The popular board game “Puerto Rico,” dating to 2002, features sophisticated rules and heavily rewards skill, not chance, as players attempt to create 19th-century economic growth on the island. Many people have found it compelling but haven’t delved into its implications. “I played that game without thinking about it too much,” says Mikael Jakobsson, a lecturer in MIT’s Comparative Media Studies/Writing Program and research coordinator in the MIT Game Lab. Then Jakobsson started thinking about it a little more. “Puerto Rico” is set during the period of Spanish colonial rule,…
