Le Havre Review - Chairman of the Board

[@VoiceofFox]

Great review and fair comments. Wife & I played this for the first time today. Loved it but we’ve played Agricola, so are used to the feeding element. On one hand it’s really stressful but I think if you took that pressure away, it would lose a lot of what makes the game great. Agricola rewards repeated playing due to the different cards and variability and feeding just becomes easier to anticipate. I assume it will be the same case with Le Havre. (Agricola also has the fabulous ‘accumulating resources’ feature).

[@eugenb.8448]

We’ve found this plays wonderfully at 3, 4, or 5. I’m terrible at it but I just love playing it. I’ve joked with our game group that when I finally win I’ll never play again so I end on a high note :-).

[@BrandonGraham]

I often don't like games with mechanisms like feed your people, but I think this game it's fun. It is pretty critical to get ships though, so you don't have to constantly plan for food. But with the way interest/repayment works in this game, you shouldn't feel too bad about taking a loan... Or three.

[@scyldscefing3913]

This is a spectacular game. Agreed on its strict nature, but there's so much to do, and it all works so tightly.

[@sab6261]

Taking loans isn't a bad thing. It can be part of a winning strategy. You do have to put a good amount of thought into getting food, but I don't find Le Havre nearly as stressful as Agricola in that regard. If you decide to try it again I'd recommend keeping the player count down. I like this game enough to own it, but it's a 2-3 player-only game for me. I'd never suggest it with 4 or 5.