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Puerto Rico
#57BGG7.9RATING
Updated Sep 8
3–5
PLAYERS
90–150
MINUTES
4
BEST WITH
3.3
HEAVY
ERRATA1
Hacienda and construction hut in the 2011 Anniversary rulebooklinked official sourcecommunity high-engagement
- RULING
- The 2011 English Anniversary edition rulebook misprints the hacienda restriction as "he could take a quarry instead of the face-down tile." This is a translation error. The 2002 German, 2011 German and 2014 revised English rulebooks all state that a player who owns an occupied construction hut **may not** take a quarry instead of the face-down hacienda tile; a settler who owns a hacienda may take only one quarry. Play the 2002 wording, which is what this library's manual carries.
AUTHOR: Picon (George), with the revised rulebook located by realcyberghostSOURCE: boardgamegeek.com(4 replies, 6 thumbs)DATE: 2016-03-27
DESIGNER CLARIFICATIONS4
Residence counts filled island spaces, not colonised onespublisher
- CONTEXT
- The residence tile reads "occupied island space" while the rulebook reads "filled island space", and players disputed whether a plantation without a colonist counts toward the bonus.
- RULING
- "Filled is correct - the intent of the auther, German publisher and English publisher." Every island space holding a plantation or quarry counts toward the residence bonus, whether or not a colonist stands on it.
AUTHOR: riogames (Jay Tummelson, publisher — Rio Grande Games)SOURCE: boardgamegeek.com(10 replies)DATE: 2007-06-19The craftsman action is optional, and so is each production buildingpublishercommunity high-engagement
- CONTEXT
- Players asked whether a craftsman must produce, and whether the goods from an occupied production building may be declined.
- RULING
- "Crafting during the craftsman phase is optional. Production buildings are optional (same as violet buildings)." A player who takes the craftsman action produces from all of his occupied plantations — that part is not optional — but chooses which occupied production and violet buildings to activate, all-or-nothing per building. With two occupied corn plantations and an occupied tobacco storage over two occupied tobacco plantations, a player may produce two corn and two tobacco, or two corn alone, or nothing at all — but never two corn and one tobacco, and never tobacco without the corn.
AUTHOR: Rulemonger (L. Scott Johnson), relaying Stefan Brück of alea by emailSOURCE: boardgamegeek.com(23 replies, 20 thumbs)DATE: 2009-05-13Taking a colonist in the mayor phase is optional every timepublishercommunity high-engagement
- RULING
- "Taking a colonist during the mayor phase is optional, even if you have taken that action earlier in the phase (or taken a colonist as your privilege)."
AUTHOR: Rulemonger (L. Scott Johnson), relaying Stefan Brück of alea by emailSOURCE: boardgamegeek.com(23 replies, 20 thumbs)DATE: 2009-05-13Colonists left when every player passes are removed from the gamepublishercommunity high-engagement
- RULING
- "If, for whatever reason, every player passes (declines to take the mayor action) before the colonist ship is empty, then any remaining colonists on the ship are removed from the game (not returned to the supply nor left on the ship) and the ship receives new colonists from the supply as normal to end the phase."
AUTHOR: Rulemonger (L. Scott Johnson), relaying Stefan Brück of alea by emailSOURCE: boardgamegeek.com(23 replies, 20 thumbs)DATE: 2009-05-13
Q&A4
What happens to a colonist a player declines to takecommunity high-engagement
- QUESTION
- If a player declines to take a colonist during the mayor phase, is that colonist lost, or does it stay available?
- ANSWER
- It stays on the ship. The declining player is simply skipped and the colonist passes to the next player in turn order. The English rulebook omits a sentence present in the German original stating that a player who does not take the action is passed over entirely. Only when every player declines are the leftover colonists removed from the game (see D4).
AUTHOR: gert74 (Gert Meyer), corroborated by rmshay (Richard Shay, WBC Puerto Rico tournament GM)SOURCE: boardgamegeek.com(13 replies, 10 thumbs)DATE: 2016-08-17Where the hospice and university bonus colonist is placedcommunity high-engagement
- QUESTION
- Both buildings say to place the colonist "on this tile" — does that mean the hospice or university itself, or the plantation or building just acquired?
- ANSWER
- The newly acquired one. The hospice colonist goes onto the plantation or quarry the player has just placed; the university colonist goes onto the building he has just built. The German rulebook is unambiguous on this, and neither the hospice nor the university has a free circle that could hold an extra colonist — if it did, the building would not be occupied and its power would not be active.
AUTHOR: Berthold (Berthold Nüchter), thread closed by realcyberghost citing the 2014 English rulebookSOURCE: boardgamegeek.com(24 replies, 8 thumbs)DATE: 2016-04-29A player may never own two copies of the same buildingcommunity high-engagement
- QUESTION
- Can a player buy both copies of a production building to monopolise a good?
- ANSWER
- No. A player may never own two of the same building, and this applies to production buildings exactly as it does to violet ones — unlike San Juan, where duplicates are allowed. The rule sits in the buildings section on page 8 rather than in the builder phase section, which is why it is so often missed. Two copies of each small violet building and multiple copies of each production building exist so that different players can each own one.
AUTHOR: jmucchiello (Joe Mucchiello), rulebook location confirmed by FinnTroll (Alex DeGuy)SOURCE: boardgamegeek.com(22 replies, 17 thumbs)DATE: 2004-08-29The factory and university price swap is not an official rulecommunity high-engagement
- QUESTION
- Andreas Seyfarth has said he would swap the costs of the factory and the university if he were designing the game today. Has that become official?
- ANSWER
- No. It remains a designer-endorsed variant only. Every printed edition, including the 10th Anniversary edition, keeps the university at 8 doubloons and the factory at 7. The related "players who start with a corn plantation begin with one doubloon less" adjustment is a community variant with no designer or publisher endorsement at all.
AUTHOR: sbauer9 (Steve Bauer), with the 10th Anniversary rulebook cited by miloboySOURCE: boardgamegeek.com(20 replies, 6 thumbs)DATE: 2011-10-27
Last researched: 2026-08-10
CATEGORIES
City Building·Economic·Farming
MECHANICS
Action DraftingEnd Game BonusesFollowHidden Victory PointsIncrease Value of Unchosen ResourcesTurn Order: ProgressiveVariable Phase Order
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An opponent's settlement blocks your road network — your road cannot be built through or past an occupied intersection.
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Null cards deal 0 damage regardless of base value or any bonuses applied.
◆ Gloomhaven — Attack Modifier Deck, p. 23
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