Puerto Rico

2002 · City Building

Puerto Rico

Players act as colonial governors managing plantations, colonists, and a city tableau to generate crops, doubloons, and victory points. Each round a player selects a role card that gives everyone a shared action (such as Produce, Trade, Ship, or Build) while awarding a special bonus to the chooser; unused roles accumulate a money bonus that the next taker collects. Crops are planted and harvested, goods are shipped or traded, and buildings are purchased and staffed with colonists to unlock production and scoring. A governor token rotates to set the phase order, and the game ends when certain supply piles or ships are empty, with points scored for shipped goods, constructed buildings, and manned large buildings.

Players
3–5 best 4
Playing time
90–150 min
Age
12+
Complexity
3.3 / 5
7.4 on Ludoyafrom $62.97EconomicFarmingEnd Game BonusesTurn Order: ProgressiveAction Drafting

On Ludoya's tables

Full stats in Ludoya
964
Plays logged
748
Players
1h 27m
Average play
183
In collections
17
On wishlists
1
Pre-ordered

7.4/10

from 175 Ludoya reviews

  • Fun4.0
  • Interaction4.0
  • Replayability4.0
  • Uniqueness4.0
  • Looks4.0
  • Accessibility4.0
  • Garfield8.0

    #53 Good game where you produce and sell goods. But it tends to be a little bit long. [c] Theme: :star::star::star::nostar::nostar: <!-- size 7]ok --> Gameplay: :star::star::star::nostar::nostar: <!-- size 7]Good amount of choices --> Interaction: :star::star::star::nostar::nostar: <!-- size 7]Make specific actions where others can't benefit --> Artwork: :star::nostar::nostar::nostar::nostar: <!-- size 7]Where? --> Luck: :star::star::nostar::nostar::nostar: <!-- size 7]Just a little bit --> Strategy: :star::star::star::star::nostar: <!-- size 7]Many strategies possible --> Components: :star::star::nostar::nostar::nostar: <!-- size 7]Thin and nothing special --> Play duration: :star::star::nostar::nostar::nostar: <!-- size 7]A little bit too long --> Easy to teach: :star::star::star::nostar::nostar: <!-- size 7]Ok --> Rules quality: <!-- size 7]not yet read --> Setup time: :star::star::nostar::nostar::nostar: <!-- size 7]Set up the buildings is a pain --> No downtime: :star::star::star::star::nostar: <!-- size 7]Little downtime --> Replay value: :star::star::nostar::nostar::nostar: <!-- size 7]Different strategies, but nothing more --> [/c]

  • Mestremuten10.0

    Rating: 5/5 Production value: 4/4 Is the game in my collection/Love to have?: 1/1

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Rules questions

Answered from the rulebook by Ludoya's rules assistant.

Do plantations and buildings produce goods automatically, or do they need colonists to work?

Tiles must be occupied to function — a tile needs at least one colonist (circle filled) to use its ability, otherwise it does nothing; production happens during the Craftsman phase when occupied production buildings let you take goods (pages 4–5).

If I take a role, can I refuse to use its action or privilege?

You must take a role placard on your turn, but you may choose not to use its action or privilege; the action is optional (exceptions: the captain’s loading action must be followed when a player can load, and the prospector has no shared action) (pages 3, 6–7).

Do quarry discounts stack with the Builder's “pay 1 less” privilege?

Yes — occupied quarries reduce building cost according to the column limits and the builder’s -1 doubloon privilege applies in addition, but a building’s cost cannot be reduced below 0 (pages 4–5).

Can I sell a good to the Trading House if that same good is already there?

No — the trading house accepts only different kinds of goods (so you cannot sell a type already present) except when an office allows an exception; the trading house holds only four goods and a full house is emptied by the trader (page 5).

During the Captain phase, must I load goods if I have goods that can be loaded, and can I choose how many to load?

If you can load goods you must do so, you may load only one kind per turn, and you must load as many of that kind as you can; if multiple empty ships could accept that good you must choose the ship where you can load the most, leaving none behind if possible (page 6).

How many goods can I keep between captain phases without using warehouses?

Each player may store one good token on their windrose between captain phases; all other goods must fit into your small/large warehouses or be returned to the supply if you lack space (page 6).

Opens Ludoya's rules assistant, which reads this game's rulebook.

Score sheets and play helpers

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Game facts (players, playing time, age, credits) from BoardGameGeek.