Seas of Havoc

I came to Seas of Havoc ready for a bit of pirate mischief, but instead found a game that seems unable to decide how substantial it wants to be. Its length flirts with the space between a filler and a “proper” game, while its theme and mechanisms immediately reminded me that AEG’s Dead Reckoning has already covered this territory far more impressively.

At its core, the game combines deck-building with worker placement: you build and use your own set of cards while also placing your available resources to push your pirate plan forward. The idea is clear and, at least on paper, has that familiar promise that every round will make you a little more efficient.

In practice, though, interaction largely runs through the captains and their starting powers, and that is where Seas of Havoc started taking on water. By the second round, one captain seemed completely out of line, and that imbalance never corrected itself over the rest of the game. Naturally, the final score merely confirmed what we had already been seeing at the table.

I will not claim there is nothing interesting here; perhaps a group looking for something lighter will find things to enjoy. But I found it flat even beyond the balance issue. If I want pirate deck-building with substance, I will look elsewhere—and I certainly would not bother adding Seas of Havoc to my collection.