The Settlers of Catan, or simply Catan, is a beloved board game first published in 1995 in Germany. More than 25 years later, it now includes numerous expansions, a digital version, and has fans worldwide, with over 40 million copies in 40 different languages sold.
Catan 3D was a special 10th-anniversary edition released back in 2005 featuring awesome 3D resource tiles. Luckily, this version has been revived due to its popularity. This may be no surprise, but the drawback is its $300 price tag.
So, why not 3D print your own Catan 3D? Or at the very least, spice up your old board with some cool new customized or themed parts?
We know that makers REALLY love Catan, so fire up your printer and prepare yourself: We’ve compiled a list of the best Catan models out there. And the best part is you don’t have to pay for the design files: They’re all free.
Now if you’re a fan but find these models to be too much of a commitment, don’t fret! Try Craftcloud by All3DP! You can have the parts professionally printed and save all of your effort for establishing hegemony over Catan.
Let’s jump in!
Handy & Functional
These are the models that should enhance the gameplay by providing extra organization during the game or speeding up the board set up so you can focus solely on your strategy.
Puzzle Tile Adapter
Catan is traditionally either simply placed on a flat board or held with magnets. But there may be cleverer ways to secure your Catan board for intense gameplay. While magnets certainly ensure good attachment, they are a hassle to place in every single tile you print, and then on the frame as well.
By contrast, the puzzle method can be used seamlessly. In fact, many comments mention they were able to use it without trouble and find it preferable to the magnet method. There are only five files, but you’ll need multiple repeats of each, so follow the instructions provided carefully. There are also different sizes and types, but the creator has provided instructions.
- Who designed it? MikeJacobi
- How printable/popular is it? This model has had six makes shared so far. Comments recall that they work without a problem and offer great interlocking.
- Where to find it? Thingiverse
Catan Accessory Boxes
Keeping your board pieces – plus expansions, a deck of cards, tokens, characters, and more – organized and safe can be quite the challenge. So with this model, you can keep all your Catan utensils from getting lost or damaged.
It includes boxes or shelves for props, cards, numbers, and all-purpose boxes for any other item you’ll need. If you already have some organizing compartments you can choose to print only the ones you need. Or you can print them all.
- Who designed it? ricxvision
- How printable/popular is it? Nearly 500 users have downloaded this model, and you can be the first one to share your own make of it.
- Where to find it? Cults
In-Game Piece Holder
This cool-looking piece holder will prevent you from dropping the smaller parts and spending five minutes looking for them on the floor mid-game. Also, say goodbye to counting pieces after the game: Simply place them on the holder to make sure everything is there, then call it a night.
The model was specially designed for the Cities & Knights expansion but should work with the regular base game too.
- Who designed it? Druppy
- How printable/popular is it? So far, there haven’t been any community prints posted, but the model has been downloaded almost 1,000 times. Although supports don’t seem to be needed, you may need to watch out for warping because of the model’s large surface area.
- Where to find it? MyMiniFactory
Modular Card Holder
This is a simple yet useful modular cardholder to keep resource cards organized while you play. Each module is printed separately and either glued or bolted together (both options are available).
Do your friends a favor and add this to your game night.
- Who designed it? Julius3E8
- How printable/popular is it? So far, this model has five makes and a few remixes posted. It seems like supports aren’t necessary, as the overhang angle is gradual enough to take care of any overhang.
- Where to find it? Thingiverse
Dice Cup
Rolling dice is a skill. Not only to get the number you want but to keep them from falling all over the place. And the greater your Catan game, the less space on the table for the dice.
With this dice cup, though, you can throw your dice without concern. Although any cup could technically suffice, this one goes with the overall theme so you don’t lose your Catan immersion.
- Who designed it? Dragon_Ball_Z
- How printable/popular is it? This useful dice cup has three makes. The creator recommends upscaling to a 1:2 ratio.
- Where to find it? Thingiverse
Box Insert Organizer
Turn the box upside down or jostle it around, this organizer will keep all of the game’s pieces, tiles, and cards neatly inside the box.
