Catan: Explorers & Pirates is the fourth major expansion for The Settlers
of Catan (following Seafarers, Cities & Knights and Traders & Barbarians)
and it includes five scenarios and three missions; some of the scenarios
make use of the missions while others do not.
Catan: Explorers & Pirates differs from the Catan base game in three
main ways. First, instead of having only a single island in the game on
which players build and compete for resources, three islands are present
which players can travel to.
Second, instead of using cities, Catan: Explorers & Pirates allows players
to build port settlements for two corn and two ore, with a port settlement
supplying one resource when the adjacent number is rolled at the start of
a turn.
Third, if a player receives no resources during the production roll (other
than on a roll of 7), she receives one gold in compensation. Two gold
can be traded with the bank for a resource of the player’s choice. Gold
has other uses as well, such as helping you escape from pirates.