Mark's #5: Puerto Rico

Make no mistake - this is an incredible game. It did not surprise me at all when it was placed #1 on The One Hundred. I am in awe of the design & development wizardry required to create this masterpiece of a game. I'm happy to put Puerto Rico in my personal top ten.

So why, with that glowing introduction, did this wonderful game end up at #5?

1. First & foremost, it's MY list. So there. :-)
2. I must admit there's a bit of the "art critic/snob" thing going on here. I know that lots of other people rank it as their #1, so I need to go the contrarian route and chose something else. (There's a lot more of this kind of behavior in gaming circles than most of us would like to admit.)
3. Finally, something substantive... Puerto Rico is a bit "fragile". In other words, in a group of experienced players, a new player (or a player without much sense) will almost certainly throw the game in the direction of the player to their left. This isn't a problem when players are roughly equal in ability, but does make teaching the game a bit more of a challenge.