Johan L
United Kingdom
Buckinghamshire
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Agricola is the new game by Uwe Rosenberg released at Essen 2007. It is a game about running a farm in the 17th century, but even though it involves farming it is very different from Herr Rosenberg’s other big game, Bohnanza, and is closer to e.g. Caylus mechanisms-wise (although much quicker to play than that). I have only played the game
twice (damn, this stuff is addictive) four times so far (once solo, three times two-player), but believe I have a good enough grasp of the rules to give an overview and, considering the lack of reviews already, I thought a review might be useful. 
As mentioned, the game is about running a farm, which in game terms means that each player has their own individual board a la Puerto Rico. This board is divided into 15 squares in a 5 by 3 grid. Two of the squares are initially taken up by by your wooden hut, but the remaining squares can be used as you wish to extend your hut, be plown into fields to then sow crops, or be fenced off into pastures for keeping animals. You also start the game with two playing pieces, the farmer and his wife (or in Caylus terms ‘workers’) and a couple of food tokens. One of the players receive the start player marker, and as compensation for not getting the benefit of going first the other players receive an extra food token each.
Unless you play the family version, each player also receives 14 cards – 7 occupation cards and 7 minor improvements. Now, as you might know the game is currently only available in German. The family version is perfectly playable for non-German speakers with the help of Melissa’s excellent translations available in the files section here on BGG (thanks Melissa!). Unless you know German you will probably not be able to play the full game though, but there are some rumours floating about that a translation of the cards is in the works. There is also a rumour that there will be an English version of the game, but of course these are just rumours. That said, the family version still gives you enough to think about, so I wouldn’t pass on the game based on this fact. If nothing else, it’s a good excuse to learn some German!
More on how the cards are actually used later, and instead going back to how the game is set up and how it works: In the middle of the table there are three further game boards which contain the different actions available during the game. These are divided into three sections:
1. One section contains fixed actions that are available for every game,
2. One section contains a number of extra actions if three or more players are playing, the purpose being to giving enough actions to go round for each player, and,
3. One section contains the round sequence, where a new action card is added each of the 14 rounds of the game. This is an interesting mechanism, in that an extra action is added each round. These actions are grouped into a number of sets that are shuffled separately and then stacked. This means that you will know that e.g. the ‘sow fields’ action will become available sometime during the first four rounds, but you don’t know exactly when.
Additionally, there are boards for storing resources, food tokens etc, as well as a board with ten major improvements (cards similar to the minor improvements, but usable by everyone). The resources are discs of different colours for building materials, e.g. wood and stone to be used to extend your hut, build fences or improvements, and for crops (wheat and vegetables) to be sown in the fields. There are also cubes in three different colours representing animals (sheep, wild boars and cows).
So, how do you actually play this thing now that you’ve set everything up? Well, the first thing you do each round is to turn over the action card for the next round. You then restock resources on certain of the action spaces (including the action cards). In case nobody chose a given action the previous round, this works similarly to Puerto Rico in that the action becomes more attractive as it will get more stuff added to it as the game moves along.
Each round you then send each member of your family off to work. If you choose an action with stuff on it, you get to take all that stuff (yay, I got some sheep! Does anyone have wood? Hmm, wrong game - just to not give the wrong impression, there is no trading between players in this game  ). There are also other types of actions that don’t give you stuff but have other benefits instead, e.g. become the new start player, plough a field (to let you subsequently sow crops using another action), extend your hut (to make room for a bigger family), fence off a pasture (to keep animals), build a stable (to increase the number of animals you can keep in the pasture) or extend your family (i.e. get more workers).
The other actions are also where the minor/major improvements and occupations cards come in, as certain actions will let you play these cards (at a cost, except for the first occupation which is free) to get a benefit. This is where some variability (to put it mildly) comes into the game, as you get 166 different occupation cards and 136 minor improvement cards in the game(!). The cards are also divided into three decks, so depending on your experience with the game, you can choose how advanced you want them to be. As a couple of examples, an improvement could be to build an oven, which will then let you convert your wheat to bread to gain extra food tokens (more on food later). The occupations include e.g. skills for letting you extend of renovate your hut using less resources.
