Every map, free
Fifteen boards across three families. Pick one in the lobby; the layout is drawn fresh each game.
New Shores is a free online settlement board game, and this is the whole catalogue. Nothing here is behind a membership or an expansion purchase: the eleven seafaring scenarios and the Cities & Knights board are as free as the base game. The table is generated from the same catalogue the lobby reads, so it is always current.
| Map | Family | Players | Hexes | Wins at | What is different |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Base game | Base game | 2–4 | 19 | 10 VP | The classic rules, nothing added. |
| Quick game | Base game | 2–3 | 10 | 7 VP | A pocket map tuned for ~20 minutes. |
| Large board | Base game | 4–6 | 30 | 12 VP | A bigger island for bigger tables. |
| Island hop | Seafaring | 3–4 | 24 | 10 VP | Your first ships: one channel to a small island. |
| New Shores | Seafaring | 3–4 | 30 | 14 VP | Full seafaring: outer islands, gold, the pirate. |
| The Four Islands | Seafaring | 3–4 | 30 | 13 VP | No mainland — start anywhere, discover everywhere. |
| The Great Crossing | Seafaring | 4–6 | 37 | 14 VP | Two shores, one channel, big tables. |
| New World | Seafaring | 3–4 | 30 | 13 VP | The map itself is drawn fresh every game. |
| Through the Desert | Seafaring | 2–4 | 24 | 12 VP | The frontier is sand, not sea. |
| The Fog Islands | Seafaring | 3–4 | 30 | 12 VP | The map is hidden until you sail into it. |
| The Forgotten Tribe | Seafaring | 2–4 | 51 | 13 VP | Eight islands, already inhabited — bearing gifts. |
| Cities & Knights | Cities & Knights | 2–4 | 19 | 13 VP | A second economy — and an invasion to hold back. |
| The Archipelago | Seafaring | 5–6 | 79 | 15 VP | Three home islands, five islets, a gold heart. |
| Twin Continents | Seafaring | 5–6 | 58 | 15 VP | Two continents, one strait full of islets. |
| The Fog Frontier | Seafaring | 5–6 | 70 | 14 VP | A long mainland between two banks of fog. |
Base game
The classic rules with nothing added, at three sizes. Base game is the 19-hex island everyone knows; Quick game is a 10-hex board that ends at 7 points; Large board is 30 hexes and seats up to six. The core rules →
- Base game — 2–4 players, 10 VP. The classic rules, nothing added.
- Quick game — 2–3 players, 7 VP. A pocket map tuned for ~20 minutes.
- Large board — 4–6 players, 12 VP. A bigger island for bigger tables.
Seafaring
Open water between islands. Ships are roads for the sea, the pirate blockades sea lanes, gold fields pay a free choice, fog hides terrain until you build beside it, and the first settlement on a new island earns a bonus. Eight scenarios, from a single channel to a 21-hex mainland ringed by the islands of the Forgotten Tribe. The seafaring rules → · Play Seafarers online free →
- Island hop — 3–4 players, 10 VP. Your first ships: one channel to a small island.
- New Shores — 3–4 players, 14 VP. Full seafaring: outer islands, gold, the pirate.
- The Four Islands — 3–4 players, 13 VP. No mainland — start anywhere, discover everywhere.
- The Great Crossing — 4–6 players, 14 VP. Two shores, one channel, big tables.
- New World — 3–4 players, 13 VP. The map itself is drawn fresh every game.
- Through the Desert — 2–4 players, 12 VP. The frontier is sand, not sea.
- The Fog Islands — 3–4 players, 12 VP. The map is hidden until you sail into it.
- The Forgotten Tribe — 2–4 players, 13 VP. Eight islands, already inhabited — bearing gifts.
- The Archipelago — 5–6 players, 15 VP. Three home islands, five islets, a gold heart.
- Twin Continents — 5–6 players, 15 VP. Two continents, one strait full of islets.
- The Fog Frontier — 5–6 players, 14 VP. A long mainland between two banks of fog.
Cities & Knights
Cities pay commodities, three improvement tracks unlock abilities and metropolises, knights hold back a barbarian ship that sacks the weakest defender, and 54 progress cards replace the development deck. The Cities & Knights rules → · Play Cities & Knights online free →
- Cities & Knights — 2–4 players, 13 VP. A second economy — and an invasion to hold back.
Common questions
- How many maps are there?
- Fifteen: 3 base boards, 11 seafaring scenarios and one Cities & Knights board. All of them are free and none needs an unlock.
- Is the layout the same every game?
- No. Terrain and number tokens are shuffled per board, and the New World map redraws its coastline every game. Only the fixed features of a scenario — where the water, gold and deserts sit — stay put.
- Which map is fastest?
- Quick game: a 10-hex board for 2–3 players that ends at 7 victory points, tuned for about twenty minutes.
- Which maps take 5 or 6 players?
- Large board (4–6 players, 12 VP), The Great Crossing (4–6 players, 14 VP, with a sea channel to cross), and three maps built for 5–6: The Archipelago, Twin Continents and The Fog Frontier.
- Can I pick the map after creating a room?
- Yes. The host chooses the map in the lobby from a browser that previews the real board; the choice can change until the game starts.
New Shores is an independent project. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, sponsored by or connected to Catan GmbH, Catan Studio, Colonist or any other game publisher. Other games are named only to describe what kind of game this is and to compare it honestly.