood 5 5 T1 Sheep 10 10 T2 Wheat 8 8 T3 Brick 2 2 T4 Ore 9 9 T5 Brick 11 11 T6 Sheep 4 4 T7 Wood 6 6 T8 Wheat 4 4 T9 Desert T10 Wood 3 3 T11 Ore 11 11 T12 Wheat 3 3 T13 Sheep 5 5 T14 Wheat 6 6 T15 Sheep 12 12 T16 Ore 8 8 T17 Brick 10 10 T18 Wood 9 9 T19 I01 = Sheep 10 / Wood 5 I01 I02 = Sheep 10 / Ore 9 / Wood 5 I02 4 I03 = Ore 9 / Wood 5 / Brick 2 I03 I04 = Wood 5 / Brick 2 I04 I05 = Wood 5 I05 I06 = Wood 5 I06 I07 = Sheep 10 / Wheat 8 I07 I08 = Brick 11 / Sheep 10 / Wheat 8 I08 6 I09 = Brick 11 / Sheep 10 / Ore 9 I09 10 I10 = Sheep 10 I10 I11 = Wheat 8 I11 I12 = Wheat 8 / Sheep 4 I12 I13 = Brick 11 / Wheat 8 / Sheep 4 I13 8 I14 = Wheat 8 I14 I15 = Ore 9 / Wheat 4 / Brick 2 I15 I16 = Wood 6 / Wheat 4 / Brick 2 I16 I17 = Wood 6 / Brick 2 I17 I18 = Brick 2 I18 I19 = Brick 11 / Ore 9 I19 I20 = Ore 9 / Wheat 4 I20 I21 = Brick 11 / Sheep 4 / Wood 3 I21 I22 = Brick 11 / Wood 3 I22 I23 = Sheep 4 I23 I24 = Ore 11 / Sheep 4 I24 I25 = Ore 11 / Sheep 4 / Wood 3 I25 I26 = Wood 6 / Wheat 4 / Wheat 3 I26 I27 = Wood 6 / Wheat 3 I27 I28 = Wood 6 I28 I29 = Wood 6 I29 I30 = Sheep 5 / Wheat 4 I30 I31 = Sheep 5 / Wheat 4 / Wheat 3 I31 I32 = Wheat 6 / Wood 3 I32 I33 = Wheat 6 / Sheep 5 I33 I34 = Sheep 12 / Ore 11 / Wood 3 I34 I35 = Sheep 12 / Wheat 6 / Wood 3 I35 I36 = Ore 11 I36 I37 = Ore 11 I37 I38 = Sheep 12 / Ore 11 I38 I39 = Ore 8 / Sheep 5 / Wheat 3 I39 5 I40 = Ore 8 / Wheat 3 I40 9 I41 = Wheat 3 I41 I42 = Brick 10 / Wheat 6 / Sheep 5 I42 3 I43 = Brick 10 / Ore 8 / Sheep 5 I43 2 I44 = Sheep 12 / Wood 9 / Wheat 6 I44 7 I45 = Brick 10 / Wood 9 / Wheat 6 I45 1 I46 = Sheep 12 I46 I47 = Sheep 12 / Wood 9 I47 I48 = Brick 10 / Ore 8 I48 I49 = Ore 8 I49 I50 = Ore 8 I50 I51 = Brick 10 / Wood 9 I51 I52 = Brick 10 I52 I53 = Wood 9 I53 I54 = Wood 9 I54 3:1 3:1 3:1 3:1 Sheep Sheep Brick Brick 3:1 3:1 Wood Wood Ore Ore Wheat Wheat 3:1 3:1

Best Starting Intersections

  1. I45 — Brick 10 / Wood 9 / Wheat 6
  2. I43 — Brick 10 / Ore 8 / Sheep 5
  3. I42 — Brick 10 / Wheat 6 / Sheep 5

Top Opening Pair

I43 + I45

Generate a Classic Catan board

Android companion

Take your board planning to Android

Hex Strategist for CATAN

Generate Classic boards and explore starting-position analytics on your phone with Hex Strategist for CATAN. You can keep using the full web toolkit here.

View on Google Play
Scan with your phone to open Google Play
Scan with your phone to open Google Play

Learn by playing

Four opening decisions. Tap a spot, try a road, and see your resources come to life.

▶ Try opening practice
Open-source browser extension

Import a Board Game Arena board

Use the unofficial Catan BGA Analyzer Chrome extension to import a visible Classic Catan board into this analyzer. Only board tiles, number tokens and harbors are transferred. The extension does not send player names, cards, chat or BGA login data. Use live analysis only where Board Game Arena and everyone at the table permit it.

Get the BGA analyzer extension View source and installation guide

How the settlement calculator scores a board

Each legal intersection receives a score based on the production probability of its adjacent numbers and the mix of resources it can collect. That makes it easier to compare high-output locations with more flexible, diverse starts.

  • Probability and diversity

    Number frequency and resource coverage are evaluated together, so a productive spot is not mistaken for a complete opening by itself.

  • City and road starts

    Separate rankings show which intersections suit early city production and which better support roads and outward expansion.

  • Harbor synergy

    Port access is weighed against the resources a location actually produces, including shuffled harbor layouts saved with a map.

  • Resource scarcity

    The board-wide profile identifies scarce and abundant resources so you can judge when a specialist start is valuable or risky.

Opening-pair and seat-specific advice

The strongest single spot is not always the best Catan opening placement. Existing analytics combine two non-conflicting settlements, compare their joint production and coverage, and rank opening pairs for the saved board.

Seat plans then adjust recommendations for draft timing, contested intersections, recovery options and the number of players. Classic boards receive three- and four-player guidance, while expansion maps use the supported five- and six-player scenarios.

The result is a reusable Catan starting position analyzer rather than a second, disconnected scoring system: this page sends your map code directly to the same analytics implementation used by saved maps and the Map of the Day.

Generate or analyze a Catan map

Generate a board, then open its analysis. Keep the automatically saved code or share link to return to it later.

Generate a Classic Catan board Generate a 5–6 player Expansion board Browse analyzed Maps of the Day
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