Puerto Rico - What am I missing?

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veector
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Puerto Rico - What am I missing?

Post by veector »

Hi gang, new poster here

I'm fairly well-versed in Euro-style games, but one game keeps coming up over and over as the "best" Euro style board game: Puerto Rico. Loads of people rave about this game and I don't begrudge them their fun, but I just don't get WHY it is fun. What am I missing here?

When I sit down and read the rules or have played it on the iPad, it starts to feel very tedious without much real player-to-player interaction. Am I wrong?

EDIT: Just to give you some background, some of the games that are my all-time faves are: Descent, Small World, Eclipse, Dust, Tikal
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hepcat
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Re: Puerto Rico - What am I missing?

Post by hepcat »

I would suggest not worrying about it and move on to something else. There's a ton of games out there and life's too short to waste on something you obviously don't enjoy. Everyone has their own tastes. If you don't like it, you don't like it. No harm in that.
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veector
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Re: Puerto Rico - What am I missing?

Post by veector »

Oh, I'm not losing sleep over this, just wanted to understand from those who love the game, what it is about the game's mechanics/theme/style/whatever that drives the success.
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Remus West
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Re: Puerto Rico - What am I missing?

Post by Remus West »

veector wrote:Oh, I'm not losing sleep over this, just wanted to understand from those who love the game, what it is about the game's mechanics/theme/style/whatever that drives the success.
I like the fact that choosing your role impacts the actions the other players have available to them and the ones they chose impact what you can/need to do yourself. I doubt you'd really get much of this from a solo game against an AI (I haven't played the Ipad version - although I will be looking for an iphone version now, thanks a lot for costing me money :wink: ). The limited number of buildings in the upper levels also drives some of the early game actions in that if you and player X are both looking like you will be trying to get to the Guild Hall, what do you do as a backup plan should he get there first, etc. Early steps that impact long term strategy is really what keeps me interested in the game.

Also, in my game group we have a joke saying that goes "winning is good but screwing the guy next to you is even better". Puerto Rico offers plenty of chances to mess up the other guy. :twisted:
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LordMortis
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Re: Puerto Rico - What am I missing?

Post by LordMortis »

For me it was one of this first five or so Euro Style games I ever played, so it was still newish in style. Drawing on the elements that make auction style games fun (for me) without being an auction game at all. What it did was create a fairly fast paced game where you at first let a strategy build itself but once it has been built you spend the rest of the game bending the other players to your will.

Assuming no one has an interest in king maker (which pretty much spoils all games) and everyone is looking out for their best self interest, your game becomes primarily about forcing everyone else at the table to take actions that benefit the entire table but benefit you best.

So I end up with a game where the only randomness is the flip of the plantations and then spending my game not only building my island but getting four other people at the table to efficiently build my island as well while working on ways to make sure my turns are inefficient at building their islands.

That doesn't need to be for everyone but it very much is for me. I think we discussed some tactical and strategic parts of the game that turn me on through out here, where we introduced some new players:

http://octopusoverlords.com/forum/viewt ... 16&t=82252" target="_blank
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LordMortis
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Re: Puerto Rico - What am I missing?

Post by LordMortis »

Remus West wrote:Also, in my game group we have a joke saying that goes "winning is good but screwing the guy next to you is even better". Puerto Rico offers plenty of chances to mess up the other guy. :twisted:
PR isn't about screwing other people. However, it is your job to hurt the person to your left. If you don't then you give them a big freedom of play and big advantage. Screwing other people is just a bonus.
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Lorini
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Re: Puerto Rico - What am I missing?

Post by Lorini »

Play against real people on the IPad. The IPad AI is mostly predictable and doesn't really give you a taste of the spectrum of what could happen.
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hepcat
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Re: Puerto Rico - What am I missing?

Post by hepcat »

Lorini wrote:Play against real people on the IPad. The IPad AI is mostly predictable and doesn't really give you a taste of the spectrum of what could happen.
Speak for yourself. I could turn my iPad off and STILL friggin' lose.
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hentzau
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Re: Puerto Rico - What am I missing?

