Borikén: The Taíno Resistance includes three separate games, each covering a distinct period of the history of the Taíno people of Borikén (modern day Puerto Rico). Each game uses the same map and the same basic system, but with different additional rules and objectives to model the particularities of its era. The first game, taking place in the centuries prior to the arrival of Spanish conquistadors in 1493, is competitive, with players aiming to establish their own Taíno faction on the island, competing against each other and the rival Caribe people, with the dominant player at the end of the game becoming Agüeybaná I, High Chief on the Taíno, in the second game. The second and third games then chart the players’ cooperative struggle against the conquistadors from 1493 to 1528, and finally their desperate attempts to escape and survive after 1529. All three games can also be played solitaire, with the first (competitive) game coming with additional rules and objectives for solo play. In this series of articles I will play through all three games, providing an introduction to the rules and themes as I go (all art featured in these articles is prototype material that will be replaced before publication). 

The setup for game one (pre-1493) starts with my single blue Cacique (chief) having just arrived in the Guanía region, while a group of rival Caribe have already settled in the inland Otoa area to my north (this was randomly determined, but certainly offered a dramatic start to my game!). The rest of the island is as-yet uninhabited, and rich with delicious cassava and other native species. I also draw three random Taíno cards, which represent the population of my group and will be used to perform actions in the game. Finally, I draw four random solo objectives, which I must complete before 15 turns (centuries) have passed (in the multiplayer version of game one, players are instead competing against each other to spread out, remove Caribe tokens, and collect Endemic tokens). In this game, I must collect the Coquí Endemic token (a species of small frog), perform two actions twice on the same turn (demonstrating my superiority), collect seven Gold tokens (establishing my wealth), and remove ten Caribe tokens (securing the island for my own Taíno people). If I can accomplish this, then I will become ruler of the Taíno, responsible for protecting my people against the conquistadors in games two and three.

At the start of each turn, I discard the top card of the Enemy deck, revealing a new top card and placing an enemy (in this case a Caribe) in the indicated area. In this case more Caribe have arrive in Turabo, another inland area to the east – this will turn out to be a good opportunity for me, as we will soon see. In future turns I will draw an increasing number of enemy cards, escalating as the game proceeds towards its climax.

Next, I can choose one of the three tracks on my player board (Religious, Military, and Political), and perform all of the actions indicated on that track (I must choose a different track each turn). I can also discard a matching Taíno card to perform additional actions, and each action track can be permanently enhanced by assigning a Taíno card to it, although I cannot yet afford to do this. I decide to perform Military actions for my first turn, moving my Cacique two areas over to Turabo, then Attacking the Caribe token there. To win an Attack I just need to roll equal or higher than my opponent, but I can also discard a Taíno card to reroll if necessary, which is why I chose to move to Turabo!

I roll a 2 and the Caribe rolls a four, so I discard a blue Taíno card from my hand to reroll, and this time get a 5, enough to defeat the Caribe. This contributes towards one of my objectives, and also allows me to reveal the Endemic token in this area, which luckily for me is a potentially lucrative gold mine! The third action on the Military track is Mine, which I perform now, drawing three tokens from the Gold bag – I draw two Gold and one Stone, which is immediately returned to the bag (mining can become less effective as the game progresses, although Gold tokens are also returned to the bag as they are spent). I decide not to discard a Taíno card to perform any additional actions, so my turn is complete and I draw one new Taíno card from the deck. I draw Juracán, a special god card that I can use to gain a long-lasting bonus.

On my next turn another Caribe counter arrives in Guainia, and I decide to perform Religious actions. This allows me to first perform a Ceremony, putting into play the god card that I just drew. Juracán, the god of storms, prevents me from using the Canoe action but enhances my Attack action, which will be very useful for pursuing my objective of removing Caribe counters. I also perform a Cassava action, which allows me to take the Cassava counter from Turabo (in future turns I can use the same action to place Cassava in empty map spaces). My turn is complete, so I draw another Taíno card and proceed to turn three.

I am now able to spend one Cassava and one Gold to enhance my Military actions track, granting me a second Attack action and a Canoe action (although I cannot currently use this because of the stormy weather). I then perform Military actions, first Mining to gain another two Gold, then Moving to Otoa and Attacking to defeat the Caribe there, which also allows me to reveal and take that area’s Endemic token – a Boa snake! Endemic tokens can be spent at any time to perform a bonus action, so I do that now, Moving on to Guainia to Attack the Caribe there as well. I have to discard my two remaining Taíno cards to reroll both dice, but this costly sacrifice allows me to succeed at that Attack as well, removing my third Caribe and revealing another Mine in this area. I’ve also achieved my first objective, performing two Move actions and two Attack actions in one turn – so far so good!

My next few turns are less dramatic, as I pause to gather Cassava and Initiate more Taíno into my group, and then continue to defeat Caribe and Mine for Gold, pursuing my next two objectives while I hunt for the elusive Coquí frog. By the end of turn nine I have defeated ten Caribe and collected seven Gold, but the Coquí still eludes me! I continue to progress more slowly, abandoning my faith in Juracán to allow meto travel by Canoe to outlying islands and establishing Yucayeque villages to assist me in my hunt. Finally, on turn twelve, I reveal the Coquí token and my quest is complete!

I enjoyed my solo play of game one, which served as a perfect introduction to the core action system of Borikén, while still providing me with a challenging set of objectives to achieve. I’m interested to try the competitive multiplayer version too, which will feel very different, with each player racing to expand and win in one of three distinct ways. In the next article in this series I will proceed to game two, where the conquistadors will arrive and my Taíno people will begin to fight for their survival. I hope you’ve enjoyed this introduction to Borikén: The Taíno Resistance, and if you are interested in the game you can pre-order it on P500 now: https://www.gmtgames.com/p-982-boriken-the-taino-resistance.aspx

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Next Article: Solo Playthrough of Borikén Game Two: 1493-1528

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