This design is composed of several parts that are printed separately, mostly without supports.
- Who designed it? brettmcgin
- How printable/popular is it? There are three makes posted, but plenty of people claim to have successfully printed these models in the comments.
- Where to find it? Thingiverse
Magnetic Tile Holder
It really doesn’t get much worse than spending 10 minutes sticking tiles together, then spending the rest of the game trying to keep them in place. This magnetic tile holder system is designed to keep the tiles from coming apart.
The original designer suggests using two shells and a 0.3-mm layer height. Each piece requires six 1.5 x 3 mm magnets that are glued to the 3D printed parts.
- Who designed it? saiyanslayer
- How printable/popular is it? So far, two different makes and three remixes have been posted. Some makers had to resize their hexagons to fit their Catan tiles.
- Where to find it? Thingiverse
Borders
These 3D printed borders should keep all of the board’s tile pieces from slipping and popping out during the game.
The models were designed in inches, so depending on your slicer, you might need to resize the model accordingly (25.4 times larger, to be exact).
- Who designed it? kellogg816
- How printable/popular is it? There are currently five makes posted by users that used either PLA or PETG. The pieces are sectioned, so you don’t need to worry about printer size.
- Where to find it? Thingiverse
Hex Bowls
These hexagon-shaped boxes are a great way to store all those pieces from the classic game and all of its expansions, as small bags often get ripped over time.
The snap-fit lids are a great addition. A bit of resizing might be required depending on how your 3D printer is calibrated. Users recommend an infill of about 20%.
- Who designed it? mathgrrl
- How printable/popular is it? Six makes have been posted, mostly in PLA. There are also three remixes posted with some minor design changes.
- Where to find it? Thingiverse
Complete Sets & Expansions
Here’s what most of you were probably looking for: entire Catan boards with tiles, tokens, and pieces. Most of them look prettier than the original, but some post-processing skills may be required.
Cities & Knights & Seafarers
These are the most popular Catan expansions, and thanks to this Maker, you can 3D print them yourself, as many times as you want, then play the longest game in Catan history.
Since there are so many parts and small details, the creator has provided detailed instructions on what to print and how to assemble each one. You can print the parts with multicolor printing or print them separately, then assemble them – which the creator took into account in their design. A user mentioned some issues with warping, so brims can be a good solution.
- Who designed it? MioPrint
- How printable/popular is it? There are 5 makes and 665 downloads. You can use multicolored printing or go crazy with paintwork!
- Where to find it? Printables
Travel-sized Catan
As you would expect for a travel set, it’s made to not occupy too much space and be easy to play while on the move. It doesn’t have all the fancy 3D details other 3D printed sets have, but for a travel set, we need practicality over looks.
You can carry it in the box included with the models, and it also has a base to keep it all together while splayed out. So, playing in a setting like a train or a long car ride shouldn’t be impossible.
- Who designed it? Tarpon907
- How printable/popular is it? There are 180 downloads and a couple of makes, so far. It doesn’t include the cards, but the box has enough extra space to fit them. Some pieces are meant for dual printing.
- Where to find it? Printables
Five-Six Player Multicolor
This is yet another awesome-looking board, and it offers the possibility of adding one or two players to the regular four-person Catan game. Besides the water tiles, each tile is unique – even those for the same resource, which is rather cool.
The thing about this board is that it requires a huge amount of magnets: 460 spherical 5.0-mm diameter magnets for the five- to six-player version (12 per resource tile).
- Who designed it? Mystik738
- How printable/popular is it? So far, 12 different makes have been posted. Most were printed in PLA, then later handpainted. Depending on the number of players, you may need a small sum of 200-500 magnets, so be ready to buy in bulk.
- Where to find it? Thingiverse
Laser-Cut or CNC
Just to change things up a bit, here’s a complete Catan board that can be made by CNC router or laser cutting. It was designed by Glowforge, a laser cutter hardware manufacturer, but it’s open for everyone to download. Thingiverse user Carlotta4th made a few changes and reposted the design on the platform, as well.