Post by hentzau »

I was a big fan of PR, until I discovered Lords of Waterdeep, and that has supplanted PR in my play schedule.

It's a lot different than PR, but if I'm going to play a euro-style game, that one has won my heart.
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miltonite
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Re: Puerto Rico - What am I missing?

Post by miltonite »

I played Puerto Rico once and did not enjoy it. So you are not the only one that did not enjoy it.

I also agree that life it too short to continue to play a game that you did not enjoy. There are plenty enough games out there to find one you like then coerce all you friends into playing that instead.
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Anonymous Bosch
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Re: Puerto Rico - What am I missing?

Post by Anonymous Bosch »

The first time I played Puerto Rico, I wasn't all that impressed either, and found myself wondering what all the fuss was about. The components seemed rather drab, the buildings weren't even illustrated, and the gameplay seemed far too simple to be engaging. But that's precisely why, at least in certain cases, it's worth playing games beyond the initial impression.

After several more games, I quickly realised why it was held in such high regard. Its simplicity belies the depth present in the game. Sure, in comparison to many other games, Puerto Rico follows a pretty simple structure -- choose a role, execute it, lather, rinse, and repeat -- but that also adds to its appeal, especially as a gateway game. It does not take long to teach what players should be doing on their turns, which allows even new players the opportunity for strategies to blossom and unfold. They can see almost immediately that when they are the Governor, they had better use that first-player advantage to maximum effect. They can see that if only one ship is empty and they're the only ones shipping coffee, they had better make a mad dash for the Captain.

But the game also has its subtleties. Should the player choose a role that is not super beneficial in order to gain the passed-over bonus doubloons, or choose a role that might be more necessary? Should they choose the role that most benefits them, or one that prevents a strong opponent from gaining what they need? How can you best piggyback off of your opponents' roles to ride their coattails to victory? Because the game is so mechanically simple, the real game -- the analyzing, the guessing, the bluffing, the double-bluffing, the fine-tuning -- takes centre stage. It may not be apparent at first, but it's definitely there, and it really is top-notch. All of which leads to a Euro game with lots of interaction. Because each choice you make affects each other player (as they can execute roles after you), the players must be on their toes. It may not have much "take that"-style aggression, but players who fail to consider their opponents will not fare well.

It also features some clever balancing mechanisms. Each role can only be chosen once per round, so it's unlikely that one player will ever monopolise a privilege. And since each player gets a chance to be the Governor, each player is guaranteed to have one time when they can choose from the full range of roles. Then there's the sweetening mechanism that makes unchosen roles more attractive; if the Trader is a role that usually gets passed over, that becomes harder to do when two or three bonus doubloons await the person that finally gives the Trader a chance. It also helps that each ship can hold only one kind of good, and each good type can only occupy one of the ships, thereby preventing someone with a monopoly on one particular resource from hogging all the berths and providing leverage to others. Also, since each of the roles is performed in turn order and all of the components are intentionally limited (and privileges that involve extra stuff from the stock generally happen after all players have executed the role), it helps keep players engaged while making their decisions.

TL;DR summary: Clear and simple rules make it remarkably easy to teach, it offers clever gameplay with plenty of choices to be made, and it's well-balanced with a game flow that allows everyone to participate the whole time. There's a lot more subtlety involved than what it initially seems; with an intentionally limited goods system, you definitely have choices to help yourself or hinder your opponent.
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hentzau
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Re: Puerto Rico - What am I missing?

Post by hentzau »

Oh, and welcome to our little corner of the Internet.
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Lorini
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Re: Puerto Rico - What am I missing?

Post by Lorini »

hepcat wrote:
Lorini wrote:Play against real people on the IPad. The IPad AI is mostly predictable and doesn't really give you a taste of the spectrum of what could happen.
Speak for yourself. I could turn my iPad off and STILL friggin' lose.
The AI is good, no question, it's beat a friend of mine who routinely wins tournaments but it's still predictable. People play differently than the AI, is all I was saying.
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LordMortis
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Re: Puerto Rico - What am I missing?

Post by LordMortis »

hentzau wrote:Oh, and welcome to our little corner of the Internet.
+1 :oops:
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