Puerto Rico 1897 Special Edition reference sheet

Overview

• 3–5 players (2-player variant available; Puertoma solo/automa mode included) [p.5 — Objective of the Game]
• Goal: earn the most Victory Points by developing your part of Puerto Rico [p.5 — Objective of the Game]
• Each round, players take turns selecting a Role tile; the selector gets the Advantage, all others get the basic action [p.9 — Turn and Roles]
• Roles: Planter, Recruiter, Builder, Craftsman, Trader, Captain, Adventurer [p.9 — Turn and Roles]
• VPs come from shipping Goods (Captain), Buildings, and expanded Building bonuses [p.17 — Ending the Game]
• Game ends when Workers can't repopulate, a player fills 12 Building slots, or the last VP token is taken [p.17 — Ending the Game]

Setup

1. Place Main board, Building tray, Resource tray, Work Register, and Trading House on the table [p.6 — Game Setup]
2. Place VP & Workers trays for your player count: 3P = 75 VP/58 Workers; 4P = 100 VP/79 Workers; 5P = 126 VP/100 Workers [p.6 — Game Setup]
3. Place Workers on Work Register equal to player count [p.6 — Game Setup]
4. Draw Estate tiles from bag equal to players +1; place face-up on Main board; stack all 8 Quarry tiles [p.7 — Game Setup]
5. Place Role tiles: 3P = 6 tiles (no Adventurers); 4P = 7 tiles (1 Adventurer); 5P = all 8 [p.7 — Game Setup]
6. Insert Cargo Ship decks: 3P = 4/5/6; 4P = 5/6/7; 5P = 6/7/8 [p.7 — Game Setup]
7. Give each player a board, portrait, Coins (players –1), and 1 starting Estate tile [p.8 — Game Setup]
   • 3P: players 1–2 get Fruit; player 3 gets Corn
   • 4P: players 1–2 get Fruit; players 3–4 get Corn
   • 5P: players 1–3 get Fruit; players 4–5 get Corn
8. Give Governor marker to starting player [p.8 — Game Setup]

Turn structure

Each round, starting with the Governor and going clockwise:

1. Active player selects a Role tile (gains any Coins on it) [p.9 — Turn and Roles]
2. Starting with the Role-chooser, all players clockwise perform the Role action; only the chooser uses the Advantage [p.9 — Turn and Roles]
3. Next player clockwise selects a remaining Role and repeats step 2 [p.9 — Turn and Roles]
4. Continue until all players have chosen a Role

End of Round

5. Place 1 Coin on each unchosen Role tile [p.9 — Turn and Roles]
6. Return all Role tiles to the Main board [p.9 — Turn and Roles]
7. Pass Governor marker to the left [p.9 — Turn and Roles]

Actions

Quarry discount (Builder phase): each occupied Quarry = –1 Coin; max discount = Building's VP value (expanded = 4) [p.11 — Builder]

Trading House prices: Corn 0 / Fruit 1 / Sugar 2 / Tobacco 3 / Coffee 4 Coins [p.13 — Trader]

Production: Corn = 1 Crate per occupied Corn Estate. Fruit/Sugar/Tobacco/Coffee = 1 Crate per occupied Estate + matching occupied Production Building pair [p.12 — Craftsman]

Scoring

• Captain phase: 1 VP per Crate loaded; Captain gains +1 VP if they loaded anything [p.14 — Captain]
• Buildings: each Building scores VP equal to the number in its blue hexagon, occupied or not [p.18 — The Buildings]
• Expanded Buildings: 4 VP base + bonus VP if occupied at game end (varies by Building) [p.21 — Expanded Commercial Buildings]
• Tiebreaker: most total Coins + Goods Crates; if still tied, share victory [p.17 — Ending the Game]

End of game

Game ends at the end of the phase when any of these occur [p.17 — Ending the Game]:

• Not enough Workers to repopulate the Work Register after Recruiter phase
• One or more players fill all 12 Building slots (ends after that Builder phase)
• Last VP token is taken during Captain phase (if taken in another phase, play until end of next Captain phase)

Final score = VP tokens + VP on Buildings + bonus VP from occupied expanded Buildings

Most VP wins; tiebreak = most Coins + Goods Crates; still tied = shared victory [p.17 — Ending the Game]

Glossary

• Countryside: Upper Player board section holding Estate tiles, Quarries, and Forests [p.9 — Concepts]
• Estate: Countryside tile type — Corn, Fruit, Sugar, Tobacco, or Coffee [p.9 — Concepts]
• Occupied: A tile with at least 1 Worker on it; only occupied tiles are active/usable [p.10 — Recruiter]
• Expanded Building: Building occupying 2 adjacent Building slots; worth 4 VP base [p.9 — Concepts]
• Load: Move a Crate from your board to an empty slot on a Cargo Ship or Personal Ship [p.9 — Concepts]
• Repopulate: Add Workers to Work Register equal to empty Building slots across all Player boards (minimum = player count) [p.10 — Recruiter]
• Store: Keep Crates on your board after Captain phase (default: 1 Crate; Warehouses expand this) [p.9 — Concepts]
• Discard: Remove from your board to the discard pile; not returned to supply [p.9 — Concepts]
• Return: Remove from your board back to the supply [p.9 — Concepts]
• Dispatch: Placing the last Crate on a Cargo Ship, fully loading it (Expansions V & VI) [p.30 — Expansion V]
• Forest: Estate placed face-down via Lumberyard; cannot be occupied; provides building cost reduction [p.23 — Lumberyard]

FAQ

• Q: Can the Captain skip loading? — A: No — loading is mandatory unless the player genuinely cannot load any Goods under the loading rules [p.14 — Captain]
• Q: When does Goods Storing happen? — A: Only at the very end of the Captain phase, after all loading is complete [p.15 — Captain Notes]
• Q: Can Workers be moved outside the Recruiter phase? — A: No, except via the Bohio Building's special ability [p.11 — Recruiter Notes]
• Q: Does the Builder get a Coin back if they choose not to build? — A: No — the Advantage only reduces cost; no Coin is gained for skipping [p.11 — Builder Notes]
• Q: If the last VP token is taken outside the Captain phase, does the game end immediately? — A: No — play continues until the end of the next Captain phase [p.17 — Ending the Game]
• Q: Can a player build a Building they already own? — A: No — each Building may only be built once per player [p.11 — Builder]
• Q: What happens if the Estate tile supply runs out during the Planter phase? — A: Return all discarded Estate tiles to the bag; if that's also empty, players may still choose Planter (e.g. for Coins) but cannot perform the action [p.10 — Planter]