Balance rules & what they do

The "red number" rule says the 6 and 8 number tokens (printed in red because they roll most often, ~13.9% probability each) should never share an edge. Two adjacent reds create a runaway production zone that often decides the game in the first three turns. This generator enforces the rule by default; you can opt out with the "Allow 6 & 8 touching" toggle.

Officially no — the 2025 Catan rulebook specifies they shouldn't. House rules vary; some groups allow it for spicier games, but for tournament play and balanced groups the prohibition is the default.

There is no official rule against it, but most balanced-board generators (including this one) keep them apart by default. Two adjacent extreme-low tokens create a "dead corner" — a settlement spot that produces almost nothing. The toggle "Allow 2 & 12 touching" lets you opt back in.

There is no official rule against it. By default this generator prevents it because two adjacent identical numbers create a dramatically lopsided settlement spot. Toggle "Same numbers may touch" if your group prefers chaotic boards.

There is no official rule against it. By default this generator prevents resource clusters (no two forests adjacent, no two hills adjacent, etc.) so production is geographically diversified. Toggle "Same resources may touch" for a more thematic, continent-style map.

Yes. Official Catan tournaments either use a fixed canonical layout or generate boards with all the standard adjacency rules enforced (no 6/8 adjacency, no 2/12 adjacency, no same-number adjacency). This generator's default settings produce tournament-grade boards.

All four adjacency toggles disabled (the defaults on this site). That gives you no red-on-red, no 2/12 adjacency, no same-number adjacency, and no same-resource adjacency. Many tournaments add the further constraint that high-pip hexes (5/6/8/9) shouldn't cluster — this generator approximates that via the red-number rule.

A board that uses non-official rule modifications agreed by the play group. Common house rules include allowing 6/8 adjacency for variance, raising the victory threshold, or always banning 2/12 adjacency even though it's not in the official rulebook. This generator lets you encode any combination as toggles.

When the placement algorithm reaches a hex where every remaining number would violate an active rule, the entire attempt restarts with a fresh shuffle. Up to 400 attempts are made before the generator falls back to a relaxed pass that guarantees a board. This brute-force approach is fast (a few hundred milliseconds) and produces a uniform distribution across all valid configurations.

Yes — disable all four toggles for the strict balanced board, or enable just same-resource adjacency for a thematic but still balanced map. For experienced players who want a real challenge, try the Seafarers map generator: the multi-island layout punishes greedy expansion and rewards careful ship-building.