Puerto Rico (5 stars)

Of late Puerto Rico (PR) is our favorite game and has somewhat overtaken Settlers of Catan in that respect. The reason? It has less of a chance element compared to Settlers. The downside? It takes a wee bit longer to arrange if the max i.e. 5 players are not playing, and the game itself takes longer - about 90 minutes. Even if it takes longer, most people seem to like the elegance of the game, the strange bit of tension that exists in trying to procure resources that are just about right and in general tight. And it is not at all as complex as it may first seem. Its a simple but wonderful role playing game where you are trying to get victory points and when the game ends, whoever has most victory points, wins.

The role selection is a little bit like Citadels, but differs in two major aspects. One chooses roles openly, and that role can be done by everybody (although there is an extra benefit for the one who chooses the role). Rules dictate when choosing which rule is good and there are decisions to be made at each stage since you can see what resources other people hold as well.

Of course all rules have exceptions and there are ways of getting around the rules and that is what makes the game exciting. You break the rules by certain actions, but there are only so many who can take those actions. So, initially its worth reading about the different buildings you can buy.

There are also 5 special buildings that come into play close to the end of the game. And knowing when the game ends is important as you have to plan for it. It ends in one of 3 ways: There are no more colonists (people), or there are no more victory points, or any of the player fills up the 12 building spots. So one has to keep an eye on all possibilities, and also on people who may want to end the game sooner because they are ahead.

There are a few not-so-hidden points to keep in mind that make the game even more fun. One of them is the Craftsman angst. It feels great to be the craftsman and produce lots of good. But then the danger is that the next person becomes captain and before its your turn all the ships are full and your goods are spoilt.

A few tips for novices: (1) money is more useful initially, (2) at least a quarry or two is good to have so that you need to pay less money, (3) the games typically last between 15 and 20 rounds, (4) keep an eye on the large buildings.

PR can also be played as a two-person game, and unlike most multi-person good games it does not lose any of its charm in the two-person version. Definitely recommended. There is also an online version that you can play at http://www.phial.com/puerto-rico/ (for the two-person game play only 5 roles per round rather than 6). You can also play it against 4 computer opponents. Though these are okay, they are not as good as people who have played the game even a couple of times.

Here are some more details about the roles and the mechanisms.

How do you get victory points?
By shipping goods during the Captain's phase! Every barrel gets you one point.

What goods?
Oh, the usual: Corn, Indigo, Sugar, Tobacco, Coffee.

And where do you get these?
You produce them! (During the Craftsman phase). All you need are appropriate plants (with people to work with them) and factories to process them (with people to work these too).

Where do you get the plants?
During the Settler phase.

And the factories?
You get those (and some other buildings) by paying for them during the Builder phase.

Where do the people come from?
The Mayor brings them during his phase.

Where does the money to buy the buildings come from?

You get the Dubloons (PR currency) when you sell goods during the Trader phase.

Do all crops fetch the same value?
Of course not! Corn fetches nothing (but you don't need any factory to process it), and Coffee pays most (and coffee processing is most expensive).

Hope you give PR a try - you will not regret it.