Puerto Rico Review - with Tom Vasel

[@redrico35]

Great review. The game that got me hooked on eurogames. One aspect of the strategy that really adds to the elegance of this game is the way that the clockwise movement of the governor combines with the role selection so that when the governor is moving towards you you're gaining more control (getting to select two roles in a row at the end of one turn and beginning of the next as the governor passes to you) and you're losing control as the governor moves away from you. It creates a rhythm to the game that is predictable but also filled with strategic opportunities and pitfalls.

[@EfrainRiveraJunior]

This is my all-time favorite game! We've played Puerto Rico HUNDREDS of times over the years and still love it. I try to always play with the expansion, but I'll be honest, I kinda hate the Nobles Expansion. I believe Nobles shift Puerto Rico to "The first player to do this certain strategy" will always win. I find this game highly addictive and love that there is no ONE way to win. So many players comment about this 'one-way' strategy, but they are speaking about the online game, which basically sucks. I love playing with 5 players. We sometimes play using ALL the buildings, including the 2nd expansion, which we place on the side. If we are playing with experienced players, I like the "Choose the Buildings in turn on the Setup" rule, explained in the instructions. We designed our own Zombie Expansion, which I think is really cool. I will someday post the rules we came up with. To me, Puerto Rico is the greatest board game ever made. I loved this review. It was short and sweet, and to the point. Thanks, Tom. I've been waiting for your Puerto Rico Review for the longest time.

[@cesteves6882]

This is the first boardgame I have ever bought that wasn't from the big box stores. Best 2 dollars at goodwill I ever spent.

[@jttwaddle]

This was the board game that got me interested in the whole hobby in general. After all these years it is still in my top 10 games of all time. I haven't played it in more than a year... guess it's time to bust it out again.

[@vincivader]

This game and settlers of catan started it all for me.

[@chadreznicek3873]

Tom I love the fact that you are doing reviews of old games that you hadn't done before you went full time. Keep doing more! How about a review of El Grande (which you have listed on top 10 essential games, but have no review for)?

[@smoothcriminal28]

Or Cuba.

[@MSgtDave]

So....you have little brown tokens which arrive each turn on a boat which are then put to work on a plantation?

[@HeatIIEXTEND]

South Park sure is great huh ?

[@DuraheLL]

Best part of the game, WORK LITTLE BROWNIES! WORK! Now get me a beer.

[@jonaskoelker]

I think the mechanism is known as "involuntary-worker placement".

[@didosmithons4619]

That's what I thought. Seriously?! This background story is just too wrong for me...sorry but nope! Perfecting exploitation / colonization is just not my style.

[@drizzle952]

@@didosmithons4619 Snowflake.

[@Tumpkin2]

You can grab both expansions in the "alea treasure chest" it also comes with a few other expansions.

[@johnrochester1419]

I'm not sure what's different about this review, if it's that he gives some strategic analysis, or what, but this is one of the best reviews I've seen.

[@tradenmyr]

I like these retro reviews Tom - keep them coming (when you have time!)

[@guspuntocom]

I play Puerto Rico... IN PUERTO RICO!

[@JosSerrano11]

+AFTER CLAN PR Arecibo! nunca lo e jugado, vale la pena??

[@guspuntocom]

JosSerrano Es entretenido. Un clásico. Si te gusta la estrategia, lo recomiendo 100%. :D

[@JosSerrano11]

jajaja gracias se ve un poco complejo pero bien entretenido lo pensare!

[@J-Wheeler-G]

Ponce

[@nerzenjaeger]

There is a new edition of Puerto Rico out here in Europe, which has basically the same content as the "old" Limited Edition.

[@cart172]

Would love a new version of this game with updated components and art.

[@void5239]

Sweet! Just got it new for $4 at goodwill. Can’t wait to bring it to the table.

[@mangageekdom]

Not gonna lie, being from Puerto Rico I'm kinda curious to try it out. lol

[@nicklausp2886]

A WEEK IN GEEKDOM LOL

[@Raphaelus13]

A new edition with art in the buildings will come in 2014. I'm waiting for that one :) Probably the one that @Nerzenjäger mentioned for Europe.

[@dvc1190]

Tom Vasel often talks about how other games have replaced Puerto Rico for him over the years, but I've never heard him say what they are. I wish he would've finally said what they were in this review.

[@MB-rc8ie]

Great memories playing this one and catan. Different strategies, great interaction, elegant mechanics, fun from every game. Puerto Rico is definitely my favorite game along with Bohnanza and Le Havre.

[@xikura]

Sounds like you should check out more games from Uwe Rosenberg :) Lot's of similar mechanics, just utilized in different ways. Caverna is my favorite from Uwe.

