Name: Havana
Publisher: Rio Grande Games
Designer: Reinhard Staupe
Players: 2-4
Ages: 10+
Playing Time: 30-45 Minutes
Download Rules
The devastation of the Cuban revolution has ended, and a new era of development has enveloped Cuba's capital city, Havana. Numerous efforts are underway to construct buildings and restore this charming coastal city, known as the “Paris of the Caribbean." You are competing in a race to accumulate pesos, workers and materials and invest them in valuable buildings worth victory points at the game's end. You must choose which action cards are optimal for your strategy. Will it be hitting up the black market for materials, hiring workers, collecting taxes, or robbing your opponents of their pesos? The best choice depends on the buildings available to be crafted, your intuition regarding your opponents' next actions, and the strategic timing of selecting action cards. Gain the most victory points by constructing the right combination of building points and claim the victory!
Here's a quick overview of the rules: players begin the game with a full set of 13 numbered action cards. They each select two and simultaneously play them face down. The player with the lowest combined number on the action point cards begins, taking both the actions they selected and then having first pick at the buildings available for purchase. The following players then take their turns in order of ascending combined action card points. When all the players have completed their turns, they must select action cards again, only this time, from a deck of only 11 cards instead of 13 (two were played the previous turn on the table). This means that is they chose "Collect Pesos" last turn, it is no longer available in their hand. And
there's another catch: for the remainder of the game, their two actions will consist of one old action and one new. Each turn they must choose which of the previous two actions to nix. Once nixed, these action cards remain unusable in the discard pile until the player runs low on cards or plays the Refreshment card. These short rounds of two actions each continue as players accumulate workers, pesos, and materials in hopes of making the combinations that are required to construct the buildings. The more difficult the combination, the more victory points a building is worth. When one player accumulates the set number of victory points needed for victory, the game ends immediately, and he or she is the winner.Havana is a short in length with a fast-paced feel. It's perfect as a relaxing game to enjoy between longer more demanding games. It's light enough to provide a bit of a break from some of the more complex stuff, although it certainly presents its own challenge and requires a fair amount of planning and concentration. It has a good amount of luck, prediction, calculation, and player interaction, and it also offers great replay value, since only a handful of the 36 buildings are used each game. And a perk that I particularly love are the beautiful illustrations on the cards and tiles. The beautiful art makes it a joy to play and really adds that finishing sparkle to the experience.
I highly recommend Havana for its quick gameplay and strategic depth. It lacks neither strategy nor replay value and can be enjoyed by the serous gamer as well as the casual one. For its versatility and quality I think it stands out as a game that can be enjoyed in many situations while not compromising its strategic appeal. I have greatly enjoyed the challenge of rebuilding this “Paris of the Caribbean.”
