How to Play Puerto Rico 1897: Roles, Production & Shipping
Puerto Rico 1897 is an economic role-selection game. Each round, players choose shared roles such as Settler, Builder, Craftsman, Trader and Captain. Everyone may use the chosen role, but the player who selected it receives the role privilege.
The Governor starts the role-selection round
Beginning with the Governor, each player selects one unused role tile and resolves that role. The selecting player gets the role’s privilege first, then the other players may perform the role in turn order when eligible.
Settler: add plantations or quarries
Plantations provide crop types used for production. Quarries reduce building costs when their conditions are met. Plantations and buildings normally need workers before they function.
Builder: construct city buildings
Pay doubloons to build one available building in your city. Production buildings convert matching plantations into goods; violet buildings provide economic, shipping or final-scoring abilities.
Mayor: assign workers
Take workers from the ship/supply according to the current edition’s procedure, then assign workers among plantations, quarries and city buildings. Only staffed tiles are active.
Craftsman: produce goods
Each staffed plantation plus its required staffed production building can create one matching good, limited by the supply of that good. Corn has its own production structure as defined by the rules.
Trader: sell one good to the Trading House
Eligible players may sell one good for doubloons if the Trading House restrictions allow it. The Trader privilege improves the active player’s sale.
Captain: ship goods for victory points
Players must ship when they can. Each cargo ship accepts only one good type, and players load as many matching goods as possible during their turns. Shipped goods generate victory points; stored leftovers depend on warehouse/storage rules.
End conditions are checked during play
The game ends after the round in which one of the official end triggers is met, such as the worker supply running out, the VP supply being exhausted or a player filling their city-building spaces.