Once everybody has placed all their workers, you check if there is a harvest this round (at the end of rounds 4, 7, 9, 11, 13 and 14). If so, you first get to take a token for each field that has been sown. After this you have to feed your family two food tokens per family member. Provided you have the relevant improvement you can convert resources into food (but you can always convert wheat and vegetables on a one-to-one ratio). For each food token short you have to take a beggar card, which at the end of the game is worth –3 points (ouch, you really don’t want to do this). Once everyone has been fed, you get an extra animal for each type if you still have at least two of them (if you don’t understand how this bit works, go ask your mummy to tell you about the birds and the bees – just don’t say I sent you ).
This sequence of play is repeated until you have played 14 rounds, after which there is the scoring. I won’t go into scoring in too much detail, but having lots of stuff is good – you get points for the number of each type of crop and animals you have. You also get points for the number of pastures and for the size of your house (but only if you have renovated it to a better building material). Points are also given for the size of your family as well as some of the cards you have played. As mentioned you get negative points for having beggar cards, but you also get negative points if you don’t have at least one of each of the crops and animals, so you can’t just concentrate on one thing but have to try to get some balance. You also get negative points for each unused square on your playing board.
So, where does the interaction come from? Well, if you play the solo game, there is no interaction (duh!). The solo game is (perhaps surprisingly) enjoyable, but it gets more interesting with more players. As in Caylus, only one worker can use each space, which means you have to either get an action now, or risk that it’s taken by someone else. This brings some anxiety, as it is quite easy to get stitched up (or even more fun, stitch someone else up – take their only option for food and watch them have to pick a couple of beggar cards). Adding to the dilemma, you have to choose the actions in the ‘right’ order, to get the resources before taking another action to be able to use them, perhaps increasing the risk that someone else nicks the action you desperately need.
My opinion? So far, I like it a lot and have played three times today already. The game moves at a fair old lick and you feel involved all the time. It also seems to be very replayable, in that you want to get straight back in after finishing a game to try to rectify the mistakes you made last time. I have been comparing it to Caylus, and the worker placement is similar, but it might be worth noting that it doesn’t feel at all as heavy as Caylus and playing several games back-to-back is not an issue (playing Caylus three times in a row would probably make my brain melt). Adding to the replayability is of course also the abundance of cards, which gives an insane amount of possible combinations.
There is perhaps a bit more to the game than I’ve gone through above, but hopefully it should give enough of an overview to help you make a decision if it is something you would like to buy or not.
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Huzonfirst
United States
Manassas
Virginia
For the second time in five years, the G-Men are Super Bowl champs! Woo hoo!!!!!
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Great review, Johan. I had a friend pick me up a copy at Essen and I'll have it in my hands in a week. I can't wait to try it out. Now if I could just speak German!
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Johan L
United Kingdom
Buckinghamshire
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Larry Levy wrote: Great review, Johan. I had a friend pick me up a copy at Essen and I'll have it in my hands in a week. I can't wait to try it out. Now if I could just speak German!
Thanks Larry! This is actually the first review I've written, so that's great feedback from one of my favourite reviewers.
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Merchants & Marauders Aaaaarrrh!!!!!
United Kingdom
Reading
Berkshire
pieces of eight aaaaaarrrrhhh!!!!!
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I do so desperately want to play this Johan!
Does it play well with 2?
I would assume that if it supports solo-play, then 2 would play reasonably well.
Can't wait for the English version!
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James Ludlow
United States
Saint Louis Park
Minnesota
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Very nice review. You said that it was your first, and I'm now looking forward to reading your second.
I apologize ahead of time if I missed this, but are there multiple paths and/or strategies to victory? If so, does it seem as if they are equally viable?
How would this rank on a skill vs. luck scale? Is skillful play rewarded over the long term? From your review, the skill appears to revolve around efficiency moreso than probability management (EV calculations), but I wasn't sure how large of an effect the order in which cards are flipped really has.
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Timo Schneider
Germany
Kamen / Unna
Nordrhein-Westfalen
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It does play very well with two players. Bought it in Essen and played it twice in a row with my girlfriend. :-)
She liked it very much which means a lot considering the fact that she's not that much into board games.
