The Fog Islands

What you need

CATAN plus Seafarers, the frame, face-up land and sea hexes, number discs, ports, 12 face-down terrain hexes, 10 face-down number discs, pirate and robber, and player pieces.

• Players: 3 or 4.
• Required games: CATAN + Seafarers.
• Generator mode: randomized / variable board.
• 3 players: 14 face-up land + 16 face-up sea hexes and 14 face-up discs, plus 12 empty discovery spaces, a 12-hex face-down terrain stack, and 10 face-down discs; use 8 active harbors.
• 4 players: 17 face-up land + 13 face-up sea hexes and 17 face-up discs, plus the same 12 empty discovery spaces and separate 12-hex / 10-disc stacks; use 9 active harbors.

Before you generate

Leave all 12 white discovery spaces empty. Keep their face-down terrain and number stacks beside the board; the generator randomizes the published face-up island pools, and you shuffle the separate hidden stacks at the table.

Set up the table

1. Use Configure this setup above. It opens the 4-player variable selection by default; choose 3 players when needed, then generate.
2. Place the generated face-up board and leave all 12 discovery spaces empty. Shuffle the 12 face-down terrain hexes and 10 face-down number discs separately, then keep both stacks beside the board.
3. Place the shown harbor types, robber, pirate, and player pieces using the print setup sheet; do not turn hidden stacks into placed tiles.
4. Place starting settlements with roads or ships on one island or two different islands as allowed by the scenario.

Scenario notes

A discovery board with face-down terrain and number stacks waiting beside its fog spaces.

• The two hidden stacks are beside the board, not placed tiles. Discovery and later resource collection follow the scenario rules.

Source reference

CATAN — Seafarers Rulebook, 2025 sixth edition, pages 8–9.