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Puerto Rico (game)
Encyclopedia
Puerto Rico is a German board game
designed by Andreas Seyfarth
, and published in 2002 by Alea in German
, by Rio Grande Games
in English
and by Κάισσα in Greek.
Players assume the roles of colonial governors on the island of Puerto Rico
during the age of Caribbean
ascendancy.
The aim of the game is to amass victory points by shipping goods to the Old World
or by constructing buildings.
Puerto Rico can be played by three to five players, although an official two player variant also exists. There is an official expansion which adds new buildings that can be swapped in for or used along with those in the original game. In February 2004, Andreas Seyfarth released a separate card-game called San Juan based on Puerto Rico and published by the same companies. Puerto Rico is one of the highest rated games on BoardGameGeek
.
The resource cycle of the game is that players grow crops which they exchange for points or doubloons. Doubloons can then be used to buy buildings, which allow players to produce more crops or give them other abilities. Buildings and plantations do not work unless they are manned by colonists.
During each round, players take turns selecting a role card from those on the table (such as "Trader" or "Builder"). When a role is chosen, every player gets to take the action appropriate to that role. The player that selected the role also receives a small privilege for doing so - for example, choosing the "Builder" role allows all players to construct a building, but the player who chose the role may do so at a discount on that turn. Unused roles gain a doubloon bonus at the end of each turn, so the next player who chooses that role gets to keep any doubloon bonus associated with it. This encourages players to make use of all the roles throughout a typical course of a game.
The right to start a round, to choose roles within a round, and to take the first action for the chosen role all pass to the left. Puerto Rico uses a variable phase order mechanic, where a "governor" token is passed clockwise to the next player at the conclusion of a turn. This results in a change of the previous turn's role selection order, so that the player who was governor and had first role choice will have last role choice in the upcoming turn. All other players advance their role choice by one position earlier.
Players earn victory points for owning buildings, for shipping goods, and for manned "large buildings." Each player's accumulated shipping chips are kept face down and come in denominations of one or five. This prevents other players from being able to determine the exact score of another player. Goods and doubloons are placed in clear view of other players and the totals of each can always be requested by a player. As the game enters its later stages, the unknown quantity of shipping tokens and its denominations require players to consider their options before choosing a role that can end the game.
In each case, players finish the current round before the game ends.
A player's total score is calculated by adding the number on each of their victory chips, plus the building value of all of their buildings. Manned large buildings award bonus points based on various game conditions (such as the Fortress, which gives one victory point for every three colonists on the player board, or the City Hall, which awards a point for for every small or large violet building owned by the player).
The winner is the player with the most victory points. In the event of a tie, the player with the most total goods plus doubloons is given the tie-breaker. If a tie still exists between players, those players tie.
A strong point of Puerto Rico's game design is that it has multiple possible winning strategies.
A second expansion was under development, but it was later announced that it was canceled. Instead, an expansion is included in the Alea 10th anniversary 'treasure chest' released in 2009, which contains expansions for a number of different Alea games. The Puerto Rico expansions included consist of the original expansion as well as a small expansion of several new buildings and red 'nobleman' colonists, which interact with the new buildings. An English language translation was released at the end of 2009 by Rio Grande Games.
An iPad version was launched in August, 2011.
German-style board game
German-style board games, frequently referred to in gaming circles as Euro Games or Euro-style, are a broad class of tabletop games that generally have simple rules, short to medium playing times, indirect player interaction and abstract physical components...
designed by Andreas Seyfarth
Andreas Seyfarth
Andreas Seyfarth is a German-style board game designer, who is most famous for creating Puerto Rico, which is rated #2 on BoardGameGeek. In 2002, the game was awarded first place for the prestigious Deutscher Spiele Preis...
, and published in 2002 by Alea in German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
, by Rio Grande Games
Rio Grande Games
Rio Grande Games is a board game publisher based in Rio Rancho, New Mexico. The company primarily imports and localizes foreign language German-style board games.-History:...
in English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
and by Κάισσα in Greek.
Players assume the roles of colonial governors on the island of Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...
during the age of Caribbean
Caribbean
The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...
ascendancy.
The aim of the game is to amass victory points by shipping goods to the Old World
Old World
The Old World consists of those parts of the world known to classical antiquity and the European Middle Ages. It is used in the context of, and contrast with, the "New World" ....
or by constructing buildings.
Puerto Rico can be played by three to five players, although an official two player variant also exists. There is an official expansion which adds new buildings that can be swapped in for or used along with those in the original game. In February 2004, Andreas Seyfarth released a separate card-game called San Juan based on Puerto Rico and published by the same companies. Puerto Rico is one of the highest rated games on BoardGameGeek
BoardGameGeek
BoardGameGeek is a website that was founded in January 2000 by Scott Alden and Derk Solko as a resource for the board gaming hobby. The database holds reviews, articles, and session reports for over 45,000 different games, expansions, and designers. BoardGameGeek includes German-style board games,...
.
Gameplay
Each player uses a separate small board with spaces for city buildings, plantations, and resources. Three ships, a trading house, and a supply of resources and doubloons are shared between the players.The resource cycle of the game is that players grow crops which they exchange for points or doubloons. Doubloons can then be used to buy buildings, which allow players to produce more crops or give them other abilities. Buildings and plantations do not work unless they are manned by colonists.
During each round, players take turns selecting a role card from those on the table (such as "Trader" or "Builder"). When a role is chosen, every player gets to take the action appropriate to that role. The player that selected the role also receives a small privilege for doing so - for example, choosing the "Builder" role allows all players to construct a building, but the player who chose the role may do so at a discount on that turn. Unused roles gain a doubloon bonus at the end of each turn, so the next player who chooses that role gets to keep any doubloon bonus associated with it. This encourages players to make use of all the roles throughout a typical course of a game.
