A classic and well-balanced game like Puerto Rico does not need expansions. Then I found out there were two mini-expansions and these were included with the deluxe version of the game, so why not try them out?
Expansion I - New Buildings
This expansion adds 12 small violet buildings and 2 large violet buildings to the game that can be used in place of the original buildings. To select which ones to use, these are combined with the buildings from the base game and drafted until 12 small and 5 large buildings have been selected. Once selected, the game is played without any other changes.
The new buildings changes the strategy of the game in small but interesting ways. For examples, Aqueducts boost the relatively weaker indigo and sugar goods. The Black Market is also an interesting building that provides help with building by sacrificing colonists, goods, and/or victory points. Churches provide a victory point boost when building. For other ways of earning doubloons, the Lighthouse rewards doubloons for shipping while the Specialty Factory rewards doubloons for producing multiples of the same goods. Probably the most interesting new building is the Library, which doubles the privilege of the role selected.
Flexibility also seems to be a common theme for a couple of the new buildings. Guesthouses are a great way to move colonists around that would have otherwise been on the beach while Small Wharfs provide some shipping flexibility at the cost of victory points. Union Halls provide extra victory points for amassing a lot of goods. On the other hand, some buildings don't seem that great at all. Forest Houses seem like an awful substitute for Quarries. I don't see why one would want to play with the Trading Post instead of the Office. As for the large buildings, the Statue provides pure victory points while the Cloister provides victory points for sets of like island tiles.
Overall, I like some of the new buildings and don't like others and while the expansion does add variability, it doesn't excite me as much as expansions usually do. As mentioned earlier, the core game is so tight that while I typically like the additions that expansions bring, this might be the exception. Perhaps I need a few more plays to change my mind? Granted, this is a very small expansion, hence the mini-review format, but this is how I feel about it nonetheless.
Expansion II - The Nobles
This expansion adds even more new buildings as well as nobles to supplement colonists. The difference with these new buildings is that they are used in addition to the base or Expansion 1 buildings, rather than replacing them.
When playing with this expansion, one core game rule that is changed is that exhausting the colonist supply no longer ends the game. At the start of the game, 20 nobles are added beside the colonist supply. Whenever loading the colonists ship, one noble will replace one of the colonists that normally would have been on that ship. During the mayor phase, a noble can be selected instead of a colonist - usually the player who selected the mayor role will do this. Each noble is worth one extra victory point at the end of the game. Nobles can be placed in buildings or plantations just like regular colonists, but they also can gain bonuses if used with the new buildings in this expansion.
For example, the Land Office allows players to buy a plantation during the trader phase. However, if the land office has a noble instead of a colonist, the player also has the option to sell a plantation. Another way to adjust your island is to use the Hunting Lodge, which allows you to discard plantation tiles from your island. If you have a noble in the Hunting Lodge and have the most empty island spaces, you get 2 victory points! An interesting new building. The Chapel gives doubloons to colonists and victory points to nobles. The Zoning Office provides building discounts to small buildings for colonists and large buildings for nobles.
There are also a couple buildings that are just regular buildings without noble bonuses but still account for nobles you do have. The Royal Supplier acts as its own ship but the goods that can be shipped must each be different and must be equal or less than the number of nobles on your island. Villas provide nobles during the mayor phase while Jewelers provide doubloons for nobles on your island during the craftsman phase. Finally, there is a new large building that provides an additional victory point per noble at the end of the game.
This expansion seems to add much more than the other one due to the addition of the Nobles. Again, is it necessary? Probably not, but it adds strong variability and strengthens the Mayor action, which I typically don't like taking when I play the game. So if I had to rank them, I prefer Nobles over New Buildings without question. In general, I'm a big fan of expansions, but these two didn't click with me like most expansions. Like I mentioned previously maybe I need more plays, but Puerto Rico is such a balanced game experience that perhaps I just prefer the original.
Expansion I - New Buildings
This expansion adds 12 small violet buildings and 2 large violet buildings to the game that can be used in place of the original buildings. To select which ones to use, these are combined with the buildings from the base game and drafted until 12 small and 5 large buildings have been selected. Once selected, the game is played without any other changes.
The new buildings changes the strategy of the game in small but interesting ways. For examples, Aqueducts boost the relatively weaker indigo and sugar goods. The Black Market is also an interesting building that provides help with building by sacrificing colonists, goods, and/or victory points. Churches provide a victory point boost when building. For other ways of earning doubloons, the Lighthouse rewards doubloons for shipping while the Specialty Factory rewards doubloons for producing multiples of the same goods. Probably the most interesting new building is the Library, which doubles the privilege of the role selected.
Flexibility also seems to be a common theme for a couple of the new buildings. Guesthouses are a great way to move colonists around that would have otherwise been on the beach while Small Wharfs provide some shipping flexibility at the cost of victory points. Union Halls provide extra victory points for amassing a lot of goods. On the other hand, some buildings don't seem that great at all. Forest Houses seem like an awful substitute for Quarries. I don't see why one would want to play with the Trading Post instead of the Office. As for the large buildings, the Statue provides pure victory points while the Cloister provides victory points for sets of like island tiles.
Overall, I like some of the new buildings and don't like others and while the expansion does add variability, it doesn't excite me as much as expansions usually do. As mentioned earlier, the core game is so tight that while I typically like the additions that expansions bring, this might be the exception. Perhaps I need a few more plays to change my mind? Granted, this is a very small expansion, hence the mini-review format, but this is how I feel about it nonetheless.
Expansion II - The Nobles
This expansion adds even more new buildings as well as nobles to supplement colonists. The difference with these new buildings is that they are used in addition to the base or Expansion 1 buildings, rather than replacing them.
When playing with this expansion, one core game rule that is changed is that exhausting the colonist supply no longer ends the game. At the start of the game, 20 nobles are added beside the colonist supply. Whenever loading the colonists ship, one noble will replace one of the colonists that normally would have been on that ship. During the mayor phase, a noble can be selected instead of a colonist - usually the player who selected the mayor role will do this. Each noble is worth one extra victory point at the end of the game. Nobles can be placed in buildings or plantations just like regular colonists, but they also can gain bonuses if used with the new buildings in this expansion.
For example, the Land Office allows players to buy a plantation during the trader phase. However, if the land office has a noble instead of a colonist, the player also has the option to sell a plantation. Another way to adjust your island is to use the Hunting Lodge, which allows you to discard plantation tiles from your island. If you have a noble in the Hunting Lodge and have the most empty island spaces, you get 2 victory points! An interesting new building. The Chapel gives doubloons to colonists and victory points to nobles. The Zoning Office provides building discounts to small buildings for colonists and large buildings for nobles.
There are also a couple buildings that are just regular buildings without noble bonuses but still account for nobles you do have. The Royal Supplier acts as its own ship but the goods that can be shipped must each be different and must be equal or less than the number of nobles on your island. Villas provide nobles during the mayor phase while Jewelers provide doubloons for nobles on your island during the craftsman phase. Finally, there is a new large building that provides an additional victory point per noble at the end of the game.
This expansion seems to add much more than the other one due to the addition of the Nobles. Again, is it necessary? Probably not, but it adds strong variability and strengthens the Mayor action, which I typically don't like taking when I play the game. So if I had to rank them, I prefer Nobles over New Buildings without question. In general, I'm a big fan of expansions, but these two didn't click with me like most expansions. Like I mentioned previously maybe I need more plays, but Puerto Rico is such a balanced game experience that perhaps I just prefer the original.
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