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San Juan (Second Edition)

2-4 players 45-60 min 7.4 Board Game Geek Rating

Players build production and special buildings using cards as both structures and currency in this Puerto Rico-inspired game. Each round, players choose roles that trigger actions like producing goods or constructing buildings, with role-selectors gaining bonuses. Victory comes from accumulating buildings, with the game ending when someone constructs twelve buildings.

Published 2014

San Juan (Second Edition)

Get Ready

Setup the game with these step-by-step instructions before diving into your turn.

1
Pick a start player
Give them the Governor placard
2
Place role placards
Put the 5 Role placards plus the Cathedral card in the middle of the table
3
Prepare trading house tiles
Shuffle and stack the 5 Trading House tiles face-down
4
Give starting buildings
Each player takes 1 Indigo plant face-up as their 1st building
5
Deal starting hands
Shuffle card supply and stack, give each player 4 face-down cards from supply

On Your Turn

What you can do during your turn.

1
Select a role
The Governor selects a role and executes the action and privilege
2
Other players participate
Other players optionally take the action in clockwise order
3
Continue role selection
The next player clockwise chooses a role until all players have chosen one
4
Builder role
Build 1 card by playing face-up and paying cost (discard face-down cards equal to building cost shown on top of card)
5
Producer role
Take 1 card from supply and place face-down on an empty production building
6
Trader role
Turn over top trading house tile, sell 1 good (card) and discard without looking at face, draw cards equal to value of goods sold
7
Councilor role
Take 2 cards from supply, add 1 to hand and discard other
8
Prospector role
The player who chose this role draws 1 card to hand; other players get no action
9
Violet buildings
When built, violet buildings add special rules that apply to each of the roles
10
End of round cleanup
Put all placards back in middle of table, pass the Governor placard left
11
Chapel ability
Players with chapels can place 1 card from hand face-down under the chapel
12
Hand limit
Discard cards of choice if more than 7 in hand (tower owner can keep 12 cards)

Winning

How to claim victory.

1
Game end trigger
The game ends immediately after builder phase when 1 player has 12 buildings
2
Score building points
Add VP for buildings (number at bottom of card)
3
Score chapel cards
Add VP for number of cards under chapel
4
Score special buildings
Add VP for triumphal arch, guild hall, and city hall
5
Score palace
Add VP for the palace
6
Determine winner
Most VP wins
7
Tiebreaker
Most cards in hand plus number of cards on production buildings

watch & Learn

Let the pros teach you with these top videos.

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FULL rules

Looking for the full details? Grab the complete rulebook as a downloadable PDF.

PDF RULEBOOK

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