How to Play Le Havre: Offers, Buildings, Ships & Feeding

ByBoardGame Archive

Le Havre is an economic game where each turn has two main parts: first add goods to the harbor’s Offer spaces, then take one main action. Your economy grows by collecting goods, processing them in Buildings and constructing Buildings or Ships before increasingly expensive feeding rounds.

Part 1: Supply the harbor

Move the active Ship marker to the next Supply tile. The two goods shown on that tile are added to their corresponding Offer spaces. Those Offers keep accumulating until a player takes them.

One Supply tile also triggers loan interest for players with outstanding loans.

Part 2: choose one main action

Choose one of two actions:

  • Take an Offer: take all goods or Francs from one Offer space.
  • Use a Building: move your Person disc to an available Building, pay any required entry fee and resolve its action.

Why Buildings matter

Buildings convert basic goods into more valuable materials, food, energy, money, Buildings or Ships. Owning a Building also creates value because opponents may need to pay you to enter it.

A Building action is therefore both production and positioning: decide whether it is better to own an engine, pay to use someone else’s, or deny a useful space by occupying it.

Standard and upgraded goods

Many goods have a basic and processed side. Buildings let you upgrade goods into higher-value forms that may provide more food, energy or sale value and meet construction requirements.

Round end

Every seventh game turn ends a round. Resolve the current Round card. A Harvest may increase Grain and Cattle, and then players must meet the Feeding requirement shown for that round.

Why Ships are important

Ships reduce the amount of food you must pay during Feeding. As the required food rises, shipping capacity converts from a convenience into a major economic advantage because it frees your goods and actions for development instead of subsistence.

What if you cannot feed?

If you cannot meet the required food cost using the allowed resources, the loan rules apply. Loans provide emergency money but create interest pressure and an end-game penalty if left unpaid.

See Le Havre Feeding, Loans & Ships for the detailed interaction.

How does the game end?

After the scheduled rounds, players receive a final-action opportunity under the end-game rules, then total wealth. Your total is based on cash plus the value of owned Buildings and Ships, with outstanding loans reducing your final result.

Common beginner mistakes

  • Forgetting the Supply step before taking the main action.
  • Taking a small Offer when waiting would make it much more efficient.
  • Building no food engine before Feeding costs rise.
  • Ignoring Ships because their value looks less immediate than a production Building.
  • Treating loans as ordinary investment money rather than emergency financing under the rules.

Related Le Havre guides

See the Le Havre game guide for the main overview. Continue with Le Havre Strategy for Offer timing, conversion chains and feeding efficiency.

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