Though the overall look of this board is quite different from the other sets on this list, it still looks pretty awesome and is a great alternative to 3D printing a complete board set.
- Who designed it? Glowforge, modified by Carlotta4th
- How printable/popular is it? There are currently four makes and two different remixes posted on Thingiverse. The pieces should have a clean fit, but depending on your cutter’s settings, you may have to do some sanding.
- Where to find it? Glowforge, Thingiverse
Monocolor
This is a complete three- to four-player set that can be printed with a single nozzle printer. It comprises all resource tiles and player pieces – settlements, cities, and roads – in different themes.
The quantities required for each part are listed under the “Thing Details” tab, including the link to the official Catan cards in case one would like to purchase them. The author recommends running a mesh repair in some of the water pieces for nicer print results.
- Who designed it? trevorclarke
- How printable/popular is it? This is quite a popular model, with over 30 shared makes and 9 remixes!
- Where to find it? Thingiverse
Multicolor
This design is perhaps the most popular and stunning 3D printed Catan board of all time. While it was specially designed to be printed with Prusa’s multi-material upgrade, it’s possible to print the parts separately and paint them before assembly.
It also includes a magnetic system to keep all of the tiles together. The level of detail is quite impressive, so make sure to use a small layer height for a higher resolution. There are plenty of models, mods, and remixes available that are compatible with this design, including this cool-looking storage box.
- Who designed it? Dakanzla
- How printable/popular is it? Five users have posted pictures of their prints, and this gorgeous set has been downloaded over 7,000 times!
- Where to find it? MyMiniFactory
Easier-to-Print Multicolor
If you’re torn between the easy-to-print mono-color board and awesome multi-material ones, here’s the model for you. It’s based on the multicolored set above but can be printed with multiple colors by swapping the filament at pre-defined heights.
The author has provided all of the original Tinkercad files, making it possible to customize or slightly adjust the models.
- Who designed it? Hardcore3D
- How printable/popular is it? So far, no makes have been posted on Cults, but the model has been downloaded over 920 times.
- Where to find it? Cults
Oil Springs
The settlers have discovered oil! This expansion set has everything you need to enhance your 3D printed Catan board based on the Oil Springs of Catan expansion, including the five- to six-player version. A PDF with the official instructions for this version is also provided.
- Who designed it? MDesigner423
- How printable/popular is it? Two makes have been posted, and both were handpainted (and look awesome).
- Where to find it? Thingiverse
Mods & Themes
This category includes complete boards or different bits and pieces that either change the overall game mechanics or simply enhance its aesthetics.
Game of Thrones
When you play the game of Catan, you win or you die. Or maybe not. With these Game of Thrones add-ons, you can add a little bit of a theme and a little bit of roleplay to your Catan experience.
These designs are ideal for laser cutting and are available in SVG and AI formats. The set includes over 30 files with different components including a Weirwood lumber tile, cities, settlements and roads, and the achievement tiles (longest road and largest army) – all GOT inspired. You can even have the Greyjoy squid as the robber.
- Who designed it? Carlotta4th
- How printable/popular is it? This model only has one make so far. Yours could be next!
- Where to find it? Thingiverse
Space
This awesome design was created by MosaicManufacturing, the company responsible for the filament splice device Palette. Naturally, it’s been designed to work with its multi-material printing device, but the tiles and pieces can be printed in different ways as well.
Catan in Space is an entire Catan board with a space exploration theme. While all resources differ from the original game, all files are provided, including a PDF for paper printing the cards. Detailed printing instructions are described on the Thingiverse page linked below.
- Who designed it? MosaicManufacturing
- How printable/popular is it? So far, four makes have been posted on Thingiverse.
- Where to find it? Thingiverse
Medieval
This popular design is actually used by many complete 3D printed board sets that we’ve featured. The round pieces include roads, settlements, cities, and city walls for the Cities & Knights expansion.
- Who designed it? Popsicle_peon
- How printable/popular is it? There are 16 makes so far, mostly in PLA. The creator recommends using a slow print speed to guarantee a high level of detail.
