by juanzope
I bought Le Havre 2 years ago, played it a few times, and never since then.
I was thinking about trading it or giving it away, but I still believe the mechanics are really interesting. The problem I have with it, is that when playing other games, like Agricola for example, you can relate to the theme and have the urgency to work the land and feed your family (and for that matter make your farm look nicer). However with Le Havre, it feels more like some weird work, just feeding a well oiled machine so you can get your precious VPs and win in the end.
The questions (problems) I have with LeHavre are these:
Who are you in Le Havre? Probably I'm a member of the port community and I'm trying to run some businesses, but I can't relate.
Where is this people I have to feed?They keep growing in numbers but I have never hired anyone, am I in a socialist community?
Why do ships help me feeding people?I guess it is because I can get food from new routes, but without someone actually buying the food, the ship would be useless, don't you think?
How long does my turn last in Le Havre?It is not stated in Agricola, but I always imagine to be one day, so everybody goes to work (fight for resources), and come back at night. This is not an issue per se, but why then, in Le Havre, you could block a building that many turns (won't your worker ever sleep) if not just for the mechanics to work.
Why can't I just kick anyone out of one of my own buildings?I would do it in real life, and though I know is for the mechanics to work, seems artificial.
I still want to play the game for the mechanics only, but the mechanics+theme combo, in my opinion, failed, and for that reason less people seem to be interested in playing it. I still want to give it a chance.
