Agricola

[Brel]

At first glance of a gaming session of Agricola, you might get overwhelmed with the components.  It's an illusion pare!  hehe It's really quite simple.  The board are divided into three individual parts whereas it can really be just combined into one big board because when you are playing you may need to combine them/place them side-by-side.  Except the Major Improvements board which you place by itself and just acts as a placeholder for the Major Improvement cards so you can pass it around in case players want to check the available cards therein.

Now the Occupation and Minor Improvement cards can just be kept inside the box after distributing 7 cards of each type for each player to lessen clutter.  So aside from the 10 Major Improvement cards, you will need the Beggar Cards on the center of the table plus the Round Cards, Tiles and the various tokens.  If you are playing with more than 2 players, you will also need to place the extra corresponding Action/Round Cards on the left side of the board.  If you are playing with beginners, give each player one score/guide card too.

The other remaining components are for players use to track their farm which are: Farm Board, Farmers Token, Fences, and Stable.  They are placed on the player's area.

Simple lang.    Pero syempre nakakatakot pa rin dalhin tong game sa labas kasi ang hirap magbilang ng components to check after the game.

My comment above is based on a solo and 3 player game of Agricola.

[joegravy]

we have a 3 by 3 feet monobloc table at home. it barely supports a 4-player game of puerto rico (1 main board + 4 player boards + wooden bits + role cards). agricola roughly has the components but it has 3 main boards. i need to get another monobloc table or else ill be stuck with 2- or 3-player agricola games only

nakalagay na ba sa protective sleeves yung agricola cards mo, brel? meron bang matinong box insert (plastic moulding/cardboard compartments) na kasama yung game?

[Brel]

we have a 3 by 3 feet monobloc table at home. it barely supports a 4-player game of puerto rico (1 main board + 4 player boards + wooden bits + role cards). agricola roughly has the components but it has 3 main boards. i need to get another monobloc table or else ill be stuck with 2- or 3-player agricola games only

nakalagay na ba sa protective sleeves yung agricola cards mo, brel? meron bang matinong box insert (plastic moulding/cardboard compartments) na kasama yung game?

Parating palang yung sleeves ko!  Hopefully mag-fit sila.    No box moulding kasama yung Z-man version.  Parang Age of Empires III, lahat nakasaboy sa box.  So I just used Ziploc bags to separate the components and put them all in the box.

The three boards + Major Imporvements board when combined are almost the same size as the board of Power Grid.  But the good thing is since naka-split into four parts yung Agricola boards eh you can arrange how u want to place them on the table to maximize space.

[joegravy]

i think alea (publisher) has always had great box inserts. same with days of wonder and (some) fantasy flight games. i hope zman games will make better box inserts in their games. agricola is a keeper and i wouldn't mind if they increase the game price by $5 for a decent box insert. the problem i had encountered with box inserts is that when the cards are sleeve-protected, they won't fit in the box inserts anymore (the case with LotR contfrontation).

as with my upcoming aoe3 (thanks to you), i think ill just construct cardboard inserts for it.

[Brel]

i think alea (publisher) has always had great box inserts. same with days of wonder and (some) fantasy flight games. i hope zman games will make better box inserts in their games. agricola is a keeper and i wouldn't mind if they increase the game price by $5 for a decent box insert. the problem i had encountered with box inserts is that when the cards are sleeve-protected, they won't fit in the box inserts anymore (the case with LotR contfrontation).

as with my upcoming aoe3 (thanks to you), i think ill just construct cardboard inserts for it.

I am still unsure whether Age of Empires III (2nd Edition) has box inserts or not.  But the first edition does not have any and the box for that one is thinner than most game boxes out there.  Hence the box of my AOE3 got dented.  I think they must have focused on the quality of the actual game components inside so the box suffered.  There's no question that the quality of those components are excellente! 

[joegravy]

i believe so, too. it's said to have a high "toy" factor to it. but of course, AoE3 has its own section in this forum 

going back to agricola, i was quite surprised uwe rosenberg came up with this kind of game. i have played bohnanza so much that the card edges were already blemished by our dead skin cells. 
the game's basic mechanic (action selection) has actually been exploited in previous games such as caylus, aoe3 and stone age but uwe was able to incorporate it with a very rich theme making the game easier to understand and enjoy.