- Where to find it? Thingiverse
Planet Catan
This is a rather popular version of the game: the globe board. While there are a few similar designs on the internet, this one doesn’t require any special materials for assembly or countless magnets to hold the parts together.
Instead, it uses a polypanel system, which is a kind of snap-fit coupling mechanism that doesn’t require gluing. And the best part: No supports are required for 3D printing the parts.
- Who designed it? Rossero
- How printable/popular is it? There are three posted makes of this world. Even though the result is a sphere, the printing process can be done support-free.
- Where to find it? MyMiniFactory
Warcraft
World of Warcraft fan RecklessRobbie has developed a full set of Catan tiles themed after this popular MMORPG game. According to the creator, there should be enough models for the five- to six-player version of the game. Although, some game pieces are still required, as only the resource tiles are provided.
All the different tiles were posted separately in Thingiverse, but they can be found on the creator’s page linked below. Some pieces need to be printed at 95% scale to avoid a too tight fit, so make sure to read the printing instructions.
- Who designed it? RecklessRobbie
- How printable/popular is it? There are almost 30 makes of the various models combined, mostly printed in PLA and handpainted.
- Where to find it? Thingiverse
Roman
Tired of the square-shaped settlements, cities, and roads from the original Catan set? These Roman-inspired pieces, which should be fairly quick and simple to print, will definitely refresh your old board.
- Who designed it? DeckedOutPublishing
- How printable/popular is it? No community prints have been posted so far, but the models have been downloaded almost 2,000 times.
- Where to find it? MyMiniFactory
Two-Player
The rules for this unofficial version of the game for two players were first shared by Shawn Rifraf on a Board Game Geek forum, and not long after, the creator of the multicolor complete set (featured earlier on this list) provided the models for this mod.
While it was specifically designed to work with his board, this mod can definitely work with other 3D printed sets and even with the original game, as there are not many parts required. The models are very small and full of details, so it may be a good project to do in resin.
- Who designed it? Dakanzla
- How printable/popular is it? Although the models have been downloaded nearly 500 times, no community prints have been posted thus far.
- Where to find it? MyMiniFactory
Lego
Yet another complete Catan board, this Lego Catan board is not only themed after the famous construction toy but also works entirely with its pieces. This means that you can populate each tile with different Lego parts and pieces.
Don’t worry if your Lego pieces went missing: With more than 30 individual models, this design includes everything that’s required for playing.
Avatar TLA Tokens
Catan is a classic game and Avatar: The Last Airbender is a classic cartoon – what better combination? Even more so when both of them are all about world-building, quite literally in Catan’s case.
With this Avatar Mod, you can get fire nation temples, water tribe igloos, earth kingdom settlements, and air nomad temples. This way, you can bring the world of Avatar a little closer to real life – you can even choose what type of bender you want to be!
- Who designed it? Ghost42
- How printable/popular is it? This collection has 10 makes shared by users. It doesn’t need support or a dense infill. This, combined with how small they are, means you can print many at once and not spend too much time on it.
- Where to find it? Printables
Spare Parts
Last but not least, the spare parts for those who want to remain true to their original Catan sets or simply want to replace a lost tile, piece, or card.
Spare Settlement, Cities, & Roads
This list wouldn’t be complete without the classic Catan pieces. Although many alternatives are included on this list, these models are by far the easiest to print. You can replace lost pieces or print entire sets in different colors.
- Who designed it? jstck
- How printable/popular is it? Seven makes have been posted by Thingiverse users so far, including five remixes and a remix that aligned all the parts for printing a set on small beds.
- Where to find it? Thingiverse
Longest Road & Army Trophy Cards
Yes, we know: It’s rather hard to lose the big chunky “Longest Road” and “Largest Army” cards. Even still, it happens, and considering that there’s only one included with each board, both of these designs can surely come in handy.
Instead of cards, these models are more like small trophies and will definitely attract the envy of your opponents. Some users have struggled to capture small details, so make sure to print with a high resolution.
