Puerto Rico
I recently played game called Puerto Rico from Rio Grande Games. The basic premise of the game is that you are a wealthy developer who wishes to run numerous plantations to produce various goods and export them to other countries for vast amounts of profit. I noticed that there is a detail about the game that you have to ignore in order to assume political correctness, namely that the plantation workers are little brown wooden pieces. I found that it is best to say that these workers were volunteers who were provided nice homes and free health care. Once you are past the moral blockade, you can begin ‘hiring’ your ‘volunteers’. The game has a somewhat complex set-up which varies depending on the number of players there are. The turns are done in a very interesting way where the governor of the town rotates and gets to move first by choosing which event will happen first. One of the events is the Captain. When you get the captain, he sails with all the goods to sell. We decided this was loosely related to rum and decided to make a game of it. Every time the captain sailed, we all drank a shot of rum. The problem with most drinking games in their infancy is very little thought has gone into how long the players can withstand the stated pace. Compounded by liquid courage you often have a game that slaughters people halfway through. This was just such a case.
Regardless of the debauchery I experienced at the hands of wicked cardboard tiller wheels, I must note one of the most fascinating aspects of this game. That is the complete lack of luck. There are no dice or random cards. If everyone makes the same moves from game to game, the game will end exactly the same. That’s the kind of game I really like because it all comes down to pure tactics. All in all, this takes its place as one of my favorite board games of all time and I encourage everyone to shed their moral high ground and realize your potential as a … low income housing developer.
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-Groggy
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