Survive a farmer's life and provide for your family!
Agricola is another one of the early games that I dabbled in back in college. I was interested in getting into heavier worker placement games, and this one had great reviews, so I dove in. It plays just how it sounds, you are a family in the agriculture line of work, trying to make a living running a farm. You may raise animals and grow some crops, but also refurbish your home and have more children! But you better be sure you have enough food so your family doesn’t starve to death. Harsh, right?!
I fondly remember learning to play this game with friends and having my roommate from another room comment: “Why are you begging? Why are you killing sheep? They’re breeding?! Why do you always bake bread?” The list goes on. The game plays out like a farmer’s life; so much to do but so little time.
For the purpose of this article, I will be describing the “family” version of the rules that are meant for beginners.
Mechanics: Worker placement, Eurogame, Survival
ART: 4/10
Eh, not my style. There’s not much to it, as the focus is on mechanics and gameplay rather than beautiful cards and boards. Thick outlines and flat, muted, earth-tone colors for the boards, rooms, and cards. Nothing to write home about.
I do want to call out something I do enjoy, which is the attention to detail. Several field and room tiles get placed on your land throughout the game. Some fields are just plain dirt, while in others, you might see a teeny tiny scarecrow standing upon it. Some rooms have a plain table and chairs, while others might have a kitten, a bear rug, or even a board game being played on a table! These are cute additions for those that want to take the time and pick the tiles they are most interested in.
STORYTELLING: 8/10
Oddly enough, for a mechanics-heavy game, I actually find how I play the game very fitting for the theme. It’s tough to be a farmer, waking up early and ensuring your fields are well prepared for the upcoming harvest and your animals are flourishing. Agricola encompasses many aspects of farm life, making it quite challenging to manage everything simultaneously.
Having a family alone is challenging enough, but to survive, you must also produce enough food to support them. Whether crops or animals, you need to ensure you can provide. But your animals can run away without fences or a stable! So make sure you build those too! Now your wooden house is falling apart? Better refurbish into a more substantial material like clay or stone. The list goes on.
Though eurogames are not known to have strong themes tied to their games, the mechanics and feeling of urgency play well into the farm theme. Agricola makes me feel like I am living the farm life.
COMPONENTS: 4/10
Based on my version, everything is represented as just a wooden disc or cube. At least everything but food is wooden and not just a cardboard punch-out. The game and player boards are large, thick cardboard that are often resilient to damage. The cards are acceptable, and no special treatment is done.
I have seen in other versions that the animals become animeeples! Rather than a white cube, imagine having an actual sheep meeple on your farm! That would be cool and would add to the storytelling for sure.
I can see buying custom upgrades for this game being highly worth it.
COMPLEXITY: 8/10
Maybe it’s just us, but even with just the family rules, this game requires a lot of mental power. If you have trouble multitasking, this might not be the game for you. If you don’t do well under pressure, this also might not be worth the stress. The worker placement part and how to play are straightforward to understand. Place a family member, get some sheep, or place a family member, upgrade your house.
You start with only two family members. Only being able to do two things per round is very limiting, especially when prepping for the harvest, where you must provide enough food for each member. Did you want to build that fence? I’m sorry, you should probably get food instead so your family doesn’t become beggars.
This sounds very harsh, but for people who enjoy deep thinking and planning ahead, this game feels very rewarding for accomplishing everything you set out to do, just like life. Life is hard; get over it!
TRAVEL-FRIENDLY: 2/10
Another nope. There are just too many boards and pieces. Wherever you are going, you better have a large table available. As you can see in the photo, I fit all the resources into a large bead container, so that helps, but it is pretty tedious to put the resources out each round.
UNIQUENESS: 4/10
Admittedly, I do not play a lot of eurogames or have a lot of knowledge in this area. The worker placement mechanic is in most games where you get your resources and then do something with them. Regarding the sense of urgency, I feel and survival instincts that kick in, no other game makes me feel this way.
It is not a negative feeling to feel like there is so little I can do. That makes it beautiful when your mind can piece together the optimal steps required to succeed. Brass is one of the other few games that makes me feel like my math has to be precise.
Final Comments
When I got this game, my friend group and I played it all the time. Once I showed my family, we continued to play it all the time. Despite the limited time you have to accomplish what you set out to do, we keep coming back for more.
It sat on the shelf for a decent amount of time, but that was because we played it so much and were looking for a change. When we look at our shelves, we always consider playing Agricola as it challenges us differently than the rest of our collection. If you want to play something a bit heavier than usual, this game is a great staple to have in your household!
Similar To: Champions of Midgard, Puerto Rico, Viticulture, Brew Crafters
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Publisher: Lookout Games
Game(s) Pictured: Agricola (original Zman games publishing)
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