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Roberto, I went to the local Walmart store, which is the biggest department store in this town and on earth, I'm told, and was advised that they do not carry the Puerto Rico game, which is the #1 game on earth. I find that to be very odd, wonder why, and now am even more curious about it. (This particular store brings in so much money that the city police department put a branch office in the building; states are actually altering their laws to accommodate the chain, I hear.) Veritas semper vincit, doesn't it?
Hi, Roberto: Thanks for all the info on 'Puerto Rico.' I can see why the American market might be slow to pick it up-- but then that may be from ignorance of it, not sensitivity. Maybe I'll see if Walmart's got it:-) 'Evolver' sounds a lot like 'REvolver,' and with such a powerful program I'd want to know for sure which way it's pointed before hooking into it; with my none-too-sophisticated user skills, maybe I'd better google around on it some more.
'Puerto Rico' is produced under license in USA by a company called 'Rio Grande Games'. Many online stores sell the game (it is not very cheap, around 50 US$), by example at Funagain games, but it appears it is not easely found in some popular stores, the game does not seem to be taylor-made for the American taste, surely by some reasons I have briefly shown, between other reasons. It is a 3-5 players game, but there are unofficial rules for 2 players. The game feels different whne you play it with 3, 4 or 5 players, strategy must change according the number of players. The rules in English can be downloaded at boardgamegeek.com, in the section 'files' of the Puerto Rico page. At this site, you can also download a very, very strong free PR program called 'Evolver', wrote in EXCEL!, although with crude but decent interface, and with AI based on genetic programming techniques, it learns in each game it plays, so it is desiderable to keep the growing database of the excel program. To run it, you must weaken the Excel controls over macros, the macros need to be habilitated for proper run. This is the section where you can download the amazing Evolver: http://www.bggfiles.com/viewfile.php3?fileid=8766
Hi, Roberto: That Puerto Rico game sounds very interesting; is the metaphor based upon a new land to be plundered/'developed,' and how do the end-games tend to run? I mean, is it zero-sum, like winner-take-all, or could it leave two players in balance? I wonder if it's in stores around here (NC/USA).
Yes, Puerto Rico is an awesome game. I've played it many, many times.
'Puerto Rico' may be offensive for many players, but also Chess: it is a war simulation in which you use your mind trying to surrender the other player, and in which at least the Pawns die, they never return to the game. If you are thinking that 'Puerto Rico' is an unknown game that moves in the shadows, sit down: It is one of the top sellers in Europe and it is perhaps the most awarded game in the history of board games: Deutscher Spiele Preis 2002, Essen Feather 2002, Strategy game of the year in USA 2003, International Gamers award 2003, actually ranked number 1 in the Internet Top 100 list -everybody can vote- (GO is number 68 and Chess is number 242), and PR is ranked number 1 in the independent BoardGameGeek list, etc... The ideas behind some aspects of the game may be vomitive, but, being absolutely objective, considering its abstract value as game, I have to admit that it is really good.
Yesterday, my son and friends invited me to play a german board game called 'Puerto Rico', a complex multi-player game with the theme of colonial economy. My first impression, after three games, is that, regardless the set-up time and some details explained after, this game is one of the best I have played, considering it as a game for serious players. There is a random factor in a little segment of the game, but it mainly adds diversity, this game is 95-99% strategic and tactical, and extremely deep. The learning curve and time to mastering seems to be relatively high, but you can play it decently soon. But there is a detail I have to mention in the game: Some pieces, called 'Colonists' are used in the game, you must place them in plantations and certain buildings for activation purposes, plantations can´t produce without 'Colonists'. The case is that 'Colonists' are represented by dark brown disks, they come into the game through a 'Colonial Ship', and in the Expansion Set of the game, it appears a building called 'Black Market', in which, apart from other possible actions, you can exchange 'Colonists' for money. If you have two fingers of head, you can understand, inmediately, that such 'Colonists' are not other thing than slaves...
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