CATAN New Energies – Classic Catan with a Modern Energy Twist

Fossil fuels or clean energy? Build power plants, manage pollution events, and trade your way to victory — Catan reimagined for the 21st century by Ian O'Toole with no plastic, no compromise.

CATAN New Energies is the most ambitious standalone Catan game ever made. Designed by Klaus Teuber and his son Ben Teuber, illustrated by the acclaimed Ian O'Toole, and published in 2024, it takes the foundational mechanics of the world's most beloved gateway game and layers on a deeply relevant new system: the tension between cheap, polluting fossil fuels and expensive, sustainable clean energy.

The core loop will feel immediately familiar to any Catan player — hex tiles, resource production, trading, building settlements and roads. But every familiar element has been updated for the modern age. Your decisions about energy production ripple outward to affect every player at the table. Go heavy on fossil fuels and the pollution track climbs, triggering events that disrupt everyone's resource production. Invest in clean energy and you gain long-term advantages — but fall behind in the short term while others exploit cheaper options.

Players who discover CATAN New Energies describe a game that feels simultaneously familiar and genuinely new — the Catan DNA is unmistakable, but the energy system creates decisions and conversations that the original game never could. It's the rare sequel that justifies its own existence.

How to Play — Watch First

What Is CATAN New Energies?

CATAN New Energies is a standalone resource management and trading strategy game for 3–4 players. The island of Catan now needs energy to power its growing society. Players build settlements, cities, and roads exactly as in classic Catan — but they also build power plants, choosing between fossil fuel plants (cheap, fast, but polluting) and clean energy plants (expensive, slow to set up, but rewarding in the long run).

The pollution track is the game's central innovation. Every time a fossil fuel plant produces energy, pollution tokens accumulate on the track. When the track reaches certain thresholds, pollution events trigger — disrupting resource production for everyone, replacing the benefits of production with penalties. Players who have invested in clean energy are protected from these events; those still relying on fossil fuels suffer.

Fossil Fuels vs Clean Energy

What Makes It Stand Out

How Does It Compare to Classic Catan?

CATAN New Energies is not a replacement for the original — it's a meaningful evolution. The core resource loop (wood, brick, ore, grain, wool) is intact, settlements and cities work identically, and the robber and trading mechanics are unchanged. The energy layer sits on top without replacing anything.

What changes is the game's texture. Classic Catan is about expansion — who can build the most roads, settlements, and cities fastest. New Energies adds a shared environmental layer that forces players to consider collective consequences. Going all-in on fossil fuels might give you a short-term advantage, but a fully polluted island hurts everyone including you. The negotiation this creates around the pollution track is some of the richest social gameplay Catan has ever produced.

Players who love the original will feel at home immediately. The complexity ceiling is slightly higher — the energy system requires a few extra decisions each round — making it best for families and groups who have already played classic Catan and want more depth.

Rating Breakdown

Pros & Cons

Who Is This Game For?