Catan Classic vs Catanerator
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Catan Classic
Engage in a classic board game of trading, building, and settling. Compete with up to four players online or against AI opponents. Expand your gameplay with purchasable expansions offering new scenarios and mechanics.
- Online multiplayer
- AI opponents with unique strategies
- Trading and resource management
- Expandable gameplay with DLC
- Original rule set
- Game statistics
- Comprehensive tutorial
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"Catan", the legendary strategy game provides gaming fun anytime, anywhere. True to the original game, you can compete with up to four players for the most settlements, the longest roads and the largest army. You can trade with each other and claim the precious land with all its resources. The game allows you to challenge other Catan fans online via cross-platform multiplayer to prove your strategy skills or play against the AI: Various computer opponents, each with their own individual characteristics, will prove themselves worthy competitors: the pirate Jean, who knows no compromise, Vincent the merchant, who never allows himself to be cheated, Sean the knight, who takes what is rightfully his... The popular Catan expansions "Seafarers", "Cities and Knights" and two new special scenarios are available as In-App purchases. The complete Seafarers expansion includes more than 10 additional scenarios with an extensive campaign. Become Harbormaster, discover new islands and extra game elements like ships, gold fields, treasures and pirates. Ahoy! The Cities and Knights expansion introduces various new gameplay mechanics that add even more variety to Catan. Invest new trade goods in city improvements to build one of the three metropolises of Catan – but beware of the barbarians attracted by Catan’s new wealth! You’ll need your best knights to fend them off! C&K contains a short campaign and 7 challenging maps. Exciting adventures await you in the two new scenarios "Enchanted Land" and "The Great Canal". Vanquish dragons and bag their treasures or build a canal to help barren grain fields bloom once more. Features: - Available languages: English, German, French, Dutch, Spanish, Portuguese, Japanese - Original "Settlers of Catan" rule set - Update 4.0+: Synchronous online multiplayer games - Smart computer opponents with individual strategies - Scrollable game board including zoom option - Freely combinable game settings - Game statistics - Comprehensive tutorial - Seafarers LITE: New scenario "The 4 Islands" and two additional game variants - Cities and Knights LITE: Test the new expansion in the scenario “The first Island” - 3 different graphic sets to choose from ***** Catan FAQ: Question: An expansion seems gone after an update or reinstallation of Catan or after restoring the device? Answer: Don’t worry! Your initial purchase is already saved in your iTunes account. You can restore your InApp purchases by selecting the restore-option in the Catan IAP menu. Question: I lost my campaign progress after reinstalling, updating or restoring my device. Is there any way to restore it? Answer: When saved games can’t be automatically restored, we’ve integrated a cheat code: In the campaign mode go to select player and enter „CatanWarp*“ (* = 1–15) as your player name and confirm. Exit the game via the home button and restart it. The campaign can now be continued from the specified level number (1–15). Levels up to the specified number will be unlocked in the custom game mode as well. Question: Are dice rolls really random? Answer: Of course! All dice rolls are 100% random and not modified in any way. We’re avid Catan players ourselves. We’ve played the iOS version hundreds of times while developing the program. There have been times when we won and lost a few games in a row because of the dice - just like when playing the board game! ***** Questions or suggestions for improvements: Mail to ios@usm.de We are looking forward to your feedback! For more information on news and updates: www.usmgames.com or visit us on www.facebook.com/UnitedSoftMedia and twitter.com/USM_News *****
Catanerator
Generate balanced and customizable game boards for Settlers of Catan. This tool helps create fair maps with various configuration options, ensuring no player has an unfair advantage. Enhance your gameplay with expansion pack support.
