Overview
Catan Junior is a simplified version of Settlers of Catan with a pirate theme. Players build pirates’ lairs and ships on a fixed island board, collecting resources when islands produce goods. A Ghost Captain blocks production, and Coco the parrot provides helpful bonuses. The first player to build all 7 of their pirates’ lairs wins.
Components
- 1 double-sided game board (3-4 player side / 2-player side)
- 28 pirates’ lairs (7 per color in 4 colors)
- 32 ships (8 per color in 4 colors)
- 1 Ghost Captain figure
- 1 die
- Resource tiles (cutlasses, goats, wood, gold, molasses)
- Coco tiles (parrot bonus tiles)
- 4 building costs tiles (1 per player)
Setup
- Place the board (3-4 player side for 3-4 players; 2-player side for 2 players).
- Place the Ghost Captain on Spooky Island.
- Each player chooses a color and takes 7 pirates’ lairs and 8 ships.
- Place 1 pirate’s lair on each of your 2 color-coded starting lair-sites and 1 ship on each of your 2 starting ship-sites.
- Keep remaining 5 lairs and 6 ships as your supply.
- Sort resource tiles into 5 types as stockpile.
- Place 1 of each resource tile on the 5 marketplace booths.
- Shuffle Coco tiles and place face-down in a stack.
- Each player takes their building costs tile and receives 1 wood + 1 molasses tile.
Turn Structure
Youngest player goes first; play proceeds clockwise.
1. Roll the Die:
- All islands showing the rolled number produce resources.
- Every player with a pirate’s lair adjacent to a producing island receives 1 matching resource tile per lair.
- If you have 2 lairs next to the same island, you get 2 resources.
2. Roll a 6 — Ghost Captain:
- No resources are produced.
- Move the Ghost Captain to any island of your choice.
- Take 2 resource tiles of that island’s type from the stockpile.
- That island produces nothing for anyone while the Ghost Captain is there.
3. Build and Buy (active player only):
- Pirates’ lair: 1 cutlass + 1 molasses + 1 goat + 1 wood. Must be on an empty lair-site adjacent to one of your ships.
- Ship: 1 goat + 1 wood. Must be on an empty ship-site adjacent to one of your lairs.
- Coco tile: 1 cutlass + 1 molasses + 1 gold. Flip and resolve immediately.
- Build/buy as many times as resources allow.
4. Trade (active player only):
- Marketplace (once per turn): Take any 1 resource from the marketplace; place 1 of your resources on that same booth.
- Stockpile (unlimited): Trade 2 identical resource tiles to the stockpile for any 1 resource tile.
Actions
Coco tile effects (resolve immediately when purchased):
- Move the Ghost Captain (as if you rolled a 6)
- Build a pirates’ lair or ship for free
- Receive the 4 resources shown from the stockpile
Spooky Island lair: The player with the most Coco tiles places a lair on Spooky Island (this counts toward the 7 needed to win). If another player ties or surpasses your Coco count, you remove the lair; the new leader places theirs instead.
Scoring / Victory Conditions
The first player to build all 7 pirates’ lairs wins immediately. A lair on Spooky Island counts as one of the 7.
Special Rules & Edge Cases
- You must build in alternating fashion: lair then ship, or ship then lair. You cannot build past another player’s lair or ship, and you cannot share lair-sites or ship-sites.
- Marketplace reset: If 5 tiles of the same type accumulate in the marketplace, remove all marketplace tiles and refill with 1 of each type.
- Resource shortage: If the stockpile runs out of a resource type, all players return all of their tiles of that type to the stockpile. That resource becomes available on the next turn.
- The board has no “6” printed on any island (rolling 6 always triggers the Ghost Captain).
- Advanced rule (optional): Players may trade resources directly with each other on the active player’s turn.
Player Reference
| Building |
Cost |
Requirement |
| Pirates’ lair |
1 cutlass + 1 molasses + 1 goat + 1 wood |
Empty lair-site adjacent to your ship |
| Ship |
1 goat + 1 wood |
Empty ship-site adjacent to your lair |
| Coco tile |
1 cutlass + 1 molasses + 1 gold |
Immediate bonus effect |
| Trade Type |
Details |
| Marketplace |
1 per turn: swap 1 resource for 1 from marketplace |
| Stockpile |
Unlimited: 2 identical resources for 1 of any type |
Win condition: First to build all 7 pirates’ lairs