This game is awesome. I'm a big fan of games where you sit down with a handful of friends or family, everyone has their beverage of choice (usually hot tea at our house), and you play a good-paced, interesting, strategy game. Settlers of Catan has been the long-time favorite in the Blanc household. Lately we've been having fun with Ticket to Ride and Power Grid.

A few weeks ago my sister and brother-in-law came over for game night and we all learned the game for the first time. We all loved it and picked up on it quickly. And so now, Puerto Rico is a contender for favorite board game. And that says a lot.

Two things I like about Puerto Rico: (1) there are no dice to roll and so it's almost entirely a strategy based game with no good or bad luck injected to swing the game one way or the other; and (2) even though it has rounds and turns, everyone is playing all the time — it's very involved and doesn't get boring.