- Customizable board generation
- Adjacent reds configuration
- Max dots per intersection
- Fair port distribution
- Expansion pack support
- Sea Farers support
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The #1 competitive board generator for Settlers of Catan. With countless configurations, including adjacent reds, max dots per intersection, fair ports, and much more. Upgrade your app for the Expansion packs and Sea Farers. Settlers of Catan is an exciting, strategy, social board game which is played around a randomly generated board. Players collect resources, including wood, brick, sheep, wheat and ore, to trade or build new roads and settlements. First person to 10 points wins. Catanerator is a tool used to generate a board which distributes the odds in a fashion that allows a customizable balance. Now you can play Settlers of Catan with a board which does not give unfair advantages to certain players. Check it out and let us know what you think or what you'd like to see! NOTE: The difference between Catanerator Pro and this is that Pro comes with some of the in app purchases by default. Enjoy!
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Catanerator at Free against Catan Classic's $4.99. Catanerator also leads on review sentiment (55% vs 25%) and rating (4.0 vs 3.7). Catan Classic's advantage is ratings volume (11K vs 236) and chart position (#11 vs unranked). On ads, in-app purchases, monetization model and device support there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Catanerator is free to download; Catan Classic costs $4.99 up front. Catan Classic sells 5 one-off in-app purchases and Catanerator sells 4 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Catanerator holds the better App Store score, 4.0 against 3.7. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Catan Classic has 11K ratings behind it against 236, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 25% of Catan Classic's written reviews are positive against 55% of Catanerator's.
Catan Classic ships an update every 5 months, Catanerator every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on September 26, 2026 and August 9, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Catan Classic | Catanerator |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $4.99 | Free — better |
| Rating | 3.7 (11K ratings) | 4.0 (236 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 24.8% of reviews | 55.2% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 11K — better | 236 |
| Update frequency | Every 5 months | Every 2 months — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Best chart rank | #11 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 11.0 | 8.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 840 MB | 8 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | United Soft Media Verlag GmbH | Elevated Pixels Software |
Customer experience
Catan Classic
Catanerator
User reviews
Catan Classic
From 11K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Fast gameplay
- 👍 Faithful to the board game
- 🎮 Enjoyable AI opponents
- 🕹️ Customizable settings
Room to improve
- 🐛 Frequent crashes
- 🧠 Unfair AI behavior
- 🎲 Questionable dice rolls
- 💰 Expensive expansions
- 🔍 Difficult to see the full board
Catanerator
From 236 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Great map generator
- 👍 Useful tool for game setup
- 💡 Allows for different board configurations
- 🚀 Saves time setting up the game
Room to improve
- 🐛 Crashes on some devices
- 🔒 Paywall for advanced features
- 👎 Difficult to navigate
- 👎 Unclear color-resource mapping
Bugs and requests
Catan Classic
Reported bugs
4 issues- Inability to reconnect to online games
- Freezing when placing the robber
- Disappearing resources and progress
- Inconsistent login and account management
Requested features
4 requests- Online multiplayer improvements
- More game modes and scenarios
- Better UI optimization for newer devices
- Ability to save and resume games
Catanerator
Reported bugs
4 issues- App crashes on startup for some users
- Allows adjacent high-value tiles despite setting
- Resets board when switching between portrait and landscape
- Difficulty distinguishing resource types due to color scheme
Requested features
4 requests- Add support for Seafarers and Cities & Knights expansions
- Implement a dice roller for Knights and Barbarians
- Allow custom tile placement and saving of custom boards
- Improve board balancing and prevent adjacent high-value tiles
In-app purchases
Catan Classic
- The new scenarios$1.99
- Catan - The Islands$1.99
- The Seafarers$4.99
Show 2 moreShow fewer
- Cities & Knights$4.99
- All-expansions Bundle$9.99
Catanerator
- Standard$0.99
- Expansion$1.99
- Seafarers Small$1.99
Show 1 moreShow fewer
- Seafarers Large$1.99
Questions
Is Catan Classic free?
Is Catanerator free?
Which has better reviews, Catan Classic or Catanerator?
Do Catan Classic or Catanerator have ads?
Which is updated more often, Catan Classic or Catanerator?
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