[@glassprisonFIN]

I'm really loving this game! Chess, Bridge, Go and such I feel are a bit dry for my liking, because they have no theme. On the other hand, most modern board games are way too luck based, I feel like an idiot every time I throw dice, no matter what the game is. I think "Why I'm throwing these dice, I'm a grown man?" Drawing many random cards, the same thing really. But Puerto Rico (with expansions) fits my taste perfectly. It has a nice theme and depth, very small luck factor. It is nowhere near as "hardcore" as chess, but it is way more strategic than most board games. People need to switch University price (8) and Factory price (7) though. The game designer has said, that for it to be balanced, Uni must cost 7 and Factory 8.

[@revimfadli4666]

Perhaps the randomness felt better not only because it was small, but also because it's a controllable/mitigatable/reactable type of randomness designers usually call "input" randomness. I like to call it "post-agency"

[@FallenRaven]

Had no idea about this game and only started looking for info and videos because of the Gamefound campaign from Awaken Realms. Hearing that part that workers won’t do anything in buildings unless a colonist is there just sounds wrong. Hearing that workers arrive in boats to work in plantations is just wrong. My birth country was colonized and its people abused and treated like slaves by 3 different countries, the US included. I know the 1897 version changed some of the mechanics but man, how tf did this game even get published? It’s like turning a blind eye on colonization and slavery because the game is fun. Not really surprised with some of the comments here.

[@smoothcriminal28]

Vasel.. How come you haven't done a review for Cuba ?

[@peterv6036]

Ozzy Love to see a Cuba review. One of my favorite games

[@mikej.8885]

Puerto Rico and Agricola the best 2 games ever.

[@Strausburg]

But Caverna replaced Agricola ;)

[@carlosmichan]

Tom, Thanks for the explanation

[@MissCharliechop]

Hi Tom! Im going to KublaCon in the Bay Area tonight. I like to play settles, ticket to ride, clue, monopoly, cards against humanity etc. This is the1st time that I heard of Puerto Rico. What other popular games can you recommend to try?

[@austinbaker8042]

One of the best games I have played mostly because there is a fraction of luck involved.

[@bobstepnowski]

Hey Tom where did you get your shelves?

[@rainerahlfors]

They are the "Expedit" line at IKEA.

[@ronpetersen2317]

Expedit are highly popular with game and vinyl record collectors. They are awesome but they are discontinuing Expedit and coming out with a replacement line in the near future. I have 4 of the 6' x 6' shelves and a bunch of other filler ones. I also use the tall DVD/CD shelves also at Ikea and put them between the expedits for smaller games.

[@RetroMaticGamer]

Man, my first game of PR was three years ago. So wanted to hate it over boring theme... couldn't. Loved it so much. Been hooked ever since.

[@ivanconrad6102]

Really like that you're looking at older games now/again. Tom, have you ever played Tomb? (yes I know the rules are bad...)

[@DarthSironos]

Played this with some friends some years ago. Growing corn and coffee and shipping it... it felt more like an unpaid, dry, solitaire, unengaging, dramaless job than free time fun. It taught me the definition of hard Eurogames, and I've stayed clear of them ever since. I can appreciate hard strategy games like chess, but this is just not for me. I can respect if you like games like this, it all depends on what you want from your boardgames, and to each their own. As long as you don't try to pressure me to play them with you ;)

[@bignosebrett1521]

nice review!!

[@smoothcriminal28]

A flawless design imo.

[@williammcguinness795]

"Puerto Rico Sharks"? the Jets 'ill get them...TONIGHT!

[@CameraMan9258]

Lol

[@metalminion14]

Gonna get this one! sounds a lot like Kingdom Builder.

[@AlexTheUruguayan]

It is *nothing* like Kingdom Builder but it's still a good choice for purchase.

[@johnrochester1419]

AlexTheUruguayan Haha No truer statement has ever been made. It is like Kingdom Builder-- in the fact that it's a strategy game. :)

[@Aron-zr1br]

Love this game. The iOS version is a joy to play.

[@austinbaker8042]

Puerto Rico Shark = Jason ;)

[@sra12100]

Played it once, I DID like it. The only thing I didn't like was that two other players were more or less working together and against me. One was a good player, but was using their scrub friend to give themselves all the breaks and make pretty cut throat move on me. Still barely lost.

[@goldmoonfox4901]

You didn't deserved this, Sam Samson.

[@edmundbloxam2714]

I can't tell whether nostalgia drives this game for me. It does punish the 'wrong action' quite a bit, but worst of all the 'craftsman' action is just so weak. If you take it, then all OTHER players benefit from it, whether that be from shipping or trading. Even with an office, taking the craftsman action is usually a bad idea, yet somebody taking it is crucial to the game. Is the game broken? Why do I still like it? There's probably better role selection, produce-sell-build games out there. What are they though? ('Le Havre' is the closest, but it is not REALLY role selection, so it deserves to sit on its own).

