Agricola

Review by Alan Holyoak for Agricola
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I have been an active player of board games for at least 35 years. I’ve played games at all levels of complexity, ranging from tournament level Avalon-Hill bookcase games to family and party card and boardgames. For the past five or so years my favorite board game has been “The Settlers of Catan” (and its variants), that is, until I played “Agricola”.

OK, first, a bit about the game…

Each player in the game (up to 5 can play) represent a farmer in 1670 AD and his spouse. About now you may be thinking, “yawn,” but just wait, there is some real strategy and fun to be had here. Play progresses as players use their farmer and spouse each turn to do different things including the possibility of building a larger house, raising crops, fencing in pastures, collecting food, collecting animals, having children (that can also work each turn), etc. All the way through the game there is a real challenge when it comes to feeding your family, and improving your lot in life. You can improve your chances of success by playing occupation cards that give your players different capabilites, and by playing cards that represent a variety of differing improvements to your house, fields, etc.

The neat thing about this game is that every occupation card and every improvement card is unique, and because players are dealt only a limited number of cards at the beginning of the game, the game is never the same twice.

This game takes about twice as long to play as a round of “The Settlers of Catan”, but the time flies when you play.

Many websites that rank the popularity of games are seeing this game climb rapidly to the top of those rankings.

If you enjoy a game that employs a small element of luck (the cards you are dealt), and a large degree of strategy (what to work to have your family members do each turn), then this game may be for you. So, if you have taken games like “The Settlers of Catan”, “Ticket to Ride”, and “Carcassone” as far as you can and you are ready for a bit larger gaming challenge then you will not be disappointed with this offering.

OK, one last experience – my wife and I were playing this game recently when our 9-yr-old daughter came up and asked, “Is that game like the ‘Game of Life’?” After a moment’s reflection I told her it was more like the game of “real” life. You know, working hard, scrambling to feed the family, accumulating different commodities to improve the house, etc.

When I opened my copy of the game I was impressed that the game company had the foresight to go so far as to include a bag of small reclosable plastic bags that can be used to separate the different pieces and types of cards from each other, thus helping keep the game better organized in the box and making for quicker set-up times whenever you want to play. Thanks Z-Man Games!

This game is worth far more than 5 stars!

I believe that this game will remain a favorite of mine for many years to come.

I hope this review was helpful.

Note: One last thing, it is WAY easier to learn to play this game if you can hook up with someone that already plays the game than by reading the rules on your own.

Review by J. Brown for Agricola
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I had the opportunity to play Agricola over the past weekend and I must admit, I was impressed. First of all, this is a VERY weighty box. You get a lot of bits for your money. The game has 9 small boards (one for each player and several that create the shared interaction area), about 200 wooden pieces (representing people, resources, animals, etc.), several sheets of high quality cardboard tiles and several hundred cards. When you open it, the box is really full which is decidedly satisfying.

There are two versions of the game. The Family version (which I played) does not use most of the cards, but is still a very complex game. I recommend reading the rules and setting aside ample time on your first play to figure out the flow of the game. Also, definitely take the suggestion of starting with the Family game first. And this may be a good one to play 2-3 rounds of and then start over since the strategies only really become apparent after digging into the game. The length of the game is such that if you find yourself behind in early rounds, the rest of the game may be a major drag if you play it to the end.

The game play is not atypical of many Euro games (Puerto Rico in particular) with aspects of resource management, role selection and territory management all coming into play together. However, they are brought together in a very nice way that makes for a unique and challenging gaming experience.

One final aspect of Agricola that is appealing is that it can be played as a single player game. Although, I haven’t played the single player version, I’ve heard that it is very challenging and satisfying which is delightful given the dearth of good solo games.

All in All, this is a top notch Euro Game. I would not recommend it for someone who is new to Euro style games as there are better gateway game choices (Carcassonne, Catan, etc.) but it is an excellent way to take your Euro gaming experience to a new level.

Review by M. I. Jeanneau for Agricola
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Just this year I was introduced to a game that chances are you know by now: Settlers of Catan. It was my first experience with European-style board games; up until then I only knew about Monopoly and Clue (granted, I have owned and enjoy Scotland Yard which I consider on a different league than those two, but not as good as Catan). After playing Catan for half a year, I decided to go for something else. I’ve had read good things about Agricola on Boardgamegeek (it’s number one, after all) so I decided to almost blind buy, enticed by the idea of being a farmer (a dream of mine). So I’ve played this game enough to say that it’s the next logical step from Catan to a “deeper” or more complex gaming experience. As a person who just got into complex board games, I can say that this game is deep and complex, but not difficult, which is a plus because people from different ages and non-gamers are more open to play. There’s also no dice involved, so it’s less a game of chances and more a game of choices (making the right ones). I can see this game is gonna consume a lot of my time. Highly recommended.

Review by K. Row for Agricola
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My partner and I are brand new Eurogames, although we’ve been playing “Ameritrash” for several years. We bought Agricola because we wanted to try a board game that didn’t involve dice and – more importantly – pure chance in order to win. I did some online research and hit on Agricola, which we were drawn to because of its farming theme.

First, like another reviewer said, one box contains a surprisingly satisfying amount of stuff for one game, everything from little wooden fences to discs representing crops and building materials. It takes us about 10 minutes to set up the game, but we think that that’s part of the fun.

We’ve only played the 2 player version so far (we’re hoping to entice family members to join in on the fun soon), and we’ve found that it takes anywhere from 30 – 45 minutes to play through. Each turn follows the same “routine” that revolves around making decisions (sowing crops, building pens, making food, etc.) fundamental to running a successful family farm in 17th century Europe. The flow of the game repeats a number of elements, but there’s enough chance in laying different cards at different times to make each game unique and challenging in its own right.

I do, however, have two gripes, and these might have more to do with my novice status as a game player than the game’s faults.

1. We had a really hard time understanding the directions enough to get an idea of the fundamentals of the game. The booklet would refer to “the family board,” for example, without identifying which of the six or so boards in the box was the family board. What is a “food disc” in one page is a “food chit” on another. This might not seem like a big deal, but when a game has dozens and dozens of components…

We even had a hard time figuring out how to begin the game. After carefully unpacking and sorting everything and reading the directions at least four times, we finally went online. Between a couple of useful step-by-step reviews and a wonderfully instructive video on YouTube, we got ourselves straightened out.

2. Some of the components run out before the end of the game. The first time we played, we ran out of sheep. The second time it was wheat. Maybe it’s the novice way we’re playing, but we’ve already decided that we’re going to invest in more Meeple animals and produce if we get really serious about Agricola.

I highly recommend Agricola if you’re looking for a challenging strategy game.

Review by Matthew B. Collum for Agricola
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After looking for a board game to move to after years of playing settlers of catan, I purchased this game. While it is not exactly like Settlers (thankfully), it is comparable and everyone has enjoyed it as much as that game.

Once learned the game takes very little time to play through, in fact the game feels shorter and shorter each time we play. It is a strategy game which demands that you plan ahead and make the most of each move. It seems that chance is a minor role when compared to settlers.

This game has many modes to play through and allows for years of gameplay.

I would recommend watching a youtube video on how to play when you get this game, if you do not have someone to teach you. As others have said, the rules don’t make sense to newbies. They are clear after you have played the game through, but I know there were many, “Ah-ha!” moments while watching the video like, “thats an action square!” and others.