New Haven

About this board game

New Haven is a tile-laying and drafting game for 2–4 players, lasting about 60 minutes, in which players develop a prosperous colonial New England settlement.

Players place tiles on a shared central board to gather timber, stone, wheat, and sheep. Each turn, choose from two hidden tiles and position one strategically to generate resource value for building in your own village.

Use those resources to place building tokens on your personal village board. Buildings must follow arrangement restrictions, so planning ahead is essential. You may also place a token face down for greater flexibility, although it scores less if you complete the relevant row or column.

• Shared tile placement: shape the land and generate four types of resources.
• Village development: spend resources to place your available building tokens.
• Resource timing: unused value becomes available for opponents, making efficiency more important than simply producing as much as possible.
• Strategic variety: each player can use one shipment per game to receive a large amount of one specific resource.

After building, players draft new building tokens for future turns. Carefully matching resource creation to construction needs can also reward you with additional tokens, while surplus resources may help your opponents complete their plans.

The base game lasts ten turns. Players attract colonists by completing roads and avenues of buildings, and the player with the largest population wins. New Haven also includes a side B game board with additional twists, along with variants that can make play more forgiving or more strategic.

Released in 2013, New Haven supports 2, 3, or 4 players and takes about 15 minutes per player, with learning games requiring a little longer.