How to play Starfarers

Starfarers is the digital version of Catan: Starfarers. You command a mothership and a fleet of colony and trade ships, voyaging across the galaxy to settle planets, befriend alien civilizations, and build the greatest spacefaring empire. The first commander to reach 15 victory points wins.

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Goal

Earn 15 victory points (VP). You score points by building colonies (1 VP each) and spaceports (2 VP), establishing trade stations and earning alien friendship markers (2 VP), collecting fame medals, and conquering pirate bases or terraforming ice planets.

The turn

1. Production — roll the two dice. Every planet showing the rolled number produces its resource for players with an adjacent colony (1) or spaceport (2). Resources are fuel, food, ore, carbon, and trade goods.
2. Trade & Build — trade with the bank (3:1, or 2:1 for food) or with other players, then spend resources to build.
3. Flight — shake the mothership to set your speed, then fly your ships across space to explore, establish colonies, and dock at outposts. Some flights trigger an encounter.

Building & costs

• Colony ship — flies out to found a new colony.
• Trade ship — flies out to dock at an alien outpost and open a trade station.
• Spaceport — upgrades one of your colonies; doubles production and is worth 2 VP.
• Mothership upgrades — boosters (more flight speed), cannons (more combat strength against pirates), and freight pods (needed to terraform ice planets and to open trade stations where rivals already trade).

Flight, exploring & colonies

Each turn you shake the mothership: the colored ball sets your flight speed (plus your boosters). Move your ships up to that many steps along the space lanes — you can't end on an occupied point. Reaching an unexplored system reveals it. Land a colony ship at an open colony site (touching two or more planets, clear of pirates/ice) to found a colony.

Outposts & friendship cards

Dock a trade ship at an alien outpost to open a trade station and receive a friendship card from that civilization, each with a unique power. The player with the most trade stations at an outpost holds its friendship marker, worth 2 VP.

Encounters, pirates & ice

If your shaken ball is black, you draw an encounter card — meeting merchants, travelers, distress calls, or pirates, with offers and choices that grant or cost resources, fame, and upgrades. Pirate bases are defeated when your combat strength beats their threshold (flip to a fame medal). Ice planets are terraformed when you have enough freight pods.

Rolling a 7

On a 7 there's no production: anyone holding more than the limit must discard half their hand, and the active player steals a card.

Playing online or solo

Start a single-player game against AI commanders (easy, normal, or hard), or play online multiplayer by creating or joining a room and inviting friends. It all runs in your browser — nothing to download.

Starfarers is an unofficial fan project and is not affiliated with or endorsed by Catan GmbH or Catan Studio. "CATAN" and "Catan: Starfarers" are trademarks of Catan GmbH.