Agricola

The Basics
Description: In Agricola, you're a farmer in a wooden shack with your spouse and little else. On a turn, you get to take only two actions, one for you and one for the spouse, from all the possibilities you'll find on a farm: collecting clay, wood, or stone; building fences; and so on. You might think about having kids in order to get more work accomplished, but first you need to expand your house. And what are you going to feed all the little rugrats?

The rules include a beginner's version and an advanced version.

Agricola is a turn-based game. There are 14 game turns plus 6 harvest phases (after turn 4, 7, 9, 11, 13, and 14).

Each player starts with two playing tokens (farmer and wife) and thus can take two actions per turn. There are multiple options, and while the game progresses, you'll have more and more: first thing in a turn, a new action card is flipped over.

Problem: Each action can be taken just once per turn, so it's important to do some things with high preference.

Each player also starts with a hand of 7 job cards (of more than 160 total) and 7 item cards (of more than 140 total) that he/she may use during the game if they fit in his/her strategy. Speaking of: there are countless strategies, some depending on your card hand. Sometimes it's a good choice to stay on course and sometimes it is better to react to your opponents actions

How to Play

• Board Games with Scott (Video)
• ZMan Games (Rulebook)

Where to Play Online

• Banach Real Time Play
• Geek Solo Play (solo only download) with a how to at http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/2002531#2002531

Helpful Sheets

• Extras from Lookout Games
• Compendium on the Geek

Game Hints

• Basic Strategy: http://www.boardgamegeek.com/thread/239735
• My Tips: I'm not that good, you don't want tips from me.

Views

• Opinion: Haven't played it enough to give a detailed opinion. So far, I do like it a lot. Solo play is fun, Real time play takes a few tries (for me) to get it down. So far though playing it has been rewarding.
• Online: Works fine online, but would recommend face to face or solo play first.
• Work: Would be to long, maybe the real time version could work.
• Home: Haven't played versus wife yet.

Other Info

• Plays best with: Works fine with 2-6 players (or 1).
• Gateway Suitability: I would say no.
• Spouse Suitability: Chrissy hasn't played this yet..
• Re-playability: It does see solo action.
• Real Life Setup: Can take 5 minutes if things aren't sorted correctly.
• Real Life Time/Length: Two hours, maybe an hour if we are real quick about it.
• Geek Link: http://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/31260