[Brel]

Yes, AGRICOLA has that familiar feeling of playing AOE3 and Pillars of the Earth wherein players place tokens on the board to decide their actions for that round.  But Agricola is more of a family-friendly game and mas cute ang design.  The players farm boards really helped visualize the game and strengthen its overall theme.

I just can't imagine how long/difficult it must be in playtesting the game with those hundred of cards!  Agricola really deserved its countless winning status/acclaims and postive praises. 

[Brel]

Agricola component error: it says you should receive 33 clay discs in the rules, however, that is wrong - you should only get 27.

This means my copy of AGRICOLA is complete!!!  Yey! 

[maskmanjoe]

thanks for the headsup Brel. I'm getting a copy of Agricola soon as well and I get super OC when I notice missing components. You saved me many a sleepless nights

[Brel]

thanks for the headsup Brel. I'm getting a copy of Agricola soon as well and I get super OC when I notice missing components. You saved me many a sleepless nights

I'm OC too regarding game components.  If a game is usually made in China, make sure you always check all components first.  But the Z-man version of Agricola (as the Lookout version) I think is made and packaged in Europe so there is less error in packaging.  hmm... But I'm not sure.  Wait, I'll have to check the box later.

[Brel]

The game was packaged and made in Germany alright.  Just checked the back of the box.

Here's a picture of our game last night at the OGM:

[Brel]

What people are saying about AGRICOLA, the game that finally dethroned Puerto Rico as the #1 ranked game in BGG:

"After one play of Agricola, I rate it a 9 out of 10.  I so totally see what everybody likes about the game.  At its core, it's a simple worker-placement game with nice engine-building and efficiency elements.  That's what the "family" game, a nice, solid game with static actions that would be enjoyable for a long time.  But then, you get to throw in a set of 332 other cards (E, K, I, and Z decks) that introduce an entirely new element of hand-management and combo-development that makes the game almost infinitely replayable.  Even in this first game, I got that same sort of feeling that I get in Race for the Galaxy, where you look at that opening hand and try to figure out which direction you need to go in the game." ~ Chris Norwood (gamechris.com)


"Well, I can’t think of anything else to say about Agricola than this – stop reading this review, go find a copy of the game (pre-order it if you have to!) and try it yourself!" ~ Dale Yu (boardgamenews.com)


"Agricola is a monster of a game. The substantial box is packed with bits – boards, cards, tiles and stacks of wooden pieces. The game is carefully designed so that it works with different numbers of players – including options for solo play. Then there’s the option of the Family game or the standard game with the addition of the Minor improvements and Occupations. And the choice of different decks or combinations of these. All of this works and provides a challenging game that is different every time you play and huge fun. It gets a definite 10/10 on my highly subjective scale." ~ Paul Evans

[Rolf]

I really liked this game.  I liked it a LOT.  I'd probably buy it if I had the budget, but of course there's always the problem of being a gamer in a non-gamer family....

[Brel]

I really liked this game.  I liked it a LOT.  I'd probably buy it if I had the budget, but of course there's always the problem of being a gamer in a non-gamer family....

Well yeah, the price of Agricola can be high but I guess it's because of the tons of components and the heavy box.  But I think the game play experience justifies the cost.    If I get the chance to go to the next OGM, I can bring it again so we can play!

Non gamer family members can be a problem too.  But you can start by introducing games to them.  Maybe start with your brothers/sisters or even relatives.  If they don't bite, there's always friends and events like the OGM! 

[joegravy]

i also belong to a non-gamer family. well, non-boardgaming family to be precise. it seems like they always have something better to do. my gamegroup is compsed of beer-drinkers and tambays and i have no problems with that. i am so fulfilled to see them appreciate medium-heavy games like puerto rico, tigris and euphrates, and age of empires 3. planning their strategies aggressively well even on their first game. and when i already have my agricola (courtesy of brel, hopefully this year), i can expect the same angst-ridden, trashtalk-filled gaming atmosphere.