Puerto Rico

Customer Reviews

A safe game Review by Marc

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This is a clever economics game that is easy to learn, not too long and that offers diverse strategies. Top 3 on bgg.com for many years for a reason. A well deserved top 10 to any collection. (Posted on 1/13/12)

A good game - not great, but lots of fun Review by Marg

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I found this game a little bit forced in places - it didn't flow the way Stoneage or some of the other games flows. In other words, there are parts of each turn that have to be remembered, "Oh yes, I should do this or I can do that." However, I have only played it 4 times, so the fault could be with me in that I do not have the practice (I have played Stone Age at least 30 times).

All in all, I would purchase this game - it is fun and has a couple of different strategies involved. (Posted on 8/24/11)

Build wisely Review by Brian

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This is a good strategy game based on your opponent’s actions. I would have to say this is the best game with no random elements I have played to date. It is all set up based on each player’s actions.

The first time playing through the game it took a few turns to determine the usefulness of each action. But soon after you become engrossed in the game determining what you will need to build your plantation and to be the most successful.

All outcomes are determined by your action choice each round and by the choices of others and when the actions are chosen. The mechanics of the game work very well and most options are well balanced. A good feature of the game is limiting resources of buildings and colonists. Thus when you choose certain actions it makes a big difference and if you are too late you will have to choose a different less profitable choice.

The game also plays differently depending on how many players you have and who plays the game as players tend toward different goals. I recommend this game to anyone that wants to play a game not dependent on luck and that enjoys a game to out perform your opponents and not just to battle your opponent directly. (Posted on 9/27/10)

A 'classic' must have game that provides an elegant stepping stone to the next level Review by Matt

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Product Review (submitted on July 8, 2010):
Considered a modern day classic by many, Puerto Rico is a must have game for anyone looking for something 'more' from light gateway games such as Settlers of Catan, Ticket to Ride and Pandemic.

In Puerto Rico, you play the role of a plantation owner, planning what raw materials to grow and goods to produce to then in turn ship back to the old world for profit.

Components:
Serviceable (though a recently released French edition updated the graphics), but not the most aesthetically appealing. There are enough components, player boards, chits and good and colonist tokens to make you feel like you got a good bang for your buck.

Key Mechanic: Role Selection/Simultaneous Player Action

In turn order (which cycles through the game), every player selects a different Role. Then each player executes that Roles action with an advantage of selecting that role, and every other player in order has the chance to execute that action as well. Unselected roles accumulate $ as incentive for their selection on the next turn ensuring that all roles are selected at some point or the other.

This simple mechanic drives Puerto Rico. Roles are selected as needed, so the game play ebbs and flows nicely. Each role is related to the others, one feeding into the other. Simple and elegant.

Player Interaction:

Player interaction is indirect and sudtle. In PR(Puerto Rico) you predict the flow of the game work towards a long term strategy. Its easy to correlate the impact of that actions on other players and plan potential moves around that. The key to Puerto Rico is to select the move the benefits you the most while benefiting your opponents the least.

Game Flow and Play:

PR is a very 'tight' game. Being driven by Role selection, where each role depends on the other in one way or the other to drive the game play through necessity. All actions are well balanced, depend on timing and change in value from turn to turn. If a Role is not selected by a Player one turn, money is added to that Role and accumulates until selected (thus increasing its value and making it more desirable).

Another nice thing about Puerto Rico is that there is minimal down time. Each player decision and action is short and there is very little wait time between making the next decision or making the next action.

There is even a decent 2 player variant so the game works well from 2 to 5 players, though shines best at 4.

Difficulty to Learn and Level of Complexity:

Definitely not a beginners game, Puerto Rico is still relatively easy to learn and master. One of things that I enjoyed learning this game is experimenting with different strategies, testing out different combinations of buildings and shipping

Conclusion:

Puerto Rico is a must buy for any game group, this game has tight game play, deep levels of strategy, high replayability and is simply elegant.
(Posted on 7/9/10)

A 'classic' must have game that provides an elegant stepping stone to the next level. Review by A 'classic' stepping stone from gateway games

Price
Value
Quality

Considered a modern day classic by many, Puerto Rico is a must have game for anyone looking for something 'more' from light gateway games such as Settlers of Catan, Ticket to Ride and Pandemic.

In Puerto Rico, you play the role of a plantation owner, planning what raw materials to grow and goods to produce to then in turn ship back to the old world for profit.

Components:
Serviceable (though a recently released French edition updated the graphics), but not the most aesthetically appealing. There are enough components, player boards, chits and good and colonist tokens to make you feel like you got a good bang for your buck.

Key Mechanic: Role Selection/Simultaneous Player Action

In turn order (which cycles through the game), every player selects a different Role. Then each player executes that Roles action with an advantage of selecting that role, and every other player in order has the chance to execute that action as well. Unselected roles accumulate $ as incentive for their selection on the next turn ensuring that all roles are selected at some point or the other.

This simple mechanic drives Puerto Rico. Roles are selected as needed, so the game play ebbs and flows nicely. Each role is related to the others, one feeding into the other. Simple and elegant.

Player Interaction:

Player interaction is indirect and sudtle. In PR(Puerto Rico) you predict the flow of the game work towards a long term strategy. Its easy to correlate the impact of that actions on other players and plan potential moves around that. The key to Puerto Rico is to select the move the benefits you the most while benefiting your opponents the least.

Game Flow and Play:

PR is a very 'tight' game. Being driven by Role selection, where each role depends on the other in one way or the other to drive the game play through necessity. All actions are well balanced, depend on timing and change in value from turn to turn. If a Role is not selected by a Player one turn, money is added to that Role and accumulates until selected (thus increasing its value and making it more desirable).

Another nice thing about Puerto Rico is that there is minimal down time. Each player decision and action is short and there is very little wait time between making the next decision or making the next action.

There is even a decent 2 player variant so the game works well from 2 to 5 players, though shines best at 4.

Difficulty to Learn and Level of Complexity:

Definitely not a beginners game, Puerto Rico is still relatively easy to learn and master. One of things that I enjoyed learning this game is experimenting with different strategies, testing out different combinations of buildings and shipping
.

Conclusion:

Puerto Rico is a must buy for any game group.




(Posted on 7/8/10)

Puerto Rico was the No.1 ranked game on Boardgamegeek for many years and is still highly ranked. A game with lots of strategic depth, it is considered by some to be the benchmark Eurogame. Review by TR

Quality
Value
Price
Price
Value
Quality

Puerto Rico was the No.1 ranked game on Boardgamegeek for many years and is still highly ranked. A game with lots of strategic depth, it is considered by some to be the benchmark Eurogame.

The worker placement, building development and role choice mechanic it pioneered in may ways has since been take up by many different, best selling games.

Unfortunately, being an almost pure perfect information game, it benefits players who have played the game multiple times and is somewhat more difficult to get into for beginners. In addition, the theme is rather dry and somewhat 'removed' from the actual gameplay as most Eurogames are. Personally, I've found Puerto Rico to have been overtaken by many other, newer games. (Posted on 6/30/09)