What is CATAN?
CATAN is a trading and building board game where players connect settlements, manage resources and negotiate with each other. The familiar pair of dice helps determine resource production. Because a two-dice total has an uneven distribution, the number tokens are not equally likely to activate. This page replaces the physical dice while leaving the board, resources and decisions with the players.
How to use the presets
The base preset rolls two ordinary six-sided dice and adds them. Compare that total with the board and follow the base-game procedure. A seven is not an ordinary resource-production result and needs the game's special handling. This helper is not the separate CATAN Dice Game, whose custom resource dice are a different component. Expansions can also introduce extra procedures not represented by this pair.
Four and five make nine. Seven has six ordered combinations out of 36, while two and twelve each have only one.
Why does seven keep turning up?
Pick a total. The highlighted squares show every pair that makes it. Seven has six routes; two and twelve have just one each.
| A / B | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
| 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 |
| 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 |
| 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
| 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 |
| 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 |
Practical table tips
- Agree on whose turn it is before rolling. Passing around one screen is often clearer than letting every player produce a competing result.
- Keep the modifier at zero for normal base-game production. Adding a bonus would change the game's intended distribution.
- Do not "correct" a streak of missing numbers. Independent dice do not owe the board a result that has not appeared recently.
CATAN dice FAQ
Can I replace 2d6 with one d12?
No. One d12 is flat, while 2d6 favors middle totals and cannot produce a one.
Does this move the robber?
No. It supplies the roll; players perform discards, movement and other required effects.
Can I use it for Cities & Knights?
It supplies the ordinary numeric dice only. Check the expansion for the additional event-die procedure.
No board state, resource distribution, robber movement or expansion event dice are automated.
Independent, unofficial dice aid. Game names identify the intended use; their publishers do not endorse this page. These original explanations are not a replacement for the rules.
🍜 Noodles can wait beside the dice. They do not contribute an extra modifier.