Description
San Juan is a card game based on Puerto Rico.
The deck of 110 cards consists of production buildings (indigo, sugar, tobacco, coffee, and silver) and "violet" buildings that grant special powers or extra victory points.
Cards from the hand can be either built or used as money to build something else; cards from the deck are used to represent goods produced by the production buildings, in which case they are left face-down.
A seven-card hand limit is enforced once per round.
In each round (or governorship), each player in turn selects from one of the available roles, triggering an event that usually affects all players, such as producing goods or constructing buildings.
The person who picks the role gets a privilege, such as producing more goods or building more cheaply.
Though similar in concept to Puerto Rico, the game has many different mechanisms.
In particular, the game includes no colonists and no shipping of goods; goods production and trading are normally limited to one card per phase; and trades cannot be blocked.
Victory points are gained exclusively by building, and the game ends as soon as one player has put up twelve buildings.
Solo Play
San Juan was not designed for a single player. However, over the years, a strong variant has been developed to provide a challenging experience. The rules can be downloaded in the Files section.
The game can also be difficult to find in stores. Use the button below to access a print and play version of the game.
Note: You will need to download the free “7-Zip” program to uncompress the files.
Dice Tower Review
Player feedback
The forums at BoardGameGeek often have good discussions about gameplay.
We have selected some of the best links below. (Links will open in a new window or tab)
Solo ideas and discussions
A selection of posts specifically about solo gameplay or solo variants
- Updated SoloPlay variant for San Juan is now available
- Original SoloPlay Variant for San Juan
- Very Simple Solitaire for San Juan
Files
A selection of files from BoardGameGeek. Links will open in a new window or tab.
Solo Play Updated
The attached file is an updated version of the SoloPlay variant posted to include more challenging gameplay, better-balanced strategies, and the Alea treasure chest expansion. Also included is a player aid to keep most information readily available and a scoresheet to more easily tally your final result.
>> Click to download PDF <<
San Jan SOLO v1.0
An easy to learn solo variant that retains the qualities of the standard game.
>> Click to download DOC <<