Puerto Rico 1897

To set up, place the main game board in the center of the play area. Organize the coins (1s and 5s) and victory point chips (1s and 5s) into separate supplies. The number of victory point chips and workers used varies by player count; for a 3-player game, use 75 VP chips and 55 workers. Place the specified number of workers (equal to the player count) on the worker register. Set out the cargo ships (specific ships vary by player count; for a 3-player game, use ships with 4, 5, and 6 cargo spaces) and the trading house tile. Arrange the building tiles on their corresponding spaces on the main board, stacking multiple copies. Red-titled building spaces are for expansions and remain empty for the base game. Separate the estate tiles into quarries and other types, shuffle the latter face-down, and deal a face-up row of estate tiles equal to one more than the number of players. Each player chooses an island board and receives starting coins (2 for 3 players, 3 for 4 players, 4 for 5 players). The first player receives the Governor tile and a green fruit estate. Subsequent players receive initial estate tiles based on player order (e.g., in a 3-player game, the second player takes a fruit tile, and the third player takes a corn tile). Set out the role tiles (6 for 3 players, excluding Adventurer roles).

The objective of Puerto Rico 1897 is to accumulate the most victory points (VPs) by the end of the game. Players achieve this by cultivating plantations to produce goods, trading these goods for money, shipping them for VPs, and constructing various buildings that offer special abilities and additional VPs.

The game is played over a series of rounds. Each round begins with the current Governor choosing one of the available role tiles from the center of the play area. The Governor then performs the action associated with that role and gains its special advantage. After the Governor, each other player, in clockwise order, also has the opportunity to perform the action of the chosen role, but they do not gain the special advantage. Once every player has had a chance to perform the action (or pass), the next player in clockwise order becomes the new Governor and chooses a role from the remaining ones. This continues until all roles have been chosen and resolved. At the end of the round, a silver coin is placed on each role tile that was not chosen, making it more appealing for future rounds. All chosen role tiles are returned to the center of the play area for the next round.

At the end of the game, players tally their total victory points. This includes all collected victory point chips (including any recorded on paper if chips ran out). Players also add the victory points printed on their buildings (inside a black hexagon icon), regardless of whether the building is occupied by a worker. Additionally, large buildings may provide end-game scoring bonuses, which are calculated if the building is occupied by a worker.

The game ends immediately when one of three conditions is met: 1) There are not enough workers to fully replenish the worker register at the end of the Recruiter role. 2) One or more players have filled all 12 city spaces on their island board after the Builder role. 3) The last victory point chip is taken from the supply during the Captain role. The current round is completed fully, and then final scores are calculated. The player with the most victory points wins. In case of a tie, the tied player with the most coins and goods barrels (each item counting as 1 VP) wins. If there is still a tie, the tied players share the victory.