- Score sheets
- Board games
- Puerto Rico
How to score Puerto Rico
To score the Puerto Rico board game, turn over your victory point (VP) chips, earned mostly by shipping goods, 1 per barrel. Add the VP printed on your buildings, then the bonus of each large building with a colonist on it. Most VP wins.
- 3 to 5 players
- About 90 to 150 minutes
- Ends on one of three triggers
- Most VP wins
Tabletales is free on iPhone and iPad.
This is the real Scorepad, live: Dev’s tally ties Mara’s, so both get the trophy. The tiebreak is settled at the table.
Puerto Rico
- BGG #58
- 90 to 150 min
A role-selection game: each round players pick roles to plant, build, produce and ship goods. Every barrel shipped earns a face-down victory point chip, and your buildings add more points at the end.
Year, players, time and rank from BoardGameGeek.
How to play Puerto Rico, in brief
Players take turns picking a role, like builder or captain, and everyone takes that role’s action. Most victory points (VP) wins.
- Set upEach player gets a board with 12 island and 12 city spaces, a few doubloons (money) and a plantation. One player starts as governor.
- Pick a roleFrom the governor around, each player takes a role nobody has yet, and everyone does its action; only the chooser gets its bonus.
- The rolesThe settler adds plantations, the mayor brings colonists to work them, the builder buys buildings, the craftsman makes goods, the trader sells them and the captain ships them for VP.
- End the roundPut a doubloon on each role nobody took and pass the governor card left. The game ends after a round where colonists run short, a city fills, or VP chips run out.
Chips for shipping, then your buildings.
Most VP come during the game: every barrel loaded onto a ship in the captain phase earns a chip, kept face down so nobody knows the score. At the end, your buildings add their printed VP, and occupied large buildings add a bonus.
What scores, and when
| What | VP |
|---|---|
| Each barrel you shipWhatever the good | 1 |
| The captain’s privilegeOnce per captain phase, and only if the captain ships something | 1 |
| An occupied harborEach time its owner loads goods | 1 |
| Each buildingThe VP printed on it, occupied or not. Each large building is worth 4 | Printed |
| Guild hall bonus1 per small and 2 per large production building | Bonus |
| Residence bonus4 for up to 9 filled island spaces, 5 for 10, 6 for 11, 7 for 12 | 4 to 7 |
| Fortress bonus1 per 3 colonists on your board, rounded down | Bonus |
| Customs house bonus1 per 4 VP of chips, rounded down | Bonus |
| City hall bonus1 per violet building, itself included | Bonus |
- Finish the roundThe game ends at the end of the round in which the colonist ship cannot be refilled, someone builds on their 12th city space, or the last VP chip goes out.
- Turn over your chipsAdd up your VP chips, plus any VP written on paper after the chips ran out. The supply is 75 VP with 3 players, 100 with 4 and 122 with 5.
- Add your buildingsEvery building scores its printed VP, whether a colonist works it or not.
- Add the large building bonusesOnly for large buildings with a colonist on them. Work out the fortress and customs house divisions first, rounding down.
- Most VP winsA tie goes to the tied player with the most doubloons plus goods, each good counting as 1 doubloon.
Dev and Mara tie on 52. Doubloons decide it.
Three players. The last of the 75 VP chips went out in the final captain phase, and the round was played out. Each player adds chips, printed building VP and large building bonuses. This is the game on the Scorepad above.
| Player | Chips, buildings, bonuses | VP |
|---|---|---|
| Dev | 28 VP of chips; buildings print 18, the guild hall 4 of it; guild hall bonus: small indigo plant and small sugar mill at 1, tobacco storage and coffee roaster at 228 + 18 + 6 | 52 |
| Mara | 31 VP of chips; buildings print 14, the customs house 4 of it; customs house bonus: 31 holds seven 4s, rounded down31 + 14 + 7 | 52 |
| You | 16 VP of chips; buildings print 20, the residence and city hall 4 each; residence bonus for 11 island spaces; city hall bonus for five violet buildings16 + 20 + 6 + 5 | 47 |
Secret chips, one total at the end.
Tabletales is a scorepad and scrapbook for game night. In Puerto Rico the score stays hidden until the end. Then type each player’s total once: Tabletales adds it up, marks the winner and saves the game with the night.
- Divide first, then typePick Highest wins and type each final in Totals, or type it the way you count it (31 + 14 + 7) and Tabletales adds it up. The keypad has no division, so work out the customs house or fortress first: 31 VP of chips gives 7.
- No running score to keepThe chips stay face down all game, so there is nothing to track along the way. Everyone’s total goes in once, at the end.
- Ties share the trophyTied players share the trophy. Puerto Rico breaks a tie on doubloons plus goods.
- And the night is keptSave it with who played and a photo of the island boards. Puerto Rico gets its own history: how often you play and who holds the high score.
- Everyone who was there
- Photos from the table
- Puerto Rico, with its scores
Common Puerto Rico scoring mistakes
- Paying the captain for every goodThe captain’s extra VP comes once per captain phase, and only if the captain ships something.
- Scoring an empty large building’s bonusAn unoccupied large building still counts its printed 4, but its bonus needs a colonist on it.
- Stopping when the chips run outThe round is finished. VP earned after the last chip are written on paper and count.
- Feeding building VP into the customs houseIt pays 1 per 4 VP of chips (and paper VP) only, rounded down.
Puerto Rico scoring, answered
- How do you score Puerto Rico?
- Add your VP chips, earned mostly at 1 per barrel shipped, to the VP printed on your buildings and the bonuses of your occupied large buildings. The player with the most VP wins.
- How does the customs house score in Puerto Rico?
- With a colonist on it, the customs house adds 1 VP for every 4 VP of chips you hold, rounded down, on top of its own 4. Building VP do not count toward it.
- When does Puerto Rico end?
- At the end of the round in which the colonist ship cannot be refilled, a player builds on their 12th city space, or the last VP chip is handed out.
Puerto Rico score sheet
Print one for the end of the game: chips, buildings and each large building bonus for up to five players, with the final and the tiebreak at the bottom. Our own design, free to copy.
Score another game
The 2002 rulebook covers 3 to 5 players; alea’s two-player variant changes the setup and is not scored here. Expansion buildings score as their tiles say. Rules checked on 19 October 2026 against the rulebook (Rio Grande Games), Board Game Arena and UltraBoardGames. Puerto Rico is a trademark of Ravensburger and its alea label. Tabletales is not affiliated with Ravensburger, alea or Rio Grande Games.
Keep score tonight. Keep the night for good.
Tabletales adds up every hand, then saves the whole night: the games, the scores, the photos and who was there.
