Puerto Rico - Online Guide/Rules
Starting The Game
With /join 3-5 players can join the game. With /start the game begins. Alternatively, you can use the Game Tool!
Object of the Game
The game proceeds over many rounds. Each round, each player selects one of the six or seven available roles and usually all players get to perform a certain action for each role chosen. These roles may provide goods, buildings, plantations or colonists, or they may allow players to ship goods for Victory points or sell goods for money. The player selecting the role gets an additional advantage specific to the role chosen. In addition, the role selected may include money for the player selecting it. Players must plan a careful strategy of building, producing, trading and shipping. The player with the most victory points at the end of the game wins.
The Interface

- Players Dashboard (see below)
- Field for Quarries and Plantations
- Constructed Buildings
- Game Actions (see below)
- Marketplace
- Game Roles
- Game Information - Feedback

- Player's name
- Collected Produce
- Current Doubloons
- Active Player flag
- Unplaced settlers
- First Player flag
- Victory Points (only your own are visible)

- Available Victory Points
- Available Settlers
- Currently selected role (here: Builder)
- Currently required action by you (here: building)
- Arrow to End Turn or Pass
- Settlers on the Ship

- Available Produce
- Merchant Shipping (Activated by Captain)
- Marketplace (for selling to the Trader)
- Currently available quarries and plantations (During Settler Phase)
- Building Menu Icon
Startvorbereitungen
Money
Each player starts the game with one less doubloon than the number of players in the game, as shown:
Money | Players |
---|---|
2 | 3 |
3 | 4 |
4 | 5 |
Plantations
# Players | Start Player | Player #2 | Player #3 | Player #4 | Player #5 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
3 | Indigo | Indigo | Corn | ||
4 | Indigo | Indigo | Corn | Corn | |
5 | Indigo | Indigo | Indigo | Corn | Corn |
There is always 1 more plantation available in the supply area than the number of players. (See end of guide for inventory of Game Pieces).
Flow of the game
The game is played over several rounds. A single round is as follows:
The player who has the governor flag starts. He clicks one of the role cards from the bottom right and then plays out this role. Thereafter, each players can take this action also. Once everyone has been given the opportunity, the next player chooses a different role from the set of the remaining roles. Starting with that player (not the player with the governor flag) each player can take this action also. The current active player has their name highlighted with a '*'. You can see what the current action is by looking at the 'Game Action' interface. The end of the round happens once all players have taken a role everyone had the chance to carry out that action. Any role not selected during that round wilkl have a doubloon added to it as an incentive.
The Roles
Every role brings a special privilege for the player who chooses it, and also a common action that all players carry out in turn. (Exception: the Prospector.)
The following applies:
- if there are one or more doubloons on a role card, the player who takes that card collects them, even if the player cannot or does not perform any action for the role
- An Action begins with the player who selected that action and is then offered to each player in turn.
- A player MUST take a role when it is their turn. They should also take a role that they can or will use.
- All actions (except for Captain) are voluntary. Click on the Red Arrow (top right) to pass.
Each role can only be chosen once in a round.
Settler

If the Settler is selected, then each player may take one of the available plantations. Simply click on it. A player may not have more than 12 quarries and plantations in total.
Chooser's Privilege: You may take a quarry instead of a Plantation.
Mayor

The plantations, quarries and building showing a grey silhouette are 'vacant' while those showing a white figure are 'occupied'. Only occupied locations can perform their functions, unoccupied locations can never be used!
If the role of Mayor is selected, then the settlers from the ship in are distributed individually to the players in turn. These settlers can also be used to 'occupy' any player's quarries, plantations or buildings during this phase. If a player has settlers unused, they will be left in his home port until the next mayor phase. Once a player has placed all of their settlers as desired, they click on the Red Arrow to confirm completion.
The Colonist Ship is now replenished with colonists equal to either the number of players or the total number of grey (vacant) building slots, whichever is the greater.
Chooser's Privileged: Selecting this role gets you one extra settler from the supply.
Master Builder (Baumeister)

When the Builder is chosen, all players can in turn build a building. To do this, open the build menu (click on the building icon located slightly above the Builder Action Card) and click on the desired building.

