Great adaptation of the card game! – San Juan Review

24 NOV 17 update: this is the original version of the game, which lacks cards like the Cathedral, Residence, Office Building, Harbor, Goldsmith, Bank, Park, Guardhouse, and more. It uses the old price for the Prefecture (3), and has the old rules for the Guild Hall (2 points for every production building you own). Some people feel that the original game was imbalanced, but in my opinion that’s patently false. Yes, it is possible to run away with the game if you get a Guild Hall early and then manage to build only production buildings. You can win with an early Prefecture if you manage to find a City Hall along the way. And if that happens, good for you. Sometimes poker players get dealt a full house. It is a card game after all. There are ways to try to thwart these strategies. The most obvious is to bury cards under the Chapel. Less obvious is to time when you discard them, to make them less likely to show up again based upon the number of cards left in the deck. The newer version of the game is essentially a different game with new strategies and options. That’s great for veteran players who want some variety. But if you’re new to San Juan, then there is plenty to like in this original version. Decent AI, fun with any number of players. One nitpick with the Gold Mine: normally all players can see the cards that are drawn. Also, it seems that the harvest tiles are randomly shuffled after every "Trader" selection, instead of being shuffled when the "pile" is exhausted. Still a wonderful game!
Review by Gibsins on San Juan.