Puerto Rico!

beebzz

http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/3076/puerto-rico

I have been Playing this marvellous Board game lately And find It worth discussing.

How many times have you played?

How do you play(physical, ios,online)?

How have you made it quicker or more efficient to play?

What are some of your go to strategies?

Totally Guy

I really like his game. I've played it a few dozen times and I reliably beat my friends. Hence I don't play it much.

I was invited to play with some guys I met at a convention online and did one game that way. My work blocked the site though and I've not done that since. Those guys were way good and I haven't won a game against them.

As far a habits go, I like the Hacienda in the early game followed by the plantation victory building (Residence?) in the end game. I played on Thursday and I won with diverse production with a factory and picked up the production victory building (Guild hall?) near the end.

Apreche

Factory is the one true path. Try something else, and I will beat you. Free barrels when you craft. Once the machine is setup, it can not be stopped. I've played Puerto Rico perhaps over 100 times in person. To make it more efficient to play, only play with people who know how to play.

Rochelle

It's been so long that I've played this game that I pretty much forgot most of it. It's like Catan. It's one of the first games you get into and have played so many times with friends. It's just one of those games that as fun as it can be, there are other games out there with similar game play that I'd rather play those.

I remember playing more of San Juan because it was easier to set up and break down. I vaguely recall the game having some broken elements, but I forget.

beebzz

Factory is the one true path.

I have noticed Factory being a dominant strategy as well. Making any money on craftsman is a huge advantage, even if its just one or two doubloons. It gives you money on a victory point cycle which is huge. You are capable of producing a massive amount of money while everyone else is trying to farm victory points.

I think big money can compete if done right. If you out buy them on the builder and out sell them on the trader I think it can come close but even then it's a stretch. Also if you play the captain aggressively you can try and manage their resources.

Apreche

Factory is the one true path.

I have noticed Factory being a dominant strategy as well. Making any money on craftsman is a huge advantage, even if its just one or two doubloons. It gives you money on a victory point cycle which is huge. You are capable of producing a massive amount of money while everyone else is trying to farm victory points.

I think big money can compete if done right. If you out buy them on the builder and out sell them on the trader I think it can come close but even then it's a stretch. Also if you play the captain aggressively you can try and manage their resources.

Nope, here is why.

An effective Factory play means you have lots of different types of goods. You almost definitely have four types, if not five types.

If you have four types, you definitely have coffee and/or tobacco. If people try to trade, that's awesome for you unless you get to be shut out of a full trading house. That might happen twice per game at most. So trading against a factory player gives them even more money.

If someone tries to captain you with their harbor/wharf, that's ok as well. Someone with a factory can almost always get some points captaining because they have every type of good. Big deal if they put a corn barrel or two in the ocean. Also, because of the factory money, it is very likely that the person with the earliest factory also has the earliest harbor/wharf, and then they win.

The only way to stop the factory is to delay it. Don't let the person going for the factory get it rolling early. The #1 way to do this is managing the timing of the mayor, settler, and builder such that someone with a factory will be seriously delayed.

You need at least four builders (indigo house, sugar mill, tobacco hut, factory), four settlers (indigo/corn, sugar, tobacco), and five mayors (possibly more) to get the factory machine built and running with four types of goods. That's 13 actions (assuming no hacienda, etc.)

Remember that if you take an action, nobody else can take it. If you see the factory player has 6 doubloons, take the builder. They will either have to build something else, or lose an action. If you had let them have the builder, they would have had factory a turn sooner. Now you delayed that factory way out.

If you see the factory player just got a new type of good building, and has a plantation for it, take the mayor. They'll likely only get one colonist, which is not enough to add the new good type to power up their factory to the next level. If you let them take the mayor, they would have had a powerful factory one craftsman action earlier.

All of these delays can really add up. If you keep taking the action that delays the power players by a turn over and over, you can keep them away from efficient factories until at least the halfway point of the game.

MATATAT

I bought this game and have yet to play it, but I will.

Hethalos

Apreche said:

Factory is the one true path. Try something else, and I will beat you. Free barrels when you craft. Once the machine is setup, it can not be stopped. I've played Puerto Rico perhaps over 100 times in person. To make it more efficient to play, only play with people who know how to play.

Definitely. That's why I generally don't like games with too many deterministic outcomes because it eventually boils down to a few viable options. I'm sure there are exceptions, but I prefer games where randomization is used to give players interesting tactical and strategic options without killing the skill factor too much.