Uwe interview

Interesting interview of Uwe Rosenberg (creator of Agricola) can be find here. Uwe really has a smash hit on his hands, Agricola is clearly a world-wide phenomenon. And he has a new game coming out shortly: Le Havre.

When asked about it, he said: "I hope, that the friends of complex games, also like LE HAVRE. But the target audience is a bit smaller than for AGRICOLA, even if the rules are explained faster."

Solitare Agricola

I've logged about 10 full games of solitaire Agricola now, and am having a lot of fun. I cracked open what appeared to be the "E" deck (which stands for "beginner" for some reason), and played about 6 games. I discovered quite a few more "E" cards in the shrink-wrapped pack of "I" cards, and have played 4 more.


So far my scores in the first four games are: 60, 63, 70, and now 76. I kept the Carpenter from the first game, Chief from the second game, Plow Maker from the third, and will be keeping Seasonal worker from the fourth.

What is fascinating is the different shortages and challenges you are faced with in the game as you progress. Food is scarce in game 1, then stone begins to become an issue. Depending on what occupations come up, you may have problems finding reed or clay - or at least "over-spending" for them and facing a lower score.

Reading some posts on the 'geek, I've taken a much more critical eye on the benefits (or lack) from different minor improvements and occupations. For example, Wood Cutter sounds like a good deal (+1 wood each time you pull wood) - but when you count the fact that you are only pulling wood 4 times in a game, and you must spend a action +1 food to actually place the Wood Cutter - you might as well just pull wood a fifth time and save yourself the 1 food!

Plow Maker is an awesome occupation, as it clearly saves you 1 extra move, usually two. You can plow three times and place 6 fields, saving you 2 full actions for the cost of 4 food (1 for the placement of the Plow Maker, and 1 each for the 3 extra fields you generate). That is a clear winner, and so much better than Mushroom Collector, Clay Mixer, Hedge Keeper, etc.

An exception is Stone Carrier, which might pay you out only 2 stone for the cost of an action and 1 food - this is probably well worth it if you plan on a high score, as stone is the ticket to Well, Stone Oven, Pottery and all the other "bonus" Major Improvements.

I did not do very well in my first game of Agricola with Kevin, but after 10 solo games I think I will be very competitive the next time we square off in this one...

What's latin for fun?

What a good time I am having with Agricola! Single player, unfortunately. But I have really been getting a kick out of "puzzling-out" different strategies, trying to optimize my score under different conditions.

I haven't timed myself yet, but I am thinking it's taking me about 30 minutes a game. Most of the early moves are easy of course, which is a great thing about Agricola that clearly will make it more approachable for young people and non-gamers. Rosenberg has made the game extremely scalable by using cards to carefully increase the resource production for 1 - 5 players. Since the different options are introduced somewhat randomly (4 different cards revealed in the first round, 3 in the second round, etc.) and one at a time, the players are shown progressively more options.

Advanced players can fuss about what cards come next, but even a successful guess may only uncover a small advantage. Newer players can blissfully take the most obvious choice, and as long as the keep the overall goal in focus, should feel like they are making progress.

And the gorgeous theme of the game means that players who are not into competition can feel like they are just "bettering their best score" with each game, not even competing.

I'll give it a few more weeks, but I am thinking this game moves to a nine on the 'geek in my ratings.

Check out this excellent single-player "record sheet" available on the 'geek.

X-deck

Thanks to BGG for point this out... there's a new deck coming for Agricola in the next issue of Spielbox. Check out this article.

Agric-o-lah

It's here. Possibly the greatest game in the world, Agricola (apparently pronounced "Agric-o-lah", latin for "farmer").

First play at Kevin's on Wednesday, 3-player "family" game, plus 3-player "occupation/minor improvement deck" game. Kevin, Jared and I faced off in Northampton.

I was thrilled after the first game, and immediate felt the influence of Princes of Florence, Caylus, and Puerto Rico, as well as a little Age of Empires. Had the same desire for replay as I did after my first game of AoE, with no negatives like I felt with Caylus (length, dry).

The pieces were excellent. Kevin had the highly controversial "pre-order" edition, with the extra cards (called "z-cards" for "z-man games" edition), and the "ani-meeples", or animal pieces. His instruction was outstanding, I didn't pull the manual once, and only had to ask a couple of clarifying questions during the game. The game felt very "natural", and the theme was very rich and made actions very intuitive. Your goal to enlarge your farming family, grow cattle, sheep, enlarge your farm and plant fields for victory points was interesting and fun.

Playing my second game with the expansion deck was not quite as impressive as I hoped, in that it made the game somewhat more "solitaire" than it felt in the family version. Each of us chose our own path and I can only remember one move in the entire game that one player could dramatically affect another (and he ended up choosing a different space anyway). In the first play, because of more limited choices (no cards), it felt that your move choices could block out those of your opponents, making the game more like Caylus or even Puerto Rico in that respect.

In any event, I rate the game an "8" immediately, and suspect it could climb to a "10" and take out Puerto Rico (or at least tie it) for me.

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There is more "buzz" about this game than any I can remember on the 'geek. The number of forum posts, reviews, articles and photos for the length of time this game is on the market is unbelievable. As I write this the game is battling for first place on the boardgamegeek ratings, a legitimate contender to take out Puerto Rico for number one in the world, a feat that I would have thought impossible for several reasons.

There is a site that apparently will be producing more of the wooden animal pieces, which do a lot of richness to the visual nature of the game, and make it more conversational for non-gamers here. Apparently, you can purchase plastic animals from Target, and maybe from craft stores as well.