Puerto Rico
Review by Peter van der Raaij

I have now owned Puerto Rico for three weeks. During that time I’ve played fifteen games, so now I feel I am qualified to make a few remarks.

It took a while to decide which game I was going to buy, but after reading many reviews of Puerto Rico , I came to the conclusion that this was the next big game to get. Winner of the Deutscher SpielePreis, I didn’t find a negative review of Puerto Rico . I was hoping for a game that would be an instant hit with my games group and family (as Settlers and Carcasonne were). It turns out I wasn’t disappointed with Puerto Rico .

The rules to Puerto Rico are easy to grasp. Each player has their own board on which they build, have plantations, place colonists and produce goods. The object of the game is to accumulate victory points, by shipping goods and building. Each building gives the owner different advantages. Play revolves around roles. There are up to 7 different roles (depending on number of players); captain, craftsman, settler, mayor, trader, prospector and builder. Each round, each player in turn chooses a role. Each role allows all the players to do an action, but the player holding the role, gets an advantage (privilege). For example, if I chose the builder, everyone in turn may build one building, but I as the builder, pay one less coin than normal (as my privilege).

So far I have played 5 player, 4 player, 3 player and even 2 player (using the Official Alea/Ravensburger Rules – these can be downloaded on www.boardgamesgeek.com) games. The games have mostly been quick, and we can noramally manage three games in an evening. We can easily play a three player game in about an hour.

Apart from my games group where Puerto Rico has become an instant hit, my two twelve year old nieces enjoy the game, and have tried to get a game in every Friday since I bought it. Puerto Rico is a quick moving game, where everyone is involved in every person’s turn. As a result there is very little down time, while you wait for others. No single strategy always wins, and the most important strategy is to be flexible (especially in 4 and 5 player games where resources are so much more scarce – there are only two of each building available to buy). Sometimes the end of the game can sneak up on you (play ends the round where colonists or victory point tokens are exhausted, or the round when someone builds in their last building space). You need to be aware of what the players around you are doing.

Can I recommend Puerto Rico ? Yes, definitely. It is a quick, and absorbing game. No two games are the same. Add into that the free expansion buildings (available to download from www.riograndegames.com) and you’ve got a highly replayable game. It is bound to be a favourite for a long time, and one that we will compare new games to in the future.