The right to start a round, to choose roles within a round, and to take the first action for the chosen role all pass to the left. Puerto Rico uses a variable phase order mechanic, where a "governor" token is passed clockwise to the next player at the conclusion of a turn. This results in a change of the previous turn's role selection order, so that the player who was governor and had first role choice will have last role choice in the upcoming turn. All other players advance their role choice by one position earlier.
Players earn victory points for owning buildings, for shipping goods, and for manned "large buildings." Each player's accumulated shipping chips are kept face down and come in denominations of one or five. This prevents other players from being able to determine the exact score of another player. Goods and doubloons are placed in clear view of other players and the totals of each can always be requested by a player. As the game enters its later stages, the unknown quantity of shipping tokens and its denominations require players to consider their options before choosing a role that can end the game.
Ending
The game ends if:- Mayor is selected and there are not enough colonists to refill the colonist ship with the appropriate amount.
- Captain is selected and the last VP chip is given to a player. (Additional chips are to be used once the supply is exhausted)
- Builder is selected and at least one player has built their 12th city space.
In each case, players finish the current round before the game ends.
A player's total score is calculated by adding the number on each of their victory chips, plus the building value of all of their buildings. Manned large buildings award bonus points based on various game conditions (such as the Fortress, which gives one victory point for every three colonists on the player board, or the City Hall, which awards a point for for every small or large violet building owned by the player).
The winner is the player with the most victory points. In the event of a tie, the player with the most total goods plus doubloons is given the tie-breaker. If a tie still exists between players, those players tie.
Strategy
There are two primary strategies used in Puerto Rico, corresponding to the two means of earning victory points. One route is to go with higher goods production, to send the goods back to the homeland for points. Corn is produced free and indigo has low investment cost. Therefore, these are commonly mass produced. However, doubloons are harder to acquire. The other route is producing smaller cash crops (tobacco and coffee) and buying more buildings. Expensive buildings can give a player 3-4 victory points, but fewer goods are likely to get moved to the homeland. However, in filling all the building spaces, a player can finish the game quickly and keep others from getting more shipment victory points.A strong point of Puerto Rico's game design is that it has multiple possible winning strategies.
Expansion
In January 2004, Alea released an expansion to Puerto Rico. The addition consists of 14 new buildings that may be used alongside or instead of the original 17.A second expansion was under development, but it was later announced that it was canceled. Instead, an expansion is included in the Alea 10th anniversary 'treasure chest' released in 2009, which contains expansions for a number of different Alea games. The Puerto Rico expansions included consist of the original expansion as well as a small expansion of several new buildings and red 'nobleman' colonists, which interact with the new buildings. An English language translation was released at the end of 2009 by Rio Grande Games.
An iPad version was launched in August, 2011.
Awards and rankings
- Deutscher Spiele PreisDeutscher Spiele PreisThe Deutscher Spiele Preis is an important award for boardgames. It was started in 1990 by the German magazine "Die Pöppel-Revue", which collects votes from the industry's stores, magazines, professionals and game clubs. The results are announced every October at the Spiel game fair in Essen,...
, Winner. 2002 - Essen FeatherEssen FeatherThe Essen Feather is an award for German-style board games, given at the Deutscher Spiele Preis ceremony at the Spiel game fair in Essen, Germany...
, Winner. 2002 - Spiel des JahresSpiel des JahresThe Spiel des Jahres is an award for board and card games, created in 1978 with the stated purpose of rewarding excellence in game design, and promoting top-quality games in the German market. It is thought that the existence and popularity of the award is one of the major drivers of the quality...
, Nominee. 2002 - International Gamers AwardInternational Gamers AwardThe International Gamers Awards is an award for strategy board games and historical simulation games.- Past winners :2009 - 2008 - 2007 - 2006 - 2005 - 2004 - 2003 - 2002 - 2001 - 2000- 2010 :- 2009 :- 2008 :- 2007 :- 2006 :- 2005 :- 2004 :...
(General strategy, Multiplayer Category), Winner. 2003 - BoardGameGeekBoardGameGeekBoardGameGeek is a website that was founded in January 2000 by Scott Alden and Derk Solko as a resource for the board gaming hobby. The database holds reviews, articles, and session reports for over 45,000 different games, expansions, and designers. BoardGameGeek includes German-style board games,...
, Number #1 Rated Game. 2003 - August 17, 2008 and March 1, 2010 – December 2010 - BoardGameGeekBoardGameGeekBoardGameGeek is a website that was founded in January 2000 by Scott Alden and Derk Solko as a resource for the board gaming hobby. The database holds reviews, articles, and session reports for over 45,000 different games, expansions, and designers. BoardGameGeek includes German-style board games,...
, Number #2 Rated Game. August 18, 2008 - February 28, 2010 and December 2010 - present
Game balance fixes
The following changes may be made to the official rules in order to create a more balanced game and one which gives each player an equal chance of winning:- The prices of the Factory and University buildings should be swapped so that the Factory costs 8 doubloons and the University costs 7 doubloons. The designer Andreas Seyfarth has said he would make this change if he were creating the game today.
- Any players that start with a corn plantation should start with 1 doubloon less than the players that start with an indigo plantation.
External links
- Alea's home page for the game
- Tropic Euro - free online multiplayer adaptation of Puerto Rico for 2-5 players
- An unofficial online multiplayer version of Puerto Rico
- Puerto Rico at Rio Grande Games, American Publisher, with PDF download of English language rules
- Video review and rules explanation by Board Games with Scott
- BGA - Puerto Rico can be played online multiplayer at Board Game Arena.