San Juan joins Ra and Modern Art as one of the best games ever (in my opinion).

What is good about it?

1. It plays very fast. People that know the rules can play it in about a half hour.


2. It has high repeatability. We have played this game more than any other recently, and it is still capable of generating surprises.


3. It has many paths to victory. Many games strive for different paths to victory, but most fail.
   
   I disagree with other reviewers here in that I think the cards are very very well balanced. Many times we have played a game of San Juan and then someone, after the game was over, complained that there was one obvious path to victory and it was just a matter of drawing the best cards-- that we had figured out the game.
   
   In the next game or two, however, someone else has come up with a way of exceeding the performance of the previous hot card combo. More importantly, it's always different people complaining about the card combo, and different people who come up with a better way to play. The balance of power has shifted in this game many times.
   


4. Another reviewer said this game was not too deep and not too light, somewhere in the middle. I agree that it plays quickly and easily, but that the decisions are deep and interesting. This to me is not a bug but a feature-- easy and yet deep gameplay.

The only drawback to this game that I can see is that I am now hesitant to introduce new players to this game, since the old players are practicing a highly optimized strategy based on many previous game sessions.

This is a great game. I'm surprised to see so few 5 stars ratings for it. I've played many other games, and this is one of the best. You are constantly forced to make tough decisions (I love that) about which cards to keep, and this encourages you to choose a strategy and stick to it. There is a lot of variety in the cards and in the strategies you can choose. I suspect this is one game we will eventually wear out from so much playing - then we will happily order a new replacement copy. My wife likes building up her little "colony" of buildings, and she also likes that there is very little "hurt your opponent" in this game. It's true there isn't a lot of direct player interaction. But you are always aware of what your opponent is doing, and you almost always have something you can do during other players' turns. Complaints about cost and "greedy publishers" are not fair. The artwork and components are high-quality. The game comes with a tall stack of cards, plus the governor and role tokens, plus the trading tokens, and a handy tray for them all. And it's fun with a lot of replay value. This game's a good buy compared to other games in its class. As for replay value, so far I have played this probably five times with my wife and once with a group of four. Each time it was very enjoyable, and when the game ended we were all left wanting it to go on longer. This game is fun the first time you play, but it gets even better as you keep playing more games. You get better at it, and subtle deeper aspects reveal themselves. I can only assume the 3 and 4 ratings are due to "sour grapes" - people who like the "heavy weight" Puerto Rico board game and expected San Juan to be the same. Well, obviously it's not the same game - it's a card game, probably aimed at more casual gamers (like me). I haven't played Puerto Rico, but I think I would prefer San Juan anyway because it's shorter and less involved. That's not to say that San Juan is a very lightweight game. There's more meat here than, say, Lost Cities, Bohnanza, Balloon Cup, or Carcassonne.. I would put it in about the same "weight" class as Settlers of Catan, and a little lighter than Tikal. If you are looking for a great 2-4 player game, get this game.