10 Best Board Games Like Catan for Family Night: Upgrade Your Collection

Look, we all love the thrill of building the longest road or hoarding all the sheep, but even the most hardcore fans need a break from the island eventually. If your family has worn out your copy of Catan and you are craving that same addictive blend of strategy, trading, and resource management, you are in the right place. We have curated the 10 Best Board Games Like Catan for Family Night to keep your game nights fresh, exciting, and just a little bit competitive.

The Classics: Perfecting the Gateway Experience

Before we dive into heavy strategy, let's look at games that sit comfortably in the “modern classic” category. These titles share Catan's accessibility—easy to learn, hard to master—but offer distinct thematic twists. If you are looking for games with a similar setup time and weight, start here.

1. Ticket to Ride

If Catan is about settling an island, Ticket to Ride is about conquering a continent via railway. It is arguably the most successful “gateway” game ever made, and for good reason. The mechanics are incredibly simple: collect colored train cards to claim routes between cities on a map. The longer the route, the more points you score.

Why it fits: Like Catan, it features set collection and route building. There is a “race” element that feels similar to the race for the Longest Road card. It also sparks that same specific type of family conflict when someone claims the route you desperately needed.

The Gamer's Take: “I’ve played this with my grandmother and my competitive nephew. Everyone understands trains. The tension builds slowly until the very last card is drawn, then it's a mad dash to finish tickets.”

2. Carcassonne

Named after the medieval fortress in France, this tile-laying game creates a new board every time you play. On your turn, you draw a tile and place it to match the landscape (cities, roads, fields, or monasteries). Then, you decide if you want to deploy one of your followers (or “meeples”) onto that tile to claim a feature.

Why it fits: It offers the same “build the board as you go” feeling as Catan. The player count scales beautifully, and the interaction comes from stealing cities or cutting off roads, which feels very similar to placing the Robber in a way that hurts just one person.

3. King of Tokyo

From the creator of Catan, Richard Garfield, comes a dice-rolling romp where you play as giant monsters punching each other in the face. Think Yahtzee meets Godzilla. You roll dice to attack other players, heal yourself, gain energy to buy power-up cards, or score victory points.

Why it fits: While it relies on dice rather than resource trading, the “buy cards with energy” mechanics feel very similar to the Development Cards in Catan. It is faster, punchier, and involves much more direct “take that” aggression.

Trading and Economics: Mastering the Market

A core part of Catan's appeal is the negotiation table. Watching players desperately trade wood for brick is half the fun. These games double down on the economic engine aspect, offering deep replay value through shifting markets and resource management.

4. Splendor

Splendor is a game of chip-collecting and card development. You are a Renaissance merchant buying mines, transportation methods, and shops. You collect gem chips to buy development cards, which in turn provide permanent gem discounts, making future purchases cheaper. The first to 15 prestige points wins.

Why it fits: It scratches that engine-building itch. In Catan, you build settlements to get more resources. In Splendor, you buy cards to get cheaper gems. It requires zero table space compared to Catan, has almost zero setup time, and looks absolutely stunning on the table. Plus, the heavy poker-style chips feel great in your hand.

5. Century: Spice Road

This is the first game in the Century trilogy, and it is a masterclass in efficient market manipulation. You play as a caravan leader traveling the Silk Road. You trade spices (turmeric, saffron, cardamom, and cinnamon) to fulfill contracts and gain points.

Why it fits: The central loop is upgrading your resources. You might trade two yellow cards for a green card, then trade that green for a red. This “buy low, sell high” loop feels like the sophisticated older sibling of Catan’s trading ports. It plays quickly, making it a perfect “warm-up” game.

6. 7 Wonders

One of the biggest frustrations in Catan is the downtime while waiting for five other people to take their turns. 7 Wonders solves this by utilizing a simultaneous card-drafting mechanic. You pick a card, pass your hand to the left, and receive a new hand from the right. You do this three times (representing three Ages).

Why it fits: It supports up to 7 players with zero increase in setup time or game length. You build your civilization using resource cards and military cards, trying to maximize synergy. It balances strategy and speed perfectly.

Building and Strategy: Complex but Accessible

For families that have mastered Catan and are ready for slightly heavier cognitive loads, these games introduce spatial reasoning, variable player powers, or modular boards. You might need some decent storage solutions for these, as the components can get plentiful.

