Post originally by Trevor at 2003-11-23 15:31:52
Converted from Phorums BB System

Just thought I'd point out the importance of the number of players in Puerto Rico.

The game works surprisingly well with any number of players. I have played games with three, four, and five players, and all games worked rather well. I have not played the two player variant (published only on the web) but I have heard it plays well.

But just because it works well with any number of players doesn't mean that it plays the same with different numbers. The number of goods and buildings available doesn't change based on the number of players, while room on the ships and number of colonists and victory point chips do.

The greater the number of players, the more scarcity plays a role and the difficulty of planning ahead becomes higher. If there are two buildings of a certain type available, in a three player game that means only one player needs to go without it. In a five player game, three players are forced to go without. That leads to dilemmas like "I can either get the factory or the wharf, but not both" or "do I buy that last Tobacco Plant, or do I save up for the Guild Hall?"

Thus, a three player game is highly strategic, while a five player game is highly tactical. A four player game is somewhere in between.

People have wrongfully accused Puerto Rico of being a multi-player solitaire, which really couldn't be further from the truth. The player interaction is subtle, but ever present. A good Puerto Rico player pays more attention to what their opponents are doing than their own board.