posted by
mylescorcoran at 11:09am on 17/01/2005 under boardgames
I played a game of Puerto Rico last night, the first I've played in several months. After it burst onto the scene we played it heavily, but the game managed to fall into that category of being loathed by one of our regular players. Now we rarely get to play it, so last night when the PR hater was at the cinema, three of us got together and shipped some corn. And, as it transpired, far more tobacco than I ever planned on shipping.
The three player game is quite different to the four and five player games I'm used to. There's far more money available, with a bonus gold on three roles out of six each turn, with a corresponding boost to the building strategies. I think we Crafted more than we would in a bigger game too, as the ideal position to craft comes up more often as the Governor moves round the table at quite a pace.
In the end I won the game, 64 points to Sam's 57 and Alex's 49. I went to bed smiling, despite the late hour. Even with 3 players, we didn't really get the game to come in under two hours playing time.
The three player game is quite different to the four and five player games I'm used to. There's far more money available, with a bonus gold on three roles out of six each turn, with a corresponding boost to the building strategies. I think we Crafted more than we would in a bigger game too, as the ideal position to craft comes up more often as the Governor moves round the table at quite a pace.
In the end I won the game, 64 points to Sam's 57 and Alex's 49. I went to bed smiling, despite the late hour. Even with 3 players, we didn't really get the game to come in under two hours playing time.
(no subject)
Then I discovered San Juan. It's got almost all the cool stuff of PR, without a lot of the stuff that for me seems to drag. Yes, you lose a layer of the detail in the strategies and there's a higher level of randomness involved, but I think it is a wonderful game.
Maybe you should try that with your PR hater.
(no subject)
While SJ has more luck in it, there's less than I thought there was after the first couple of plays. It bears plenty of replaying, which I count a good sign in a game.
(no subject)
(no subject)
We should have played Transamerica and got to bed sooner though, I agree.