7. Isle of Skye

Isle of Skye combines tile-laying (like Carcassonne) with variable scoring powers (like a lighter version of Terra Mystica). Each round, players draw tiles and then buy them from their personal inventory using money. Then, you place the tile to expand your Scottish kingdom.

Why it fits: The buying phase is brilliant. One player acts as the “banker,” setting the price for everyone else's tiles. This introduces a guessing game of economics. Do I buy my neighbor's expensive tile just to deny them the points? It feels like a mix of Catan’s trading and Monopoly’s auctions.

8. Small World

Small World is a zone-control game with a zany fantasy theme. The map is too small for everyone, so conflict is inevitable. You pick a fantasy race (Orcs, Elves, Tritons) with a special power (Flying, Berserk, Merchant) and conquer territories. Eventually, your race goes into decline, and you pick a new one.

Why it fits: It scratches the “expansion” itch of Catan. In Catan, you spread out; in Small World, you take over. It is chaotic, cutthroat, and requires a different type of spatial thinking. The replay value is massive because the combination of races and powers changes every game.

9. Wingspan

You are bird enthusiasts—researchers, bird watchers, ornithologists, and collectors—seeking to discover and attract the best birds to your network of wildlife preserves. You gain food tokens to pay for bird cards, lay eggs, and activate bird powers in three different habitats (forest, grassland, wetland).

Why it fits: It took the world by storm because it is beautiful and meditative. While less cutthroat than Catan, the engine-building is top-tier. Turning food and eggs into massive point combos is satisfying. Warning: The table space required is significant. You will need a big table, and the storage solutions for the dice tower and eggs can be tricky, but it's worth the premium feel.

10. Azul

Azul is an abstract drafting game where you are decorating the walls of a Portuguese palace with beautiful tiles. You draft tiles from the center market to fill up your player board, but if you take too many, you lose points.

Why it fits: It is easy to teach but devastatingly strategic. You are constantly watching what the person to your left is doing to make sure you don't feed them the tiles they need. It has the “deny your opponent” tension of the Robber, but wrapped in a gorgeous, puzzle-like package.

Essential Tips for Your Game Night Collection

As you grow your collection from that single Catan box to a diverse library, logistics become a hobby in itself. Here are a few tips from an experienced gamer to keep your sessions smooth.

Managing Table Space and Setup

Games like Wingspan or Small World eat up a lot of real estate. If your dining room table is small, consider a gaming mat or a neoprene play surface. It protects the table, defines the play area, and dampens the sound of heavy components (like wooden trains or meeples). Keep setup time low by pre-sorting components if you know which game is on the docket.

Storage Solutions That Save Sanity

Nothing kills the mood faster than a box of loose components spilling everywhere. Standard game boxes are notoriously inefficient. Once you fall in love with a game like Ticket to Ride or Carcassonne, look into third-party storage solutions.

Investing in plastic organizers (like those from reputable accessory makers) allows you to set up these games in minutes instead of punching and sorting cardboard tokens for 20 minutes. It also preserves the condition of the cards, ensuring that your replay value lasts for years. Plus, a well-organized box is a thing of beauty.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the best game for younger kids who like Catan?

While Catan is officially for ages 10+, Kingdomino or Catan Junior are better starting points for the under-10 crowd. However, Ticket to Ride: First Journey is arguably the best introduction to the hobby for children as young as 6.

Do these games support the same player count as Catan?

Most of these games handle 3-5 players very well. 7 Wonders is the standout here, accommodating up to 7 players natively. Ticket to Ride usually goes up to 5, but you can buy specific maps (like Europe or Nordic Countries) that handle 2-3 players better, or use the 1912 expansion for 6 players.

Are any of these games cooperative?

Catan is a competitive “beat your opponents” game. If your family fights too much over the Robber, you might want a cooperative game like Pandemic or Forbidden Island. However, 7 Wonders and Splendor offer a form of “multiplayer solitaire” where you interact indirectly, reducing direct conflict.

How do I handle a board game addiction taking over my house?

Embrace it! But seriously, consider vertical storage solutions. Storing games flat (stacking them) can crush the boxes, leading to “dishing.” Store your games vertically like books. It saves shelf space and keeps the boxes structural integrity intact.