Game: Puerto Rico

Thread: Re: Video Exploration and Review of Puerto Rico

Cher — 2008-05-09T05:19:22+00:00

One of the main reasons I haven't picked up Puerto Rico yet is that I'm the person in the family who has to read the rules and explain it to everyone. I was really dreading this one. As someone who has never played the game, I really appreciate this review; you did an excellent job, and I think the method you chose worked very well. Thank you!

Thread: Re: building replenishment

puck71 — 2008-05-08T10:06:00+00:00

For reference, this is addressed in the rules in the first sentence under the "Preparation" heading (emphasis not added):

English Edition Rules wrote:
Place the game board in the middle of the table. Place all the buildings on their assigned spaces on the game board (see below

Granted, the "see below" isn't super helpful since it kinda looks like there's only one of each building in the picture, but the "all the buildings" (not "one of each building") part is the key.

Thread: Re: building replenishment

dagibbs — 2008-05-08T09:14:36+00:00

But, remember that any particular player can only build (at most) one of any particular building.

Thread: Re: building replenishment

dagibbs — 2008-05-08T09:13:34+00:00

dcclark wrote:
Unless you're playing the 2-player variant, yes, EVERY building in the base game is used. There should be (I think) 2 of every purple building.

Two of every SMALL purple building. The large (extra VPs for XXX condition) 10 cost ones have only one of each available.

Thread: Re: building replenishment

Jim K — 2008-05-08T08:02:21+00:00

well, the limited supply of building was forcing us to use a little American ingenuity and come up with some OTHER path to victory. :)

Good to know, though, thanks!

Thread: Re: building replenishment

dcclark — 2008-05-08T07:22:36+00:00

Unless you're playing the 2-player variant, yes, EVERY building in the base game is used. There should be (I think) 2 of every purple building.

The reason you couldn't find anything about replenishing buildings in the rules is that there is no such thing -- all buildings begin on the table.

It will probably make your games a bit better. :)

Thread: building replenishment

Jim K — 2008-05-08T07:16:31+00:00

I went through the rules with fine-toothed comb, but I couldn't find anything about replenishing building which have been purchased.

The way we've been playing, we've been using only 1 of each violet building, and if you don't get the one you wanted, too bad. But we've been playing when someone buys a production building, a new one pops up on the board it its place.
Is this correct??

Is every building that is included in the game used? That is, quantity-wise -- there are 2 of each violet building, and a few of each production building. Are ALL of these used for a game?

Thread: Re: Another Wharf + Harbor question

John Weber — 2008-05-07T05:21:27+00:00

Daniel, you are also allowed to fill the coffee boat with one of your coffees and then use the wharf to ship the other two (or two or more of something else). This is a real good move to maximize your VPs if you have a harbor to go with the wharf, as you get an extra VP with each shipment.

Of course, shipping all three works if no one else has coffee and you want to keep that coffee boat from being filled for others to ship another good in a later round.

Thread: Re: Video Exploration and Review of Puerto Rico

JStop — 2008-05-06T05:52:14+00:00

Thanks for the vid.. good stuff

Thread: Re: Another Wharf + Harbor question

skemmuni — 2008-05-05T03:40:21+00:00

Thanks for the quickly reply guys!

And thanks for clearing this out for me :)

I guess if you are the only coffee maker and got a wharf, you got some good advantages :what:

Thread: Re: Another Wharf + Harbor question

perfalbion — 2008-05-04T03:18:59+00:00

skemmuni wrote:
The basic question is:
Can you leave a ship on the harbor almost full with coffee, to block others to use that ship for other goods?

Absolutely. If you use your wharf to ship the coffee, then the ship that has coffee will sit there partially loaded up until it's filled either by you or another player. This "denial" strategy will work up until someone else builds a coffee plant and starts making coffee.

The harbor really doesn't factor into the equation up until the moment that you decide to fill the coffee ship (giving you one bonus chip) and then ship the rest of your coffee using the wharf (giving you a second bonus chip for the second shipment).

But this is positively legal.

Thread: Re: 10 new buildings, version 4

kungfro — 2008-05-04T02:50:43+00:00

Shade_Jon wrote:
Poor House: looks ok. University is so poor, however, that I don't see any need (other than thematic) to include the restriction.
Well, I didn't want to include the Guest House ability because then you could be getting -3 on a building. The University restriction is thematic (no one was trained at a university just to work at a poor house). Plus, it is very unlikely, especially considering that a Poor House can be free with a quarry, that a player would build a University before building a Poor House. Due to the University's dissuasive price, it is more likely going to be the other way around.

