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. In my previous article I played through the first game, covering the fifteen centuries prior to 1492, and was able to successfully establish myself on the island of Borikén as High Chief on the Taíno. Now, in the second game, the conquistadors have arrived, and I must attempt to resist their incursions onto the island while also completing certain historical objectives. This game can be played cooperatively with multiple players, but I will be playing solo, without the help of anyone else!

The second game uses the same map and basic rules as the first, and is set up in much the same way, with a few small changes for the new scenario. This time a Conquistador token rather than a Caribe token begins in a random area (I drew Macao, to the east), representing the first Europeans to arrive on the island. I also place five Yucayeque villages in random areas – the main population centers of the now-indigenous Taíno inhabitants of Borikén. Finally, I place an overlay over the turn track, which now becomes the ‘gold’ track – I can use gold to pay off the Conquistadors, but doing so will shift the track downwards, increasing the number of new Conquistadors who arrive each turn, and eventually causing me to lose the game if the track reaches zero.

My victory and defeat conditions for this game are also different: in order to win, I must achieve four randomly drawn objectives in their historical sequence (the objective with the earliest date must be completed first, and so on). I can also lose in three different ways: if the Conquistadors ever control every region of the island (determined by a majority of circular tokens), if the gold track ever reaches zero, or if the Taíno deck runs out. So the clock is against me, and I will have to move fast to complete my objectives!

At the start of the game I also get to choose one of two randomly drawn Cacique cards, representing the unique abilities of my Taíno chief. I select Canóbana, whose prowess in combat will help me achieve two of my objectives to defeat Conquistadors (hopefully I can also find my favorite patron god Juracán again).

I’m now ready to begin playing, and as usual I start my turn by revealing a new Enemy card and placing a token (now a Conquistador) in the indicated space. In games two and three, the reverse side of the previous Enemy card also offers two possible events, one positive and one negative, which will trigger if I choose the indicated action track.

In this case I am presented with an appealing opportunity – if I choose to use my Political action track, I will get to exchange the newly placed Conquistador token for a Yucayeque token. On the other hand, if I perform Military actions then I will not be able to move into that area. The choice seems simple enough, so I select Political and exchange the tokens. For my first action I Build, discarding a green Taíno card to place another Yucayeque in Guainia, which also allows me to reveal the Endemic token there – a Gold Mine! I could have instead used that green Taíno to make progress towards my first objective, but three Yucayeques gives me a strong presence in Guainia, hopefully enabling me to repel any invading Conquistadors. I cannot Initiate as I do not have any Cassava, so for my second action I just move my Cacique one area east to Guayama, and then I draw a new Taíno card and my first turn is complete.

At the start of my second turn a Conquistador arrives in Daguao, almost granting them control of the eastern purple Region, but the events also present me with another opportunity: if I perform Military actions this turn, then I skip the Enemy card phase of the next turn (by burning their supplies). Fortunately this is what I had planned to do anyway, so I Move over to Macao and Attack the Conquistador there, rolling well enough to remove it and revealing a ‘Boa’ Endemic token. I could use this to immediately gain a bonus action, but I decide to hang out to it for now, and instead just discard one purple Taíno card toward my first objective.

Over my next few turns I head back to Guainia and spend some time Mining for Gold there, having enhanced my Military action track with two additional Mining actions for extra efficiency. Then I begin travelling round the island, visiting each Region in turn to convince the Taíno population there to join the Conquistador’s Encomienda System (by discarding matching Taíno cards), in the hope that this might stave off war. By the time I return to Guainia and complete this objective, however, the Conquistadors have decided that they have other plans, and Cristóbal Sotomayor has arrived in the Region at the head of a large force. Peace with the Conquistadors is no longer an option, and I will have to assassinate the Spanish officer before I can progress further (historically the execution of Sotomayor was the first act of war carried out by the Taíno against the Spanish).   

I will need to roll a 6 to defeat the special double Conquistador token and complete my second objective, and unfortunately I have not yet been able to play Juracán to enhance my Attacks. I decide to make use of the positive ‘Spiritual Ceremony’ Event that was just revealed, which will allow me to perform one action on the Religious track twice, and use the Offer action to spend two Gold for two Attacks. My first Attack fails, even after I discard a Taíno card to reroll it, so I am forced to discard another Taíno card from the top of the deck. My second Attack also fails, but I discard my last remaining card to roll again, and this time I get lucky and score a 6, defeating Sotomayor and completing my second objective! This was costly for me, but I was able to take advantage of my situation to achieve this objective very quickly, which I think was worthwhile. However, my relief is short-lived, as the third objective instructs me to place four more Conquistadors in Guainia – no doubt come to avenge their fallen comrade.

I decide to stand and fight, as I will be able to perform Military actions on my next turn, and the three Yucayeque villages that I established here earlier will mean that a single successful Attack will allow me to remove three enemy Conquistadors (plus another for my Cacique ability). Unfortunately the newly revealed Conquistador also arrives in Guainia, meaning that I will face a stiff fight indeed! My Attack fails and I lose another Taíno, but the three Mining actions on my enhanced Military track gives me another idea. In game two I am allowed to spend Gold to remove Conquistadors, although this will also shift the Gold track forward, in the long term attractive more Conquistadors. However, this does present a solution to my immediate problem, so I Mine three times, gaining a large pool of Gold, and spend five of it to pay off all of the Conquistadors in Guainia. My third objective is complete, but now I will be turning over two Conquistador cards per turn, raising the pressure on me to win fast!

With the Conquistador threat defeated (for now), my final objective is to repair the ecosystem and economy by planting Cassava in ten of the square spots on the island. I’ve already made a good start on this in Guainia, but it will be harder to achieve elsewhere, as the spots are more spread out and also mostly still occupied by Endemic tokens. Nonetheless, I get to work, and after several turns travelling around the island, defeating Conquistadors, and planting Cassava, I am able to achieve my objective, winning the game…for now. Despite my victory, Conquistadors now control three of the five Regions, and their numbers will only keep growing, so the Taíno people will soon have to start taking more desperate measures to survive. In my next article I play game three in Borikén: The Taíno Resistance, which covers the final struggle of the Taíno people to escape enslavement or extinction by the Spanish.

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