Catan Seafarers is the first big-box expansion for Catan. It was designed in 1998 and with it, we'll discover many new options for our Catan games. One of the most interesting new features of Catan Seafarers is the fact that, starting with this expansion, the creation of the initial scenario, which was already very diverse in the original game, becomes even more varied, as Catan will no longer always be a single island, but can become an entire archipelago of small islands. To move between these islands and access all territories, we'll have another basic innovation: ships. Each player will have fifteen ships that they can combine with their normal roads to move around the entire board. Additionally, they will always have the option of moving the last of their ships placed on a sea route that isn't yet closed between two settlements or cities, to change their strategy. These combined ship and road routes serve as a candidate to become the holder of the Great Trade Route card and the two victory points it grants.
 Another major new feature in Catan Seafarers is the pirates, who join the robbers in hindering player movement. Pirates are placed at the beginning of the game in a hexagon agreed upon by all players, and each time a seven appears on the game dice, the player can choose to move either the robbers or the pirates. If they choose the pirates, they can steal a card from a player whose ship is adjacent to the hexagon where the pirates are placed. The latest addition to the Catan Seafarers rules are gold mines, which provide players adjacent to them with a special resource exchangeable for any other resource. In addition to all these new rules, the game includes eleven pre-generated scenarios with different configurations and objectives. Each of these scenarios instructs us on how to arrange the land, which numbers are available and in what quantities, and whether there are special victory points in the scenario. Many of these scenarios will award victory points for accessing certain territories, so we'll have to build ships to get there, and because of this, some scenarios will increase the number of victory points needed to win the game beyond the traditional ten points.