The black numbers are the building costs, the red numbers are the VPs the buildings are worth. Each occupied quarry a player has lowers the construction cost by one Doubloon, to a maximum of the building's VPs. Thus if you have 3 occupied quarries, you will pay 3 less for a building worth 3 or 4 VPs, but only 2 less for a building worth 2 VPs.
No player may build a building more than once. The green building cover two of the twelve building locations. If you want to remove a building, click on the hook icon in the top right.
Chooser's Privileged: Selecting this role lets you pay 1 doubloon less for building.
Producer/Craftsman

If the Craftsman is selected then each player produces all the goods they can, in turn, starting with the selecting player. An occupied slot in a plantation of the relevant type AND an occupied slot in a production building of the relevant type is required for each barrel of any good to be produced. Exception: corn does not require a production building. You may find that you don't get to produce some goods if the supply has run out before your turn.
Chooser's Privileged: Selecting this role gives you 1 extra produce (provided you are able to make that produce) from the main supply. This occurs once everyone else has been allocated their produce. To do this click on a barrel of your choice from under your name.
Trader (Händler)

If the Trader is selected, then each player in turn, starting with the selecting player, may sell one barrel of any one good to the trading house. Barrels sell for the following number of Doubloons: Corn=0, Indigo=1, Sugar=2, Tobacco=3, Coffee=4. If the trading house is full, then nothing else may be sold this round. At the end of the trading phase, the trading house is emptied ONLY if it is full.
N.B. You may not sell a barrel of any good that is already in the trading house. (Exception: Office)
Chooser's Privilege: Receive one extra Doubloon if you sell a barrel.
Captain

Selecting the Captain initiates the shipment of goods which means that barrels are placed on the ship ready to be shipped. During the Captain phase, players can ship several times. The general rule is that during your turn if you can ship goods then you MUST ship goods. You can however choose which goods to ship (if there is a choice). You may only make shipment of ONE TYPE of good each time you ship. To ship goods, drag and drop barrels from your supply to the ship of your choice. If a ship already contains goods then you can only ship to hat specific ship. The Captains phase continues until no-one else can ship.
Chooser's Privilege: Receive 1 extra VP for your first shipment.
Shipping Rules
- A Ship may not carry goods of more than one type simultaneously.
- The same type of good may not be carried by more than one ship simultaneously.
- a full ship cannot take any more barrels.
- Whoever's turn it is to ship must , if they can. They can only provide goods of one type.
- Each shipment is automatically of ALL your barrels of the type you choose, or as many as there is room for on the ship you choose.
- If a player has several different types, he can choose which ones to ship.
Victory Points
You receive one VP for every barrel you ship. The total number of VPs you have accumulated is kept secret from the other players. Each player can see his/her own total next to his/her Doubloons.
Storing Goods
When no more goods can be loaded on the cargo ships, players who were unable to ship all their barrels must choose which barrels to discard if they cannot store them. Each player may store one barrel of one type.
NB. Small and Large Warehouses can be used to store more barrels.
At the end of the captain phase all full ships are emptied.
Prospector

Chooser's Privilege: Receive 1 Doubloon from the bank. There is no action associated with the Prospector role.
N.B. There are no Prospector roles in a 3-player game, 1 Prospector with 4 players, and 2 Prospectors with 5 players.
Each New Round
After everyone has selected a role and all actions have been carried out the round ends. The roles which were not selected have a doubloon added to them, and the Governor's flag passes to the next player.
End of the Game
The game ends at the end of the round in which at least one of the following three conditions is satisfied:
- at the end of the Mayor phase there are not enough colonists to fill the colonist ship as required.
- during the Builder phase, at least one player builds on his 12th city space.
- during the Captain phase, the last of the victory point chips is used.
The player with the most VPs wins. Victory points are obtained through shipping + buildings + extra points from occupied green buildings. If players are tied then the player with the highest total of barrels + doubloons wins (1 Doubloon = 1 Barrel).
Game Options
basic
The Basic buildings are used
extension
The Puerto Rico Expansion is used. The buildings are selected before the game play.
random
This option uses the Puerto Rico expansion. The buildings are chosen at random from the basic and expansion sets.
Game Pieces
This is the main game set up for the Basic option.
Plantations
Coffee | Tobacco | Corn | Sugar | Indigo | Quarries |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 8 |
Goods
Coffee | Tobacco | Corn | Sugar | Indigo |
---|---|---|---|---|
9 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 11 |
Colonists
# Players | Supply | Minimum Colonists/ship |
---|---|---|
3 | 55 | 3 |
4 | 75 | 4 |
5 | 95 | 5 |
Victory Points
# Players | Victory Points |
---|---|
3 | 75 |
4 | 100 |
5 | 122 |
Transport Ships
# Players | Capacities |
---|---|
3 | 4/5/6 |
4 | 5/6/7 |
5 | 6/7/8 |
Buildings
Building type | Qty |
---|---|
Small Production Buildings (Sm. Indigo, Sm. Sugar) | 4 |
Large Production Buildings (L. Indigo, L. Sugar, Tobacco, Coffee) | 3 |
City Hall, Customs House, Fortress, Residence, Guild Hall | 1 |
All others | 2 |
An explanation of the different Buildings is given separately.