Short answer

The free Catan 5–6 player board generator: 30 land hexes, 28 number tokens, all four balance toggles, and a permanent share URL for every map. The 5–6 expansion stretches the classic radius-2 hex into a 3-4-5-6-5-4-3 row layout — and the extra area changes how balanced the standard rules feel.

Catan 5–6 expansion: what's different

The Catan 5–6 player expansion adds 11 land hexes to the base game, going from 19 to 30 total. The layout becomes an elongated hex with seven rows (3-4-5-6-5-4-3 hexes per row). There are two desert hexes instead of one and an extra set of number tokens (one each of 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12). Settlement spots are tighter with six players, so balance matters more here than in the classic game.

Resource & number distribution (5–6 expansion)

Forest (wood): 6 hexes
Hills (brick): 5 hexes
Fields (wheat): 6 hexes
Pasture (sheep): 6 hexes
Mountains (ore): 5 hexes
Desert: 2 hexes

Number tokens (28 total): 2×3, 3×3, 4×3, 5×3, 6×3, 8×3, 9×3, 10×3, 11×3, 12×3 — three of each non-7 number, with the same red-on-red prohibition by default.

Why use this Catan expansion map generator

Balance toggles work the same way as the base game. Default rules produce a fair Catan map; loosen any constraint for more chaos.
Two desert handling. The robber starts on the first desert; the second desert just sits there for thematic balance.
Share with five friends in two clicks. Stateless seed URLs mean no app, no account, no expiry.
Mobile-first. The 30-hex board scales to fit a phone screen comfortably.

Recommended rules for 5–6 player Catan

With six players, settlement spots become scarce — there are only ~10 reasonable spots after the first round. We recommend keeping all defaults on (no rule loosening) for the most balanced setup. If your group enjoys high-variance games, allow same-resource adjacency to create resource clusters that reward bold early settlement choices. Avoid enabling 6/8 adjacency in 5–6 player games unless you specifically want a chaotic, swingy session — adjacent reds tend to be punishing in already-tight 6-player boards.

5–6 player balance notes: why the math changes

The jump from 19 to 30 hexes does more than make the board bigger — it shifts the underlying probability picture in three concrete ways, and the generator's balance constraints adjust accordingly.

1. Twice the red-number tokens. The 5–6 expansion uses three 6s and three 8s instead of one each. On a 30-hex map, that's six red tokens competing for non-adjacency. The classic "no two reds touch" rule is still satisfiable, but the constraint solver has to work harder — there are now over forty pairs of adjacent hex positions, and six reds need to be distributed so no pair lands together. Random shuffles fail this check far more often than on the base board.

2. The expected-yield curve flattens. Each non-desert hex still rolls at its dice-distribution rate (a 6-hex still rolls 5/36 of the time), but there are more 6s and 8s on the board, so the chance that any given turn produces a red-token payout is higher. That tilts the strategic balance toward the player who locked in two red-adjacent settlements early; the no-adjacent-reds constraint partially offsets that, but six-player games still play faster and more swingy on average.

3. Settlement scarcity bites earlier. The 30-hex stretched layout has roughly 56 settlement intersections, but only the high-pip, multi-resource corners are worth fighting for. With six players placing two settlements each, twelve settlements consume the prime real estate immediately. The generator's resource-diversification constraint matters more here than in the base game — a corner that touches three of the same resource is much more likely to land an unlucky fourth or fifth player on a wasteland.

The practical takeaway: leave the default balance constraints on for 5–6 player games unless your group specifically wants a chaotic session. The defaults exist precisely because the larger board amplifies any imbalance, not because the math is more conservative.

Common questions about the Catan 5–6 board generator

How many hexes are on a Catan 5–6 expansion board?

30 land hexes total: 11 more than the base game. The layout is a stretched hex with rows of 3-4-5-6-5-4-3 hexes.

How many number tokens does the Catan 5–6 expansion use?

28 tokens (30 hexes minus 2 deserts). The expansion adds one of each non-7 number to the base 18 tokens, giving you three of each non-extreme number and three of the red 6 and 8.

Can I share a 5–6 generated Catan map with my group?

Yes — every generated map has a permanent URL like /board/<seed>. Anyone who opens the link sees the exact same board.

Is this an official Catan tool?

No. CATAN® is a trademark of CATAN GmbH; this is a free fan-made Catan expansion generator with original placeholder visuals.