Shade_Jon wrote:
Mine Shack: this looks overpowered. It's more powerful that quarries and construction hut, because its effects can be doubled or tripled, and there are no column restrictions.
I saw it used last night in a 5-player game with much success. It was not overpowered in its use, nor underpowered (as I had feared). [COLOR=#FF0000]I have since updated the rule about its use with the Construction Hut[/COLOR], but otherwise it worked just the way I had hoped. Mines are meant to be better than Quarries, but not enormously so (not to the point that the building should be worth more than 2). Unlike quarries, there is no limit to how many you can get and they need not be occupied, but on the contrary, someone needs to choose Craftsman before they are worth anything towards building.

Shade_Jon wrote:
Well: I designed this building as a 4 cost building that requires a colonist, and I feel it is balanced at that price. So this one looks overpowered.
[COLOR=#FF0000]I have since updated it so that it cannot be used to make tobacco or coffee.[/COLOR]

Shade_Jon wrote:
Prefecture: looks very good.
Strange, this one is the one I like the least, because its use is the least obvious.

Shade_Jon wrote:
Market Stand: looks cute, but possibly overpowered. Selling two goods at once is very powerful. And the first sale gets possible bonuses, too. Also note that you call it "market stall" in the description, instead of "market stand".
Selling two goods at once is powerful, but you're not going to be able to do it all the time, since three different goods have to be sold to the Market House in order to clear it. In the playtests where I've seen it used, it was owned by a player that was making coffee. Sure, she made a lot of money, but compared to other things worth 5 (like the Trading Post), it worked just great. She got a lot of money in one trader phase once, and then found herself never being able to sell two coffee in one round for the rest of the game, because at least one of the houses had coffee still in it. Also, you can't get two Trader bonuses if you sell to both in one round. I fixed the typo on the building's name, as it had gone through a couple different names.

Shade_Jon wrote:
Tower: looks underpowered. I can't see buying this in favor of other buildings of similar cost. Also, I don't see why you don't permit the Prospector privilege which should naturally occur. Still, I like the idea. I might try it at 5 cost.
I was more worried about this being overpowered, and it's actually relieving to see two different posts in this thread that have opposite claims about its strength.

The tower essentially allows you an extra privilege in a round. Comparable to this ability is that granted by the Library (worth 8). The two-point deduction comes from two things:

• The restriction that you cannot use it when you yourself are governor, and
• Unlike with the Library, you can't coordinate which bonuses you're getting. That is, you're at the mercy of whatever job the Governor picks. If the Governor picks a job that would allow you no bonus, such as the Trader when you can't sell anything, or Settler when s/he takes the last quarry (unless you have an occupied Mine Shack), the Tower would have no effect.

Finally, an explanation on the Prospector issue:
I originally intended to include the Prospector bonus with its abilities. But I noticed that the number of extra privileges gets proportionally larger with more players, making the Tower more overpowered with more players. But also with more players, there are more Prospector roles out. Naturally, I restricted Prospector's privilege so that the Tower doesn't border on being more worth 7, particularly when there are more players.

Shade_Jon wrote:
Silver Smelter: With Mine Shack this is overkill overpower. Without it, it's probably underpowered, even if you make it equal to the number of quarries, and not "less one". On the other hand, I'm more concerned with the problem of accentuating a quarry building only strategy to the point of tedium. You already get building bonuses from quarries, and this just makes it worse. People should be encouraged to diversify, I think.
It is not overkill when used with the Mine Shack, as players have to choose between getting a Mine versus a Quarry. But otherwise, you do have a big point. [COLOR=#FF0000]I have since updated the rules regarding the Silver Smelter[/COLOR] so that the doubloons you gain are proportional to the occupied Quarries you have, without the -1. Also it yields only 1 doubloon for every 2 mines, bearing in mind that a player with a Mine Shack can continue receiving Mines even after the Quarry pile is depleted.

Shade_Jon wrote:
Chapel: I have a 10 cost building that does this but which I think is underpowered, so this looks better. I might even get rid of the colonist requirement.
I hate having to remember to take the VP every round. But, otherwise it is a good building. An excellent "update" of sorts to the Church, where it is limited not by your building capacity, but only by how late you decide to buy it.

Shade_Jon wrote:
Archive: a very cool and original looking building. I would try it.
It took many generations and revisions to conceive it. Since the buildings we play with are mutually exclusive by price, any game we play would only have two Wharfs, or Union Halls, or Archives, and they all seem to share a key functional similarity. Since I am a big fan of the 8 and 9 buildings, this is the poster-child for my "expansion."