[@janilaitikas907]

Craftsman is indeed situational role, but in few cases, with taken it you can actually slow down someones game: if there are very few of some products, you can make sure that the last one getting products might not get what he'd like to get. One extra product might also be a huge: there are situations where I have produced victpry with it with my own ship and haven. That extra product really makes a lot in that case. Also, with factory it's a good role, 'cause you cab ensure you get all the products you produce no matter how few there are left. In the very beginning of the game, craftsman usually gets that 1 or 2 extra dublons on it to make people take it the 1st time, but when our games go on, it becomes as a role very annoying when someone takes it on a moment when you REALLY needed some product and you just can't get it then. :D

[@rollerkas]

"Tom Vasel thinks you are all stupid sheep." - Sam Healy 2013 Awesome fun videos! Nice review, got to see what Puerto Rico(board game) is!

[@TheHappyApe]

I like this game... but the theme is a little dry for me...

[@DuraheLL]

No joke. It make me feel 50 years old playing it. By todays standards, I would say boardgames has come a long way, to the point there is so much better than this, that still is deeply strategical, but provide a flourishing theme on top!

[@CoreyDWillis]

One of my favorite games. :-)

[@pilotvc]

Oh... I thought this was a review of the COUNTRY... I didn't realize until halfway through the video :(

[@RavensbladeDX]

I bet that component drop caused some people to go into convulsions. Haha!

[@alphamai1300]

Liking the Geek Chic that you have.

[@JaKamps]

I almost feel bad for clicking on this video since it had 4,444 views

[@TheMidnightpatronus]

Jake Kamps In several Asian cultures, 4 is considered the number of death. So I hope that made you feel better. :D

[@JaKamps]

TheMidnightpatronus ha

[@janilaitikas907]

In the 1st third of a game I try to fool as many palyers to think I have some exact cunning plan, whiuch I usually don't have. In the 2nd third of a game, even some who know me has fallen in my traps and have tried to slow me down but 'cause in the first place, i had no exact plan, usually they end up to help me' because somewhere in between turns 3-5 I have noticed who others will probably play, I count the governor role 5-6 shifts ahead, make my conclusions and then I have my plan ready. No worse than 2nd place with my friends in last ten to fifteen games, and seven victories in last ten games. :D I drive one of my friends mad who falls ijto thinking I have a plan in the beginning, because for him it's only logical... But for me, being illogical makes it impossible to be read by others so I can maximize my skills to calculate onwards when seen what otgers do and then decide where I will head on. Of course others do it too, but I am better in it. :D

[@republikadugave420]

Most balanced game ever made...

[@freddieyu]

Great classic game!

[@jrenna07]

Tom vasel, I want to party with you!

[@EyalItsik]

Played it once, didn't like it. Games about growing corn are not for me, I guess :(

[@davidbancroft7156]

Agreed. corn = boring.

[@EyalItsik]

David Bancroft I actually love corn ^_^

[@shawnieyang1587]

Get that corn out of my face

[@dreadknot69]

Here here!

[@spots2012]

"Colonists" lol

[@rocionieves4336]

I feel disturbed by the mere existence of games like these about ACTUAL places

[@dlancier]

I despise this game. Probably because of the Puerto Rico game wonks that insisted that I play with them and they promptly gave me no help and stomp me. It is basically board game solitaire for up to five very pedestrian gamers. The theme is terrible, it is boring, and I wouldn't wish it on my worst gaming enemy.

[@d.aardent9382]

the rule of cant put more than one type of good on a ship and the other rule ,if the player cant get a ship to put their good on they just destroy the goods? That's stupid. That is not how real merchant commerce works. lol there would always be more ships to fill the need for shipping stuff places and they always mixed up cargos to some extent unless it was like cotton bales r something. Just bugs me that it should have a more equal mechanism for getting goods shipped that makes sense. and need to make some of the "workers" white tokens as its cringey as hell with brown tokens representing poor "colonists"...pressed into service or indentured servitude.(Although using "colonists" also is a misnomer as they were usually the rich landstealers who then repressed the indigenous people) geez, don't think this game is for me. kinda sicko.

[@gaaraheater44]

lol cry more. If they fought off Spanish colonists, they wouldn't have been conquered. Losers don't get to complain.

[@bignosebrett1521]

can you whinge anymore?

[@silverfang6668]

Having taken a few semesters of spanish I always cringe when I hear people mispronounce this. It's "pwerto" rico, NOT "porter" rico. Ugh!

[@lucky6666]

Good thing he's speaking American not Spanish 😈.