Puerto Rico

The Basics
Description: The players are plantation owners in Puerto Rico in the days when ships had sails. Growing up to five different kind of crops: Corn, Indigo, Coffee, Sugar and Tobacco, they must try to run their business more efficiently than their close competitors; growing crops and storing them efficiently, developing San Juan with useful buildings, deploying their colonists to best effect, selling crops at the right time, and most importantly, shipping their goods back to Europe for maximum benefit.

A novel game system lets players choose the order of the phases in each turn by allowing each player to choose a role from those remaining when it is their turn. No role can be selected twice in the same round. The player who selects the best roles to advance their position during the game will win.

How to Play

• Preemminent (BSW Demo)
• Boardgames With Scott (Video)
  
• Geek (Audio Rules)
  
• Rio Grande Games (Official Rulebook)
• Geek (Tutorial)
  

Where to Play Online (I play Phial, or the Eagle Games version which you pay 7.50 for as of June 2008)

• PR Game (Free - Registration Required)
• Phial (Free - Curl Downloaded)
• Mark Blanco (Free - Windows Download)
• Tony Mitton (Free - Excel Download)

Cheat Sheets (from the Geek)

• New Player One Page (Downloads a Word doc)
• Welcome to Puerto Rico (Downloads a Word doc)
  
• Teaching Aid (Downloads a Word doc)
• Turn by Turn Guide (Thread on the Geek)
• Flowchart (Downloads a pdf)
  

Game Hints

• Basic Strategy: Compilation Thread on the Geek
• Beginner Strategy: Zipped file from The Geek
• Another Strategy Guide for Beginners: Thread on the Geek
  
• My Tips: Read the Warehouse Article

Views

• Opinion: I enjoy this game more on the PC, than in person. A lot quicker, and if you lose you can play another.
  
• Online: Works fine online, if not better.
  
• Work: Could be to long, might work on a long lunch or lunch/break combo.
• Home: Great game to play, but not a family game, unless everyone is into it.

Other Info

• Plays best with: Works fine with 3-5 players, best with 4.
• Gateway Suitability: Takes two games to get it, unless you read the guides and have a good teacher. Not a gateway game, maybe a gateway into serious gaming.
• Spouse Suitability: Chrissy hasn't played, but has watched.
  
• Re-playability: Very very high if you get into it.
• Real Life Setup: 5 minutes, less if you bag the parts post game.
• Real Life Time/Length: Without the expansion 60-90 minutes.
• Geek Link: http://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/3076