Jamaica is a gorgeous, easy to play, family-friendly racing game that is also really, really bad. Its microscopic decision space, inconsistent theming, and complete lack of player agency make it very difficult to suffer through. You’d think a game about tearing a path through the Caribbean in a pirate ship would be at least mildly exciting. Think again. This game is boring. Its age rating may be 8+, but I’d say just 8 might be more accurate. Let’s get the obvious out of the way: Jamaica‘s production is phenomenal. The board is beautiful, the art is ebullient, and the components are outstanding. The single exception is the rulebook. Jamaica‘s rulebook can go fudge itself. I hate it. Whoever thought unfolding a rulebook like it’s a gosh dang treasure map wouldn’t get old is an imbecile. It gets one point for novelty and loses a hundred for utility. Not a good trade-off. I have never felt more ridiculous looking for the answer to a mid-game rules question, as amusing as I’m sure my vexation was to the other players. Note to y’all game publishers out there: don’t get cute with your rulebooks. Anyhow, as previously stated Jamaica is a racing game. Players who cross the finish line by the end score the full amount of points for the race, and the others are scored on how close they were to finishing. Additional points are awarded for amassed gold and treasure, so you can actually win the game even if you don’t finish the race. Seems weird,…