Agricola (Revised Edition)

Arguably the best worker placement Euro ever made. High recommendation for this hall of fame game.

Many friends have suggested I look into this because I’ve played games like Puerto Rico. This definitely is a game worth investing in if you are looking for casual-yet-competitive play. The game is designed to be 1-4 players, and I have only played 1 and 2 player games so far. The gameplay is simple and complex. You choose actions to take from a limited number of actions, and as the game moves into a new round, another action is added. By the last round (14), you will have built your own farm with fences, stables, animals, plowed fields growing crops, and hopefully a bigger house with more family members. Based on how much variety you have with your farm will determine your final score. So far I have found the game well balanced. While you can be aggressive and calculated with your opponents, you also have the freedom to build yourself a little farm and enjoy doing what you want casually. There’s plenty of ways to approach building your farm, and as long as you can feed your family during the harvest rounds, you can have fun doing it!

Great Euro/Worker Placement game and a classic that has endured for a reason. The game offers multiple options to make it easier to get out including a beginner mode that focuses on the core gameplay without the additional cards to make it less intimidating plus a solo mode. Have not tried the solo mode but the core game and beginner mode are both enjoyable though after a few plays of beginner you'll probably want the extra options provided by the cards. The game gives you a lot of wood and cardboard for the cost and that isn't done to distract you, the game is legitimately great just with nicer pieces due to it being popular for so long. This could be a little intimidating due to the number of pieces and theme to newer games but for experienced gamers or someone who just wants a good thinky Euro Agricola earns its great reputation.

Excellent worker placement game that really immerses players in the setting. I never thought farming could be so strategic!

I haven't played much of the original, but I recall an overabundance of cards of various types, and a set of cubes and discs instead of meeples. This edition includes enhancements from more recent updates to the original (farmer-shaped meeples instead of discs, for instance), and cardboard tokens instead of begging cards as with the original. There are also some optional tiles that add another action space for gamers who prefer less resource contention (it's still hard to score well). The one complaint I have is that the English translation isn't completely consistent. In the rules booklet, for instance, there's a section on Renovation, but the action cardd that provides that action are titled House Redevelopment and Farm Redevelopment. I haven't verified this, but I think I recall occupation or minor improvement cards that reference Renovation instead of the terms used on the action cards. Other than that, the cards aren't quite as sturdy as I'd like, but many gamers sleeve their games' cards anyway; if this is you, then there's not much to worry about on that front. Overall though, this is an excellent worker placement game for 1 to 4 players, and it doesn't need much in the way of expansions unless you need a 5-6 player game.

I've had my eye on Agricola for some time now, not just for me, but for my wife as well (She loves farming games) and this game does not disappoint. We enjoyed the reward of starting our farm/home at the beginning of the game and the ease in which Agricola introduces you to the harvest mechanic, in which you have to feed workers. As rounds pass and Agricola progresses, Agricola has harvest happen sooner and sooner, making every decision more important. Do you improve your house over getting crops or animals? Do you want to take first place for yourself to have that ever important first turn? Do you gain workers, knowing that you know have to feed those workers, but gain actions? These decision really count as round passes and the end of the game comes. It easily adds players with additional boards and plenty of occupation/minor improvement cards. Played Agricola with multiple people of ranging ages and is easy enough to play with young and mature. This game has ALOT of pieces and cards and tiles, so clean up, if you are doing it by yourself, takes a little time. Agricola says on the box its 30 minutes per player for time, which is accurate, but with a game of this caliber, it does not feel like a long drag to the finish. We thoroughly enjoyed Agricola and I hope you will too.

Super fun farming game, with lots of cards and full of resource pieces. Well planned out game with solid mechanics.

First off, I am a huge fan of worker placement and resource management games. I liked everything about this game. It was quick to pickup and I feel as if I could teach new people the game quickly (though someone new to the game may want to read through the cards so they know what is possible). I felt the pacing was really good as I never got bored. There is strategy involved in where you place your workers and you can block other people. However, there is an element of luck in the cards (the ones in your hand and the ones on the board) that give the game replay ability. The game is fun with a small group or by yourself.

First off, I am a huge fan of worker placement and resource management games. I liked everything about this game. It was quick to pickup and I feel as if I could teach new people the game quickly (though someone new to the game may want to read through the cards so they know what is possible). I felt the pacing was really good as I never got bored. There is strategy involved in where you place your workers and you can block other people. However, there is an element of luck in the cards (the ones in your hand and the ones on the board) that give the game replay ability. The game is fun with a small group or by yourself.

My newest game purchase belongs to Agricola. I had played the iPad digital version for awhile and liked it quite a lot so I figured I would just nab the fully legit board game version. In this game you are a farmer! Don’t worry it’s a lot more fun than getting up at 4AM and spending an entire day tending to your crops and animals I assure you. It is a worker placement game where you and up to 3 others ( 1- 4 player game) take turns placing your little wooden meeples on the board in varying locations to collect the specific resource on that location. Each player starts with 2 meeples and there are a ton of things to do and this leads into my one negative about the game, which I’ll get into in a bit. There are a number of cards that you place down after every turn that reveals a whole new area to place your meeple and sometimes unlocking new resources to collect and put to use. You place your meeple and collect your resources, then the next player does it and so on. You cannot place your meeple on the same spot that another player uses. That is the basis to the game however the game moves FARRRRR too quickly to really allow you to take advantage of everything the game has to offer. There are a TON of items here to utilize. As far as resources go we have grain, pumpkin, food, stone, wood, reed, clay, cattle, wild boar, sheep…uhmmm I think that’s it….but that’s a TON. Now it wouldn’t be that bad if the game was spread out a little more, like had longer rounds. You see at the end of the phase you have to harvest your crops, feed your family and…well…your animals breed and multiply. Each meeple you control require 2 food and if you don’t have enough food then you have to collect a beggar token for each food you lack. Each beggar token is worth -3 end game points which is huge and there is no way to get rid of them once you have them. The first phase you get 4 rounds to collect the required food and the other resources you need to do whatever you want to do on your farm. So it’s easy, plus you only have 2 meeples to feed, easy peasy. There are 6 total phases and as you progress you get less and less rounds to collect this stuff and yes as you get further along you do collect more (sometimes) but also there is more to do. Bottom line, the game feels a little like it’s rushing you. You don’t want to have to worry about food to feed your family because dammit I want to build a stable and fences so I can raise hogs. And not just normal hogs mind you, WILD BOAR! There is a very delicate balance to be played in this game that is for sure. The way the scoring is set up you have to focus on everything at least a little to not get any negatives however the speed at which the game is played makes it to where you really should only focus on 2 things if you really want to take advantage of all they have to offer. I feel like the game was made like this to create interesting strategies but for me and the other people I played with it just came off like the game was just a little too rushed. As far as the tokens and other game components go everything looks really good. Everything token wise is made of wood and painted and also shaped like their corresponding materials. The wood looks like twigs and the pumpkins look like pumpkins. Best of all…..the wild boar LOOKS like wild boar, makes it that much more satisfying when I’m raising them and forgoing feeding my family. The card stock is a good quality for the cards that the game has for different professions and improvements. The board itself is rather unique and has a different sideboard that attaches for the different amount of players which is neat. I will say it is the best farmer worker placement board game I have ever played however not the best worker placement game in general I have played. If you are looking for a different theme and love worker placements then this is the game for you.