New Board Game Bundle of the Month! Settlers, Carcassonne, and Puerto Rico

We wanted to let everyone know that we have decided to move towards a Board Game Bundle of the Month, rather than a single board game/card game.

This month, we are spotlighting the three core strategy board games that every gamer should own: Settlers of Catan, Carcassonne, and Puerto Rico.

Typically, this game bundle would be $70.00. But, because of the holiday season, and we know this would make someone an AWESOME gift, we are leaving it on sale through Dec. 31. The sale price is: $52.50. That averages less than $18.00 per game. If there ever was a time to get these three games, now is the time!

You can check out the bundle for yourself at www.bestdanggames.com. Here is the bundle.

Happy Holidays!

Puerto Rico Board Game – Strategies For Beginners

Written by: Lyndon Lampert – Lake City, Colorado

Puerto Rico, by Rio Grande Games, is a wonderful gaming experience for those who know it well. However, a beginner can often feel as lost as a captain without a ship or a colonist without a plantation. Faced with choices among six or seven roles each round, seventeen different buildings, and five types of plantations, the newcomer to the game may be overwhelmed the with options, and perhaps meekly suggest, “could we play UNO instead?”

Take heart, neophyte Puerto Rico player! There’s an excellent game in this box, and not a difficult one to succeed in once you understand one significant element of the game.

The key to grasping basic Puerto Rico strategy is to remember that this game is all about gaining victory points.

There are only two ways of amassing these points:

1. Shipping your goods
2. The buildings you build

Thus, there are only three basic strategies to pursue, gaining victory points through shipping, gaining victory points through building, or gaining victory points through a combination of shipping and building.

The three strategies are:

• The Shipping Strategy
• The Building Strategy
• Combination of Both

Let’s examine what each of these strategies looks like in practice:

The Shipping Strategy

Every good shipped is worth one victory point, so it stands to reason that to do well with this strategy, you’ll want to get ships bulging with your goods throughout the game. But to get goods shipped, you’ll have to produce them first, so concentrate on getting goods into production with plantations and the corresponding production buildings. Note, however, that corn requires no production building, so a pure corn shipping strategy can get up and running really early in the game and you can have a corn steamroller on your hands while your opponents are still struggling to get their tobacco shed, coffee roaster, etc. in place.

Certain buildings are especially advantageous to the Shipping Strategy, including Small and Large Warehouses, the Harbor, the Wharf and the Customs House.

Also, you’ll likely be choosing the Captain role often as it gains you a bonus victory point and allows you to place goods first.

The Building Strategy

Buildings are also worth victory points, so pay attention to the red numbers on the buildings you buy throughout the game. These numbers count as victory points and can add up impressively, especially if you are able to fill all of your building spaces.

An effective building strategy, though, requires a good stream of money, so grab dubloons whenever you can!

Early in the game, money is very tight, so that extra dubloon or two on the role card should warrant your attention, even though the role may not be your first choice. Get a cash stream going, and although you may not ship as many goods as your opponents, you’ll be putting up buildings faster than farmers at a barn-raising.

One key thing to remember about the Building Strategy is that it is generally to your advantage to end the game as quickly as you can by filling up all of your building spaces. You’ll want to do this to keep your opponents from shipping, shipping, shipping, because you probably won’t have nearly as much to ship as they will. Get all your building spaces filled quickly and you’ll stop the shippers in their tracks.

Especially advantageous buildings for this strategy include the Small and Large Markets, Office, Factory, Guild Hall and City Hall. Because you’ll need a cash stream, you’ll probably be choosing the Trader role often, and, of course, the Builder is right up your alley.

Make Mine a Combo!

In truth, most players will choose some combination of building and shipping strategies, but it helps to concentrate primarily in one or the other. Always asking, “Will this choice help me to either build or to ship, and can I see how it can ultimately earn me more of those coveted victory points?” should help make your decisions much easier.

Finally, don’t forget that whatever strategy you pursue, the Large Buildings, if occupied, will earn bonus victory points at the end of the game, based on a variety of conditions. These points often spell the difference in victory in many games, so don’t get caught without at least one Large Building!

While there are other subtleties to Puerto Rico, your overall strategy always depends on how you’ll amass your victory points. Are you a shipper or a builder? Experiment with both, and soon you’ll be accumulating stacks of victory points right up there with the Puerto Rico pros.

Get your copy of Puerto Rico here.

Orlando Game Day at Half-Off Books on Saturday – Sept. 6

We will be gaming and showing our games at Half Off Books in Altamonte Springs on Saturday, Sept. 6 from 10 AM – 5 PM.

If you would like to come out and join us, we will have some games available…or you can bring your own and introduce us to it.

There will be games for sale, as well. Many are new games. Some will be slightly used – for demo purposes. If you think you would like to pick one up, you may pay us on site with PayPal/Credit Card or with cash.

There is no charge to come out and try a game or two to see if you like them. There is also several restaurants in the near area.

We are on SR 436 across from Popeye’s and Rooms To Go, and next to Checkers.

Give us a shout if you plan to come out, so we can watch for you. bcbcbusiness@hotmail.com

See you Saturday.

Tomorrow, I will post up some photos from Friday Night Game Night at the Daily Grind Coffee Shop.