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Johan L
United Kingdom
Buckinghamshire
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dwrigley wrote: Does it play well with 2?
Yes, I think it does (apart from the solo game, two is the only number I've played on so far). I suppose it's another game Celia can beat you at once the English version becomes available.
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Johan L
United Kingdom
Buckinghamshire
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jdludlow wrote: Very nice review. You said that it was your first, and I'm now looking forward to reading your second.
Thanks.
jdludlow wrote: I apologize ahead of time if I missed this, but are there multiple paths and/or strategies to victory? If so, does it seem as if they are equally viable?
Good questions. At this point (after four games), it feels like it's more of a tactical game than a strategic one. As briefly mentioned, you get negative points for not having all the different resources at the end, and the more you have of the resources and the more you have developed your land, the more points you get. Based on this I suppose you could say that there only is one viable strategy - be more efficient at balancing the different scoring options than the other players, but then again, as it feels like a tactical game I wouldn't hold this against it.
jdludlow wrote: How would this rank on a skill vs. luck scale? Is skillful play rewarded over the long term? From your review, the skill appears to revolve around efficiency moreso than probability management (EV calculations), but I wasn't sure how large of an effect the order in which cards are flipped really has.
Yes, efficiency is a bigger factor than probability management - make the most of the cards that are turned up. It is only in the first phase there are four cards, the other sets are between one or three (reducing in size as the game progresses). In addition, there are a fair number of fixed actions (I don't have the game in front of me, but roughly between eight to ten in the two-player game IIRC, and this goes up with more players), so you generally still have enough actions to plan around any given card not turning up.
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Johan L
United Kingdom
Buckinghamshire
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Timo1977 wrote: It does play very well with two players. Bought it in Essen and played it twice in a row with my girlfriend. :-)
She liked it very much which means a lot considering the fact that she's not that much into board games.
That's a very good point. Don't let my comparisons with Caylus (and mention of Puerto Rico) put you off if you dislike heavier games, Agricola is a lighter game that I wouldn't hesitate trying to play with non-gamers (well, maybe not non-gamers, but as the next step up for someone who has been introduced to Ticket to Ride/Settlers etc ).
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Tim Fiscus
Germany
Landstuhl
Armed Forces Europe (AE)
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Thanks for a great, timely review! I have a copy of this coming to me from Essen as well, and I'm bustin' at the seams to play it.
GeekTip sent.
Oh, and I have to say that I've never heard the phrase "fair old lick" to mean "moving quickly". That cracked me up for some reason.
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Johan L
United Kingdom
Buckinghamshire
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HuckmanT wrote: Oh, and I have to say that I've never heard the phrase "fair old lick" to mean "moving quickly". That cracked me up for some reason.
Hmm, maybe I've been living in Britain for too long... 
And thanks for the tip(s).
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Andrew Burgin
United Kingdom
Luton
Bedfordshire
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Really good review, Johan.
You know I'll gladly be a third player for you as soon as able!
Damn work'n'stuff getting in the way of game playing!!!
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Merchants & Marauders Aaaaarrrh!!!!!
United Kingdom
Reading
Berkshire
pieces of eight aaaaaarrrrhhh!!!!!
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Johan wrote: dwrigley wrote: Does it play well with 2? Yes, I think it does (apart from the solo game, two is the only number I've played on so far). I suppose it's another game Celia can beat you at once the English version becomes available.
So far, I am staying ahead of her on Qwirkle, Carcassonne and Kahuna.
She seeems to have this threshold, that once she gets over, then she starts to humiliate me terribly by beating me into the ground!
She also rubs salt into the wounds by claiming "not sure how I won ..." 
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Wes Nott
United States
Warrensburg
Missouri
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Thanks for the review.
I hope we see an English language edition soon. I can't believe someone has put out a farming/agriculture game that doesn't have a totally pasted on theme - not to mention the fact that this game actually seems fun!
I have a strange fascination w/ farming/agriculture. Anyone ever play the Harvest Moon series of videogames? Good times there.
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