Designed by Andreas Seyfarth
Want to live an idyllic life on an island living as a rich asshole plantation owner, exploiting impoverished colonists slaving away in the indigo fields while you sip Mojitos on the deck listening to JLo? Maybe Puerto Rico is for you.
Puerto Rico concentrates on the agrarian life of early Puerto Rico. Players will grow various goods (corn, indigo, coffee, for example) and may build buildings to refine them, and ship those goods off island.
Interesting Mechanic: Roles (Actions and Privileges). It uses a similar role rotation system as San Juan, and it works even better in the board game version. Players choose roles that let everyone take an action, but they get to use it first. However, in Puerto Rico, the design masterfully uses limited space and resources to allow players to really punish people. Yes, everyone gets to take part in a shipping phase, for example, but there’s only so much room on the boat – if you are savvy, you can make the shipping action a dead action for your neighbor by blocking all of his possible exports, resulting in him dumping his spoiled cocoa into the ocean.
One of the great classic Eurogames, Puerto Rico is perfect for people who find farming and trade compelling stuff. It is considered one of the all-time greats of the genre, though, and that reputation for excellence is pretty well warranted. A modern classic.
(Photo Credit: Board Game Geek)
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