Game Review: "Puerto Rico" by Rio Grande Games

So, I’m currently teaching Robinson Crusoe in my novel class. Because of this, I found myself thinking about "the new world" and a German-style board game I played years ago, Puerto Rico (published by Rio Grande Games), which simulates the efforts of colonists to settle Puerto Rico. This was just one of those games I played one time, and yet, and the experience of it lingered with me.

I remember loving the game. But the gaming group I was involved with at the time preferred to play a new game almost every meeting (and we met but once a week). Sadly, I never got a chance to replay it.

And so, before I allowed myself to reflect on all the other important things I should have been doing, I was in my car driving to Medina, Ohio with the intent of buying Peurto Rico , which I found at one of the only gaming stores in the area, Alter Reality Games.

I got my sister-in-law and wife to play it with me last night; and so, I’d like to review it.

First, I want to talk about the tone and feeling of the game, which comes through due to the unadorned yet very satisfying art. The game suggests “the new world” and--though historical accuracy or historical specificity isn’t that important in the game (the game simulates the creation of no “specific” colony on Puerto Rico) I do get the sense that the time period is the early 16th century.

What’s the point of the game? It’s a resource game and so you spend time growing sugar cane, coffee plants, indigo, corn, and tobacco, and shipping it back to the “old world.” Also, you spend time building plantations and production buildings—like coffee roasters and sugar mills—for the preperation of your agricultural output.

It should be clear: this isn’t a military game. The goal of the game is to build up Puerto Rico and not to fight each other. In fact, there is no military mechanic at all.

The gameplay. One thing that really endears me to this game is that its diceless. The only random element are the other’s players actions (which you have to react to) and a few piles of shuffled “plantation cards” (you never know what kind of plantations you have the option of establishing). With that said, this is a very “skill based” game. Because the goal of the game is to produce a functioning enterprise that turns out the most goods and profit in doubloons, the vast majority your gameplay efforts are centered around organizing and building yourself up.

In a way the game is similar in spirit to Mayfair Games popular The Settlers of Catan. Though I really like that game, I prefer Puerto Rico. Why? An excessively large element of Settlers of Catan is random luck. Although Peurto Rico is similar to Settlers of Catan in that its up to you to establish your colony any way you want, in Settlers, luck, I think, determines your success more than any strategy you deploy (folks will, of course, disagree with me here).

Conclusion: this game was as fun if not more fun than I remembered it. If you want a strategic, thought provoking game that will satisfy your desire to build, organize, and consolidate, but one that is less “combative” than, say, Axis and Allies, then this is your game.