Puerto Rico
This weekend I finally had to play the game that's a true legend of the board gaming community, Puerto Rico. It's been listed as the #1 ranked game on the Board Game Geek site more or less since the game was released, and I can't count how many board game reviews include the phrase "not as good as Puerto Rico because. . ." somewhere in them.
And I have to say, I wasn't disappointed. Pleased, even. And as silly and predictable as it is to say it, I have to admit that, yes, it's probably the most fun board game I've ever played. It's not so much that any one aspect of the game makes you think, "Wow, that's brilliant!" (although the variable turn phase mechanism is admittedly pretty cool), but more a case of the game being intelligent, fast-paced, well-balanced, and very, very replayable (the number of possible strategy approaches would be tough to count).
We bought the game for a friend for Christmas, and in a case of gift reciprocity, he invited us over on Saturday night for dinner, after which the inevitable question came up, "So, you guys want to try the game?"
It's not an easy game to learn — I think we spent the better part of two hours just trying to figure it out, and another two hours plodding through our first game, with lots of rulebook referrals, but even during a game under those circumstances, much fun was had by all. Plantations were planted, buildings were built, crops were sold or shipped off to Spain, and money was made.
The only reason we'd never bought the game for ourselves is that it takes a minimum of 3 players, and really only works well with 4 or 5. But even that problem is now a problem of the past: today, when poking around online reading things about the game, I discovered this site, which has an online version of the game into which you can inject as many computer AI opponents as you need.
So there it is. I don't know what's next in the board game world. I can't wait to see what next game can come along and out-awesome Puerto Rico. It shouldn't be too long — Puerto Rico sets a high bar but not an impossible one. But in the mean time, I'll stay plenty entertained by this one. . . .
And I have to say, I wasn't disappointed. Pleased, even. And as silly and predictable as it is to say it, I have to admit that, yes, it's probably the most fun board game I've ever played. It's not so much that any one aspect of the game makes you think, "Wow, that's brilliant!" (although the variable turn phase mechanism is admittedly pretty cool), but more a case of the game being intelligent, fast-paced, well-balanced, and very, very replayable (the number of possible strategy approaches would be tough to count).
We bought the game for a friend for Christmas, and in a case of gift reciprocity, he invited us over on Saturday night for dinner, after which the inevitable question came up, "So, you guys want to try the game?"
It's not an easy game to learn — I think we spent the better part of two hours just trying to figure it out, and another two hours plodding through our first game, with lots of rulebook referrals, but even during a game under those circumstances, much fun was had by all. Plantations were planted, buildings were built, crops were sold or shipped off to Spain, and money was made.
The only reason we'd never bought the game for ourselves is that it takes a minimum of 3 players, and really only works well with 4 or 5. But even that problem is now a problem of the past: today, when poking around online reading things about the game, I discovered this site, which has an online version of the game into which you can inject as many computer AI opponents as you need.
So there it is. I don't know what's next in the board game world. I can't wait to see what next game can come along and out-awesome Puerto Rico. It shouldn't be too long — Puerto Rico sets a high bar but not an impossible one. But in the mean time, I'll stay plenty entertained by this one. . . .