Agricola

[Brel]

AGRICOLA

This game is rated as a "9" in BGG at the time of this posting.  No English version yet.

Description taken from BoardgameNews.com:

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 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, sometimes you better react on what your opponents do.

Source: http://wallace.boardgamegeek.com/game/31260/

[Brel]

AGRICOLA
Video Tutorial

Part 1


Part 2

[Brel]

AGRICOLA has now surpassed Puerto Rico as the number one ranked game in boardgamegeek.com!    It has been a long time since Puerto Rico held the number one position... and I still haven't played that game. hahaha

[Earl]

crap, another game to buy.

[Brel]

The Z-man English version has just come out in the market this month and people are madly snapping up copies!  This is the second re-stock for most online shops that I know.  The first printing includes an extra deck and those who pre-ordered directly from Z-man before got the exclusive Animeeples!   

I still got nada.  No game, no z-deck, and no animeeples.  hehe  Hopefully my copy arrives at the end of the month or early next month.

[maskmanjoe]

Based on the reviews on BGG the myriad of cards at hand effectively creates alot of possible strategies. I'm sure several strategies will come out as favorites (like corn rush in Puerto) but i cant wait to see how true it is that every card you draw can significantly impact the "best" strategy to play.  I am not much a fan of game mechanics that employ randomness, but I think the card part of Agricola will come out as its strongest point compare to other resource management games.

I doubt I can get my own animeeples but I sorely want to get a copy of this

[Nels]

I'm amazed why the #1 game is about farming... but then again, I remember Harvest Moon. 

[Brel]

I think most players have matured enough to try out different kinds of games aside from the common "kill-and-loot" types.  Proof of this is the well-received PC game "The Sims".  Agricola actually feels like playing "The Sims"! 

I found out yesterday that there are errata in some of the cards from the Z-man version!  Checkout BGG for the document containing the corrections here.  I am now awaiting my card sleeves so I can place corrections to the cards.

[maskmanjoe]

inget! i wants one...

[joegravy]

the sheer number of components in agricola has always been my concern (aside from the few translation errors in cards, which can be corrected anyway) ever since i saw this game in BGG. this factor has kept me from getting/appreciating games like war of the ring and twilight imperium 3. good thing agricola is actually designed to be playable as a solitaire game. less maintenance and OC-friendly.

[Brel]

Marami nga components ang AGRICOLA pero I think mas konti naman compared to "TWILIGHT IMPERIUM 3" and "WAR OF THE RING".  There's a short setup time and the game is really very easy to learn if you have tried playing at least once.  Medyo naguluhan ako nung una sa rules pero when I tried a solitaire game eh dali lang pala. 

[joegravy]

i think 1/3 of the "rules" are written on the cards thus playing the game for the sole purpose of understanding how it plays is a vital step in learning the game.

with regards to the number of components, my real concern is the size of our gaming table. unlike brel who has no problems playing on the floor, i dont think ill last an hour playing without getting cramps.

[Brel]

...unlike brel who has no problems playing on the floor, i dont think ill last an hour playing without getting cramps.

hahaha!!!    Well I used to get cramps before I made a sked to workout.  I don't get cramps anymore playing on the floor, but now I get sore bumps!  ehehe  I really need to get a gaming table but there's no space anymore in my room.  So I am looking into getting that portable and foldable Mahjong table I saw in Pioneer Supermarket.  But it's kinda wobbly so I'm still in the lookout for a good portable table.

I saw in the net an Ikea wooden table that I really like. Ang ganda but I can't find it locally and medyo expensive din shipping nun.  Anybody knows a local shop selling Ikea products?

[maskmanjoe]

Is Agricola a big board type of game like Power Grid of WoTR or is table space a problem because there are so many components to organize on the table whenever you play, like Puerto Rico? Can't the box serve as an organizer as well?

I saw these small monobloc tables that fold into a suitcase shape being peddled on the streets. dunno how much those are and how stable though. Plus "small" is probably 2 sq ft, not enough for your standard ameritrash game

I saw in the net an Ikea wooden table that I really like. Ang ganda but I can't find it locally and medyo expensive din shipping nun.  Anybody knows a local shop selling Ikea products?

I love Ikea, better than SM Home Closest shop i know is at Singapore.

[Brel]

Power Grid has lesser components than Agricola but WOTR I think has more.  What Agricola has more of though are the cards!  Here's the components comparison:

AGRICOLA

• 360 Cards
• 300+ Wooden Components
• 50+ Tiles
• 9 Boards/Tokens
• Scoring Pad
• Rules

POWER GRID

• 2-sided Gameboard (USA/Germany)
• 48 Power Plant Cards
• Money
• over 200 Wooden Pieces
• Instructions

WAR OF THE RING

• A Massive 70 by 100 cm Game Board in 2 Sections
• 204 Plastic Figures Representing Armies and Characters (more than 30 different sculptures)
• 16 Action Dice
• 5 Combat Dice
• 137 Carboard Counters
• 110 Event and Character Cards
• Basic and Advanced Game Rules
• Player Aids Folder