For those of you who've bought or played Puerto Rico, this will be a very familiar game. It's basically a simplified card version of the Puerto Rico game. Instead of placing buildings and collecting resources, you're playing cards as buildings and resources.

For instance, if you place a sugar plantation face up on the table in front of you, when you generate resources, you get a card, face down, on that plantation to represent a sugar resource. You can then later trade that resource in the Trader phase (familiar, no?) for more cards. It's simple to learn and get up to speed with and runs a lot faster than a typical Puerto Rico game (though it'll still take you 30-60 minutes).

If you liked Puerto Rico and like card games, this is definitely worth getting. Otherwise, I'd stick with Puerto Rico if you're not a card game person.

For those of you who don't know what Puerto Rico is, beyond the island itself, this game is a nice, sophisticated card game that takes a little bit to learn but then is a fast-paced and fun game to play. Not quite as simple as a game of poker or canasta or something (in terms of rules, not strategy), but it will definitely take you a little time to get used to the rules. Once you do though, it's fun and moves pretty fast.

If you like card games and don't mind a few rules, this is a great game to get and play. You can easily play it with 2 people if needed but more are supported. And, it's a good introduction to Puerto Rico's general gameplay which could get you up to speed if you want to tackle that game next.

San Juan is the sister game of Puerto Rico, so if you love that game but want something that is more portable, quicker to setup/play, and easier to teach others then this game is definitely for you. If you have not yet tried Puerto Rico but are relatively new to Euro board games or you may not have as much patience with learning complex rules and setup then this game is definitely for you and it will eventually simplify the learning on PR since it uses many of the same concepts.

For a portable strategy game (it takes up about the space of 2 decks of cards) there is a surprising amount of depth to the gameplay. Like Puerto Rico the player will need to evolve his strategy each round based on the opportunities available and their ability to help their position or hinder others.

There is a free PC version to be found on-line with basic/limited rule explanation, interface and AI but it is still fun when you are on your own.

I am an ex-computer games junkie and was always playing city building games like Civilization. I don't have the time I once did, and I am not spending the hours on the computer like I used to. Well, this Christmas I received this game and was pleasantly surprised. After the first game I knew we had a winner. We proceeded to play it four more times over the next few days.

Why do I like this game?

It can be played with TWO people. Yes, it may not be quite as exciting with two people (as it is with three or four), but it is still fun. I will say, however, that it is nice to vary the number of people you play with. Four people is fun in a way that three is not. Three is fun in a way two is not. There are cards that get played a lot more often in larger games, and the strategy changes based on the number of people you have. For example, with four people you are almost always trading your goods each round, so it is important to build a strong economy. (This is not as important with two or three players, where building might be your priority).

This game doesn't require any special equipment -like a board- and it is very portable. (You might even be able to play it on a plane.)

The games last about 45 minutes (at the longest) so you really can get a quick play in before moving on to something else. There are no worries that the game is going to go on forever. Basically, the game ends when ANYONE has built 12 buildings, so no matter how complex a strategy you have, if you don't hurry it up and time it to coincide with the quickest builder in your gaming party, you might lose.

Another thing that makes it fun: You DON'T keep score during the game (like with Scrabble or Hearts), so you don't really know how you are doing during the game. It is only at the very end when you tally up all your points that you know if you won or lost. (Sure you can look at players' hands, but some key "multiplier" cards are only played in the last rounds, so you never really know...)

And finally, unlike with games such as Monopoly, or Chess, or Risk, one person does not "crush" or "destroy" the other. You are not going to have a complete winner with all the money and all the armies (leaving the others broke, or with no armies). This means you can really have an enjoyable time, playing your best, and not feeling like you can never win, or that you are much worse than the others. Everybody has the same access to all the cards and their likelihood of winning does not go up or down just because someone else is playing really well, or really poorly.

This game is highly recommended and I am starting to research other Rio Grande games as well because I enjoyed this one so much! It is well worth buying from another vendor if Amazon does not stock it.

Our daughter introduced us to this game and we were hooked by the second game. It seemed a little complicated at first, but by the time we finished one or two rounds we got the hang of it and loved it. It's actually easy to learn and our children were playing it with us and planning strategies after just a few games. I highly recommend it!

San Juan has quickly become our favorite game, and we are an avid game-playing family.

San Juan is the card game version of "Puerto Rico" by Rio Grande Games. We purchased "San Juan" because it can be played with 2-4 players, and we often only have two people available to play.

The concept is loosely based on the idea that you are in San Juan, Puerto Rico. You are building manufacturing facilities to produce goods such as indigo, sugar, tobacco, coffee, and silver. Also, you may build other privileges or benefits as an owner - for example, you might choose to build a Quarry, which allows you to build certain types of buildings for a lower price. As your manufacturing facilities produce goods, you trade them on the market, make more "money", and build more buildings.

It's difficult to explain the basic concept without being able to show you the cards, but it is a very easy game to learn. We have taught several people the game within about 10 minutes, and after we've played one round, they understand it well.

This game is surprisingly different every time we play. Strategy is important, but luck does affect the success of whatever strategy you use. Generally speaking, the games are generally very close in score.

A few things we love about this game are:
- once you've played it a couple of times, you can play a game in 20-30 minutes.
- the game seems drastically different whether you play with 2, 3, or 4 players.
- easy setup & cleanup. You need very little table space to play the game.
- it's a very accessible game. People ages 10 and up learn it quickly and enjoy it!

We learned this game first, then we tried "Puerto Rico". You do not need to know one game to understand the other. In fact, it seemed that Puerto Rico seemed a bit more confusing to us (this may be due to the fact that San Juan came later, and the directions are much more clear in the later game).

I highly recommend this game to those who are looking for a fun, quick game that never gets old!