
2014Alexander Pfister
Mainly reviews. Port Royal is covered on BoardGameVideo.com by 25 reviews, 11 how-to-play guides, 9 recorded sessions, and 6 other videos.
From BoardGameGeek
The merchant players in Port Royal, which won the Austrian Game Designers Competition under the title Händler der Karibik, are trying to earn as much as they can out of the Caribbean Sea, but if they set their goals too high, they might take home nothing for the day. The 120-card deck depicts a coin on the back of each card - with players earning and paying coins throughout the game - and different items on the card fronts. On a turn, a player can first draw as many cards as he likes, one at a time from the deck, placing them in the harbor (an area near the deck). Each card shows one of the following: Person, who stays in a face-up row next to deck. Ship, which the player can attack immediately if he has enough swords on his people cards, after which the ship is discarded; otherwise, the ship stays in the harbor. Expedition, which remains above the harbor until a player fulfills it by discarding people who have the items required for the expedition. Tax Increase, which forces everyone with twelve or more coins to discard half their money, after which the card is discarded. If the player draws a ship with the same name as a ship already in the harbor, he's spent too much time dilly-dallying and his turn ends (after using the ship to attack, if possible), with all the cards in the harbor being discarded. Otherwise, the player can stop whenever he likes, then use/acquire one card if three or fewer ships are in the harbor, two cards if four ships are present, and three cards if five ships are present. Players rob ships, collecting the number of coins shown on them, then discarding the card, while they hire people, paying the number of coins depicted. After the active player takes his 1-3 cards, each other player may pay the active player one coin in order to take one card in the same way. When one player has at least twelve influence points - which are on both people and expedition cards - the game is played to the end of the round, giving everyone the same number of turns, then the player with the most influence points wins. • Port Royal differs from Händler der Karibik in that it includes ten more cards to allow for play with up to five players and players can win without fulfilling an expedition.
Port Royal has 51 videos from 46 creators: 25 reviews, 11 how-to-play guides, 9 playthroughs and 6 other videos. They date from 2014 to January 2025.
To learn the rules, start with "Port Royal Walkthrough" by Michael Wißner, which runs 24 min. For a quicker teach, "Conociendo Port Royal" by Zacatrus runs 6 min.
For an opinion before you buy, start with "Dice Tower Reviews: Port Royal" by The Dice Tower. 24 creators have reviewed it. To see it played, watch "Port Royal - GameNight! Se3 Ep32" by BoardGameGeek, one of 9 playthroughs.
If you like it, try Boonlake, Great Western Trail: Second Edition, Great Western Trail and Pirates of Maracaibo, also by Alexander Pfister. It appears in convention videos from Spiel Essen 2014.
8 of 46
2021Alexander Pfister
1 - 4 players75 - 150 minHeavy weight
2016Alexander Pfister
2 - 4 players75 - 150 minHeavy weight
2023Ralph Bienert, Ryan Hendrickson, Alexander Pfister
1 - 4 players40 - 100 minMedium weight
From BoardGameGeek:
The merchant players in Port Royal, which won the Austrian Game Designers Competition under the title Händler der Karibik, are trying to earn as much as they can out of the Caribbean Sea, but if they set their goals too high, they might take home nothing for the day. The 120-card deck depicts a coin on the back of each card - with players earning and paying coins throughout the game - and different items on the card fronts. On a turn, a player can first draw as many cards as he likes, one at a time from the deck, placing them in the harbor (an area near the deck). Each card shows one of the following: Person, who stays in a face-up row next to deck. Ship, which the player can attack immediately if he has enough swords on his people cards, after which the ship is discarded; otherwise, the ship stays in the harbor. Expedition, which remains above the harbor until a player fulfills it by discarding people who have the items required for the expedition. Tax Increase, which forces everyone with twelve or more coins to discard half their money, after which the card is discarded. If the player draws a ship with the same name as a ship already in the harbor, he's spent too much time dilly-dallying and his turn ends (after using the ship to attack, if possible), with all the cards in the harbor being discarded. Otherwise, the player can stop whenever he likes, then use/acquire one card if three or fewer ships are in the harbor, two cards if four ships are present, and three cards if five ships are present. Players rob ships, collecting the number of coins shown on them, then discarding the card, while they hire people, paying the number of coins depicted. After the active player takes his 1-3 cards, each other player may pay the active player one coin in order to take one card in the same way. When one player has at least twelve influence points - which are on both people and expedition cards - the game is played to the end of the round, giving everyone the same number of turns, then the player with the most influence points wins. • Port Royal differs from Händler der Karibik in that it includes ten more cards to allow for play with up to five players and players can win without fulfilling an expedition.
Designer
Alexander Pfister
Artists
Klemens Franz, Atanas Lozanski
Publisher
Pegasus Spiele
Mechanics