Better in the opinion of those experienced, Seafarers or Cities & Knights?

My wife and I always enjoy a good Catan gathering. We have the whole collection of base games with their 5-6 player extensions and while I highly recommend getting BOTH, here is what we found about Seafarers vs C&K: Seafarers is enjoyed most by "right brain" players whose talents are more on the creative side of things. Not often is your initial strategy followed through by the end game. Seafarers features some large maps that rewards travel and improvisation; where you place your first settlements isn't as important as how well you branch out and avoid the pirate. Cities and Knights is enjoyed most by "left brain" players whose talents are analytical and strategic. Where you place your first settlement and first city greatly influences the rest of the game. C&K is played on the smaller standard island and rewards those who plan ahead. Matches are more confrontational, and a player who changes their strategy mid-game rarely wins. Both Seafarers and C&K feel "very Catan," so if you like the original you really can't go wrong with either. I like C&K more, but barely. However I recommend choosing first Seafarers if you're coming from the original. Interestingly both rules manuals show how to combine it all together! As for the 5-6 extensions: Seafarers is definitely better. The maps are something to behold :) just be sure to have a lot of table space! C&K is already a long game, so having 6 people really drew things out to the point where the game wore out it's welcome.

Do you need the 3/4 player extension to play this 5/6 player extension?

You need the basic catan game, plus the seafarers "expansion" which would allow you to play seafarers with 3-4 people, and then the seafarers 5-6 player "extension" will allow you to play seafarers with 5-6 people. The simple answer to your question might be "yes", but not sure because of catan's somewhat confusing names for things. Either way, seafarers is fun, and we have often found 5-6 player games more fun than 3-4 player games in the catan world. We like them all though.

do the tiles fit and look like they can match with the 4th edition tiles? i know the look of each edition has varied greatly until now.

Peter,Thank you for your inquiry!For these versions there will be slight differences in appearance but for the Seafarer's Settlers gameplay is not affected between the 3rd and 4th editions. Please feel free to reach out to us if you have any more questions. Thank you for your time. Have a great day!

Model Number	CN3073
Number of Game Players	3-4
Number of Pieces	1
Batteries Required?	No
Batteries Included	No
Material Type(s)	multi
Target Gender	Unisex
Manufacturer recommended age	10 years and up
Release date	April 23, 2015
Language	English
Item model number	CN3073
Product Dimensions	29.53 x 24.13 x 7.62 cm; 975.22 g
ASIN	B00U26V4S4

CATAN Seafarers ボードゲーム 拡張 - 新しい島を探検、解決、征服! 戦略ゲーム 子供と大人のためのファミリーゲーム 対象年齢10歳以上 3-4人プレイ 60分プレイ時間 CATAN Studio

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CATAN Seafarers ボードゲーム拡張 - 新しい島を探検、解決、征服! 戦略ゲーム子供と大人のためのファミリーゲーム対象年齢10歳以上 3-4人プレイ 60分プレイ時間 CATAN Studio