Harbour Board Game First Impressions

Gain and Trade goods in your Harbour then sell them to gain money.

Use that money to buy buildings, it’s that simple.

Dock-master Schlibble and Constable O’Brady cordially invite you to visit their bustling Harbour town! Attend to business at the Trader’s Guild or the Masoner’s Hall. Break for lunch at the Sushi Shop, or stop off for a drink at the Pub. Don’t forget to check out the Wizard’s Travelling Imaginarium before you go! But no matter where you go, keep on the lookout for a bargain… the denizens of this town are always wheeling and dealing!

Harbour Summary

There are not too many games I have played like this.

Obviously, the tableau building has been done in quite a few games. You’re not doing it every turn like Paper Tales where you won’t build most turns. But, it’s something you need to do.

Worker placement is used a lot too. I don’t think I won a traditional Worker Placement game, one where you place actual workers. I have games where you place ‘things’ or dice, but nothing that is an actual worker.

Market manipulation is used a fair bit in games too. But I don’t have many of those either. I guess Mini Rails is the most relevant one I have.

This game doesn’t offer much that is new, but it brings a load of things together in a new way.

All these above mechanisms are mixed with a nice theme and cool art. The world Harbour is set in is a weird, yet nice one. It’s fantastical, but only just.

You are basically doing a thing to get a thing, to trade for other things to sell to make money to buy a building. That is far from new. But that Market… changes things.

Having a simple yet effective Market to play with as part of the game is a fun addition. It means you can plan to use what you have when the time is right.

It also means having an engine to focus on ONE resource won’t work. You need to diversify your portfolio and have a few different things to sell.

Jesta ThaRogue