Rochester Gamers Community

I had played this game a couple of times before buying my own copy, and then that copy sat in the box for quite a while. It is now out and punched and seeing frenzied play as it should.

Game Play - Puerto Rico has a very unique gameplay that really sets itself apart from other games.

In Puerto Rico, players are loosely simulating the colonization of Puerto Rico. They do this buy assuming different roles that change the turn structure. One person is the designated governor for the turn. They then get first pick of the roles and then go clockwise around the table. The governor passes to the next person each turn, so everyone gets a fair shot at picking the role they want first.

The goal of the game is to get the most victory points. This can be achieved in several ways. The main way is by sending goods back to the old world on ships during the Captain phase. Another way is by constructing buildings during the Builder phase.

Another aspect of the game is generating revenue in the form of doubloons. Some people get caught up in the money making aspect and lose sight of the true goal of gaining victory points.

The game offers a lot of strategy and little monotony with its turn structure. Not knowing what phases are actually going to occur each turn requires one to make decisions with limited information and try to guess what the opponents are going to do. One also has to be careful when choosing his or her role, because the role that might be the most helpful, may also help an opponent more.

I feel that the gameplay deserves 9 out of 10 doubloons.

Look and Feel - The art for the game is good. Nothing outstanding, but it works well with the theme and time period.

I have to say that when I play this game, I do not feel like I am really colonizing Puerto Rico. I feel like I am in a race for victory points.

Also be ready to do some punching when you get this game. There are a lot of pieces to punch, but lots of bits are cool.

I also like how each player is playing on their own board with the community board in the middle to buy and trade from.

The look and feel of this game earns it a 7 out of 10 doubloons.

Overall Score - 8 doubloons out of 10.

Final word - If you are a fan of Euro style games, this game is already in your collection. If it isn’t, what are you doing reading this. Go get it now.