Kickstarting ‘Harbour’

“Harbour” is a new card game/board game hybrid from Tasty Minstrel Games that has just a couple of days left on its Kickstarter, and I’m urging you to back it.

It’s already funded at almost 1000%, so it’s not like they need much more of your support. No, I’m urging you to back it because you’re going to want to play it. I have. And it’s fun. And I’ve pretty much not played anything but “Harbour” for the last four days. And when I’m not playing, I’m thinking about how much I want to play, and that’s no exaggeration.

“Harbour” is a game for 2-4 players who take on the role of dockworkers looking to dominate the trade and buildings in a waterfront fantasy town. The game play is simple enough that my 11 year old daughter picked it up after two turns and played strategically right off the bat. 

Game play mixes elements of chance and strategy in a way that is incredibly fun and moves quickly, so long as you have players that are paying attention to the game. And playing with people paying attention is the way to do it. You’ve got to pay attention to your dock, their docks, what’s going on at the market, and what buildings are in play. Good players will calculate moves that maximize their spending power while minimizing the spending ability of the other players.

The art for the game is bright and fun, and all of the flavor text is well written and adds a real feel for the fantasy world Tasty Minstrel has created. There’s a whimsy to the art design and a strength to the game design  that makes replayability not just an option but a foregone conclusion.

The problems with the games are few. In fact, the only things I could think of were an issue with a card and player order. There were a couple of buildings in the deck that felt a bit overpowered (Like the Clocktower) and it was easy enough to balance the game by simply removing it from play depending on the group playing. And in a 4 player game, it seems as though the person in the player 3 spot is at a slight disadvantaged at the start, though it’s completely possible to catch back up in score.

The game ships in December and you have just over 2 days left to get on board. At $20, the barrier to entry is low and the game is worth every penny.