4Being Mayor is one of more under appreciated roles in Puerto Rico. Sure, Puerto Rico is a great strategy game where some roles are generally more highly regarded than others, and consequently, many people frown upon the Mayor role. And it's true that in many cases, taking the Mayor role is the wrong move to make. However, in some cases, taking the Mayor role is the best way to assure victory.Puerto Rico board game
- Look at how many people you have in relation to buildings and plantation spaces. Do you need two more people to do anything really useful? If so, maybe you should pick Mayor. If not, try to let someone else do it for you.Examine the board to figure out whether another player needs people even more badly than you do. If the player after you is likely to pick Mayor instead, you may want to Build or Settle, in order to best take advantage of the upcoming Mayor role. If another player will pick Mayor for you, don't waste your time doing so unless you need the extra people.Examine the board to figure out what roles the next few players are likely to take. If an opponent is likely to build an important building next turn, you may wish to Mayor right away, thus preventing another Mayor role from occurring until at least next round. That will keep your opponent's new building empty for another round.Watch the number of people on the colonist ship. If the number of people on the colonist ship is not evenly divisible by the number of players -- especially if it's exactly one more than a number divisible by the number of players -- consider taking the Mayor role. In a three player game, four colonists on the ship means you'll get three people to your opponents' one each, which is a very large advantage.Place your workers carefully when choosing Mayor. Remember, you won't be able to reassign them until the next Mayor phase (unless you have a Guesthouse). This means you'll need to leave someone on the Quarry if you expect a Build phase to occur, will need people to produce if you expect Craftsman to occur, and need people on each other building from which you want to reap the benefits.Manipulate the number of people that go on the colonist ship at the end of the mayor phase by leaving empty spaces in buildings. If you expect to be the next person to pick mayor, leave enough holes that there will be exactly one extra worker on the colonist ship. If you have plenty of people already, make sure your buildings are filled so new workers are minimized. If you want more people to put to work or score Fortress points, empty your buildings during the Mayor phase.