- Who designed it? titancraft
- How printable/popular is it? There are 12 and 10 makes posted for each model, respectively. The makes vary in terms of materials and layer height values.
- Where to find it? Thingiverse: longest road and largest army
Ruler of Catan Trophy
If you’re a regular in the Catan scene, you probably have periodically scheduled games that go on for hours, and it is a badge of honor to win, until the next time. To validate the winner’s new (temporary) right to brag, you can print this Ruler of Catan trophy. Use metal or silk filament to get that nice gold trophy shine.
The trophy is two parts: the city and the base. Someone has remixed it to include a city that can be printed in multiple colors, and the original creator links to that option in their description.
- Who designed it? OldSalty3D
- How printable/popular is it? This model has one make so far, looking shiny and golden. The city is printed separately and glued to the base. The author recommends printing the city at 600% scale.
- Where to find it? Printables
Number Tokens
Small, round number tokens are fairly easy to lose, yet they’re absolutely necessary to play the game (correctly). One design by stockto essentially reproduces the original tokens but with slotted dots and numbers.
While this can make the paint job much easier, there’s a different design from Thingiverse user rbschultz where the numbers are extruded upwards, making it possible to swap the filament color at a given height.
- Who designed it? stockto and rbschultz
- How printable/popular is it? So far, four makes have been shared on Thingiverse, but none have been posted on Cults.
- Where to find it? Cults (numbers and dots), Thingiverse (numbers)
Victory Point
Victory Points are an often overlooked but essential piece to Catan. You win by accumulating victory points, after all. No victory points, no winner.
In the typical gameplay, you have to keep track of your point tally in your head, although that can certainly be difficult when you’re trying to expand your settlements into bustling cities and grow your army into a force to be reckoned with.
Printing these parts make it so that you always have enough victory points to pass around, and as a plus, they look very stylish.
- Who designed it? BenKraas
- How printable/popular is it? This handy spare part has three makes thus far. The creator recommends a 0.15-mm layer height, with no dynamic layer height needed.
- Where to find it? Printables
Harbor Tokens
These cool-looking 3D harbors (or ports) are a great addition to an original Catan board or even a customized 3D printed one. All pieces come within the same STL file but can be separated in the slicer.
- Who designed it? titancraft
- How printable/popular is it? So far, nine makes have been posted, mostly in PLA with 20% and 0.1-mm layer height.
- Where to find it? Thingiverse
Development Cards
Think of the development card set not so much as a single card replacement but as the succession to the old worn-out, coffee-spilled original cards.
Each one is 1.8-mm thick and, according to the creator, can be printed using different colors by swapping the filament at 1.2 mm. The design includes all development cards: knights, progress, road building, bank, monopoly, and victory point.
- Who designed it? LocoRico
- How printable/popular is it? So far, no makes have been posted on Thingiverse, so you could be the first. Because these are thin cards, it’s recommended to let the printer cool off before removing them, which decreases the likelihood of bending.
- Where to find it? Thingiverse
The Robber
Here’s a cool repurposed model that can be used as the infamous Catan robber. This might be a great opportunity for challenging your 3D printing skills, as this miniature is quite detailed.
For those printing with FDM, a good 3D printer calibration would certainly be handy.
- Who designed it? jbkuma
- How printable/popular is it? So far, 21 makes have been posted. Most are in PLA, but a few resins prints have been shared as well.
- Where to find it? Thingiverse
City, Settlement, & Bridge
What to do if you lose some pieces? A tragedy! Or not. If you have a 3D printer pretty much nothing is ever doomed, as you can create new things from thin air.
With these models, you can replace or simply increase the number of city, settlement, and bridge parts you have. They get the job done for the purpose of playing the game and, more than that, they look very close to the real deal.
- Who designed it? Merandey
- How printable/popular is it? This model has 12 makes and around 700 downloads. It doesn’t need supports, but a very fine printing layer will improve the resolution of the prints.
- Where to find it? Printables
License: The text of "Settlers of Catan 3D Print/STL Files: 35 Best 3D Models" by All3DP is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.