Review: Puerto Rico

So you've gotten your friends into proper board games using Settlers of Catan, but are looking to get them into something with a little more depth and a lot less luck?  Welcome to Puerto Rico.  Players compete to be the best developer of their own city and countryside of Puerto Rico (I guess?  I'm still a little fuzzy on this part).  The object of the game is to get the most victory points by producing a variety of goods (corn, indigo, sugar, tobacco, and coffee) and shipping them back to the Old World.  You can also sell these goods to make money to buy buildings that help you produce more, ship more, sell more, or get more victory points.

Each round, each player will pick a role that not only determines what game phases happen that round, but also what bonus they get in those phases.  For example, if you choose to be a builder, then everyone will get to buy a building and you will get to buy at a lower price.  My favorite part about this game is that the only aspect of luck in the entire game is that the plantation tiles are shuffled and unveiled randomly.  Everything else is purely determined by player choices, so as long as you can out-think your friends, victory is assured!  At least that's what I like to think...

The game has three different conditions that can end it and if you're not paying attention one of those can sneak up on you and end the game earlier than you think.  3-5 people can play the game and games generally last between 2-3 hours in my experience.  This game is definitely meant for players who can focus and enjoy strategy and thinking ten steps ahead of your friends.  It's also a game that could end friendships since it's pretty easy to screw people over with your choices, so be careful.