Shade_Jon wrote:
Victory Arch: I think the +17 VP part must be a joke, because no one else can possibly win the game if that happens. I think +3/large building is probably sufficient.
+17 VP is no joke. You have to sacrifice an enormous amount of strategy to be able to have that fourth large building space even available--you cannot have more than four small buildings, period. Being able actually to afford the fourth building is another setback. Not to mention, since your core strategies have been so critically compromised, the large buildings you do acquire are likely not offering any sizeable bonuses. [COLOR=#FF0000]I have slightly tweaked the values to be more forgiving if you can't get 3 or 4 buildings[/COLOR], but I still think that being worth 20 total at game end is worth it, if you can actually bring yourself to pull it off.

Edit: I've seen it used where its owner shot for four big buildings. He was only able to get three, and he just barely won. I'm not so sure that getting the fourth would have allowed him to win, because he would not have been shipping and selling nearly as much.

Last night I tried to maximize it. I got three big buildings total, giving me +10 with the Victory Arch. But even though I had blocked the other experienced player from getting a final large building herself, s/he still won the game. The Victory Arch is not overpowered.

Thread: Re: Another Wharf + Harbor question

Harald — 2008-05-04T12:20:31+00:00

You can ship all of your coffee on your warf if you want. In fact, if you use your warf to ship coffee, you must ship all you got. (But you could ship one on the almost full ship first, and then two on your warf.)

It does not matter wheter you are the only coffee producing player or not.

Thread: Another Wharf + Harbor question

skemmuni — 2008-05-04T12:08:18+00:00

Maybe this question is been answered in this forum before - just could not find it.

But here goes....

You are the only one that can produce Coffee and got a Wharf. And the caption phase begins. The three ships in the harbor are occupied (not full) with: corn, indigo and coffee. The coffee ship has one empty space and you have 3 coffee barrels.

On your turn can you choose to ship all your coffee with your wharf?

The basic question is:
Can you leave a ship on the harbor almost full with coffee, to block others to use that ship for other goods?
(Remember in this case you are the only one that has a coffee plant + factory)

Thanks.

Thread: Re: 10 new buildings, version 4

Shade_Jon — 2008-05-04T07:22:03+00:00

My own take, having some experience in designing PR buildings ...

Poor House: looks ok. University is so poor, however, that I don't see any need (other than thematic) to include the restriction.

Mine Shack: this looks overpowered. It's more powerful that quarries and construction hut, because its effects can be doubled or tripled, and there are no column restrictions.

Well: I designed this building as a 4 cost building that requires a colonist, and I feel it is balanced at that price. So this one looks overpowered.

Prefecture: looks very good.

Market Stand: looks cute, but possibly overpowered. Selling two goods at once is very powerful. And the first sale gets possible bonuses, too. Also note that you call it "market stall" in the description, instead of "market stand".

Tower: looks underpowered. I can't see buying this in favor of other buildings of similar cost. Also, I don't see why you don't permit the Prospector privilege which should naturally occur. Still, I like the idea. I might try it at 5 cost.

Silver Smelter: With Mine Shack this is overkill overpower. Without it, it's probably underpowered, even if you make it equal to the number of quarries, and not "less one". On the other hand, I'm more concerned with the problem of accentuating a quarry building only strategy to the point of tedium. You already get building bonuses from quarries, and this just makes it worse. People should be encouraged to diversify, I think.

Chapel: I have a 10 cost building that does this but which I think is underpowered, so this looks better. I might even get rid of the colonist requirement.

Archive: a very cool and original looking building. I would try it.

Victory Arch: I think the +17 VP part must be a joke, because no one else can possibly win the game if that happens. I think +3/large building is probably sufficient.

Thanks for the ideas.

Yehuda

Thread: Re: 10 new buildings, version 4

docreason — 2008-05-03T08:20:31+00:00

I am not a fan of San Juan, EXCEPT the buildings in it. Kudos for making the effort to get some of the San Juan buildings into Puerto Rico.

Thread: Re: 10 new buildings, version 4

liken@xtra.co.nz — 2008-05-03T08:13:31+00:00

Looks interesting - however on first read through Tower seemed awfully strong for a column 2 building - I didn't download the file so don't know the cost (presumably 6). Have you playtested it?

Thread: Re: 10 new buildings, version 4

DeanCornel — 2008-05-03T09:50:07+00:00

Really nice work.

I have had this game forever in my collection but never - sacrilege - had played it. Now I can't stop playing it.

I look forward to adding your extra rules and pieces.

Keep up the good work.

The Dreamcatcher