How to Set Up a Board: Variable Setup Step by Step

Use these steps with our generator to lay out a fresh, fair map in about three minutes.

  1. Build the frame and shuffle the harbors if your edition uses separate harbor tokens.
  2. Place terrain hexes following the generated map, working row by row from the top.
  3. Place number tokens on every hex except the desert. Check that no 6 and 8 touch.
  4. Put the robber on the desert.
  5. Place harbors: 9 for 3-4 players (4 generic 3:1, 5 resource 2:1) or 11 for 5-6 players.
  6. Choose starting positions in snake order (1-2-3-4-4-3-2-1).

Speed tip

Pull up the generated board on a phone in the middle of the table, or use Print for a paper reference.

→ Open the board generator

Next step → Generate a balanced board

Updated 2026-10-26 · about & methodology

More tools & guides

Board generator (3-4 players)
Classic 19-hex balanced map5-6 player generator
30-hex extension layoutBalanced board rules
How fair boards are builtDice probability chart
Odds & pips for 2-12How to set up a board
Variable setup stepsIsland & seafaring ideas
Custom scenario inspirationBest starting positions
Pick opening spots by pipsTiles & number tokens
Full component counts

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