Discovering the Roles in Puerto Rico

When you choose this role, you have the option to take a quarry tile or one of the plantation tiles that are face-up. You can then place your chosen tile on any empty space on your player board. After you have made your choice, it’s the turn of each of the other players to take one of the face-up plantation tiles (except for the construction hut) and place it on any empty space on their player board, going in clockwise order.

Once all the players have chosen their tiles, the settler player collects any remaining face-up plantation tiles and puts them in a discard stack. The settler then draws new plantation cards from the facedown stacks, placing them face-up next to the quarry stack. The number of new cards drawn is one more than the number of players.

Hey there! Let me break down some important notes for you. Remember, it’s all about the special functions of the hacienda, construction hut, and hospice. If we run out of plantation tiles in the face-down stacks, don’t fret! We’ll just draw and place those first. We’ll shuffle the discarded plantation tiles face-down, make a new face-down stack, and fill up the face-up row. But hey, if we don’t have enough tiles to refill the row, players in the following rounds might have to make do without them.

Now, where we place our quarry and plantation tiles on our islands doesn’t really matter, so don’t stress about it. Once they’re on the island, they can’t be removed. Oh, and here’s an important rule: if you’ve filled up all 12 spaces on your player board, you can’t add any more plantation or quarry tiles in future settler phases. So, use your spaces wisely! And watch out, if there are no more quarry tiles left in the stack, the settler can’t use their privilege and the owners of a construction hut can’t use that special function.

Now, let’s talk about the Mayor.

When it comes to the tiles (plantation, quarry, or building), they each have 1 to 3 circles. You can put one of your people on each circle on the tiles on your board. If there’s at least one of your people on a tile, it’s taken. Only taken tiles can be used; tiles without people on them don’t work.

If you choose this role, you get a special privilege: you can take one of your people from the supply (not from the ship!). After that, everyone takes one of their people from the ship, starting with the mayor. You keep taking turns until no one is left on the ship.

When I play the game, I have the option to place my new colonist(s) anywhere on the empty circles of the tiles on my player board. This includes not only the colonists I acquired in earlier rounds but also the ones that were already placed on a circle or San Juan in a previous turn. In case I have more colonists than available spaces, I can “store” them in the small city of San Juan on my player board until a later mayor phase. During that phase, I can then place the stored colonists on any empty circles of my tiles.

As my final duty, I get to put new colonists on the colonist ship for the next mayor phase. I take one colonist from the supply and put it on the ship for each empty circle on the buildings on everyone’s player board. Empty circles on plantations and quarries don’t count. But I always have to put at least as many colonists on the ship as there are players in the game.

Here’s a note: Usually, we all put our colonists on at the same time. But sometimes, we might want to wait and see where everyone else is putting theirs before we make our decisions. In that case, we go in order: first me, then everyone else going clockwise from me.

Let’s talk about what happens when a mayor forgets to put new colonists on the colonist ship. If the mayor forgets, don’t worry, because the players can remind him. If the mayor forgets, the players have to put the minimum number of colonists on the ship later. The number of colonists to put on the ship depends on how many players are playing the game.

Now, let’s say the colonist supply runs out. In this case, the mayor can’t use his special privilege anymore. And of course, the mayor also can’t refill the colonist ship. So, it’s important for the mayor to keep an eye on the colonist supply.

Here’s another important rule: no player is allowed to place colonists in San Juan if they have any empty circles left on their player board. If you have empty circles, you need to fill them up as much as possible. And remember, you can only place colonists on the circles during the mayor phase. So, be strategic with your colonist placements.

Let’s talk about The Builder:

If you choose this role, you can build a building right away and save one doubloon. Just pay the bank, grab the building, and put it anywhere in your city.

If you’re going for a big building, you’ll need two empty spaces next to each other. After you build, the other players can take turns building too, as long as they pay the normal cost.

Remember, you can only build one building each round. There’s more information about specific buildings at the end of the rules.

Quarry

When you own a quarry in the game, it can help you save money when building a building. Each occupied quarry reduces the cost by 1 doubloon. The number of reductions you can get is limited based on which column you’re building in.

Here’s how it works: if you’re building in the first column, you can reduce the cost by at most 1 doubloon (1 occupied quarry). In the second column, you can reduce it by at most 2 doubloons (2 occupied quarries). In the third column, you can reduce it by at most 3 doubloons (3 occupied quarries). And in the fourth column, you can reduce it by at most 4 doubloons (4 occupied quarries).

It’s important to note that the mayor’s privilege can further reduce the cost, but the cost of a building cannot go below 0 doubloons. Let’s look at an example: if you have 3 occupied quarries, the costs for different buildings would be as follows: construction hut – 1 doubloon, office – 3 doubloons, harbor – 5 doubloons, city hall – 7 doubloons.

So you want to know about the special function of the university, huh? Well, let me break it down for you in simple terms. See, when you’re playing this game, there are certain rules you’ve got to keep in mind. One of those rules is that if you’re the builder and you don’t build a building, you don’t get any money. That’s right, no doubloon for you!

Now, here’s another thing you need to remember. You can only build on a maximum of 12 city spaces. So, if you’re thinking about going crazy and building on every single spot, think again! You’ve got to be strategic about where you place your buildings.

Oh, and one more thing. If you don’t have any empty city spaces left, you can’t build any more buildings. Sorry, but them’s the rules.

So, to sum it all up, the university has a special function that you need to keep in mind. Make sure you build your buildings to earn those doubloons, don’t go overboard with your construction plans, and remember that you can’t build on empty city spaces.

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The Creative Artisan

When I take on the role of the Craftsman, I get to tap into my inner visionary. I gather materials from the supply and place them on my player board’s windrose. This windrose serves as a reflection of my artistic potential, holding both my money and my creative goods. The other players then follow suit, taking their own materials in a clockwise fashion.

Now, here’s a pro tip: always keep the factory in mind. It has a special function that can greatly benefit you. Just remember, if the type of goods you produce runs out in the supply, you’ll have to make do without. And if you’re having a day when the creative spark isn’t flowing, you won’t receive an extra privilege.

The Merchant

If you choose this role, you can sell a good right away. You get paid for the good you sold, plus an extra doubloon. Then, it’s time for everyone else to take a turn. Starting with the trader, each player can sell one good to the trading house. But remember, there’s only room for four goods in the trading house. Once it’s full, no one else can sell anything.

Here are the rules for selling:

• The trading house can only hold four goods. If it’s full, no more selling can happen.

The trading house is where I go to sell my goods, but there’s a catch. It only buys certain types of goods, except for office supplies. My job as the trader is to keep the trading house from getting too full. If there are already four goods in the trading house, I have to move them to their separate supply piles. But if there are less than four goods, I leave them there. This makes it harder to sell goods in the next trader phase because there are already goods there and fewer spaces available.

Remember, there are special rules for the small and large markets and the office. If I don’t sell anything, I won’t get an extra doubloon. And even though I don’t make money from selling corn to the trading house, I can still do it if I want.

Now let’s talk about the Captain…

When it comes to shipping goods to the old world, I am the one in charge as the captain. My responsibility is to be the first to load goods onto the cargo ships. After that, it’s up to the other players to follow suit, going around the table in clockwise order, starting from me.

Here’s something you should know: during the captain phase, every player gets a chance to load goods onto the cargo ships. When it’s your turn to load goods, you must do so if you have the means.

Now, there’s a catch: you can only load goods of one kind during your turn. As long as there is at least one player who still has goods they can load, the captain phase will continue, going around the table in a clockwise fashion.