Many reviews from this game has dented boxes and missing/broken components. Luckily, my copy just have some small unnoticeable dents and the components are complete! There is even 1 extra fence :) Also delivered very fast within just 9 days from USA, and I'm living in the Philippines. But this Amazon posting is really very confusing, you don't know if it's the old 2007 edition, or the 2016 with label Revised, or the 2018 with label Advanced because the description and the images of the product doesn't align. There is even this description of "box may vary". My girlfriend is a bit picky on games. She doesn't like games that are either puzzly-complex or long games (especially if non-thematic), which so far are Spirit Island (sadly my favorite game), Pandemic, Zombicide (I didn't like it either), Bonfire, and Viscounts of the West Kingdom (well it's better solo anyways). At first I was a bit hesitant to buy and introduce Agricola to her because she might be turned-of by the constant tension/pressure to feed the family (which isn't even the goal of the game) that she may not find enjoyable, especially if someone is blocking her to do so. But I also have a feeling that she would love the other parts of the game, especially the feeling that you are building your own farm (with different aspects, not just animals but also crops and structures) and you are actually seeing it (not just cards, sorry Everdell but you're not for me). Since it is somehow similar to Viticulture (which she enjoys) and it is not overly-complex nor long, I pulled the trigger. - We played it, and she likes it, I actually feel she loves it! Interestingly enough, this is exactly her 100th play of boardgames, this is her 22nd played boardgame. Out of those 100 plays, this is the 1st time that she asked to play a game again right after, first time, never happened in the past. Actually on the next day, she asked me if should we watch a movie (what we normally do) or should we play Agricola :D Our score on the first game was 29 (me) to her 28, just 1 point! If we were tied, she would have won as she has way more building resources. Pros: - Tension. If your friends have problems on staying focused on your games, then bring this out, they would stop using their phones. You can't be bored in this game because of the constant pressure to gain enough food for your family while still accomplishing the goals of the game, especially towards the end where the harvest-cycles become shorter and you have more people to feed. If it's not your turn, you still have to watch out for others that may block what you need. - You can see what you are building. Unlike games like Wingspan and Everdell where you need imagination, here in Agricola you don't. You actually see your animals wandering off, your fields, your crops, your rooms, the fences separating the animals, the stables, etc. - Lots of options on your turn. It isn't very easy to figure out, thus is good for replayability. There is no obvious move, though if you want you can mathematically calculate which option is the best, but still there is the uncertainty of what moves your opponent(s) will do and how best to cope with it. - The visitor cards in Viticulture is similar in nature to the improvement/occupation cards here in Agricola. The difference? The cards here in Agricola is harder to master (thus is more strategic), they require timing, which of course must align to your tactics. It's so fun to see your plan being executed the way you want it, while coping to the changes. - Replayable. Indeed the cards give a lot of variability, because they influence your tactics from game to game. Should you delay getting that next room, or do you build it as soon as possible, should you go with crops now or just do it later, all is influenced by how you plan to efficiently use your cards to benefit from them. - Easy to teach. After all, it's a farm, a very common concept, not the Gnomes in the game Bonfire (I love that game though). The pointing system is also straight forward thus explaining the goals is easy. - Fast to play! It doesn't drag for too long, actually, you might even feel like the game is too short that you want to have 2 more rounds. - It works solo! For me, I don't aim to beat my own score, I just aim to gain more than 40 or 45 points. If I did that, then my plan went well. It also feels different from e.g. a 2-player game because with solo, the food requirement is higher while in a 2-player game, the building resources are more scarce due to the competition on getting them. - The rulebook is complete. BUT, see cons Cons - Although the rulebook is complete, the order/flow of information in it is convoluted! (in programming is referred to as "spaghetti code") It is hard to find something because you don't know where it is. For example, the info that a crop can be converted to food at anytime isn't in the section for fields/crops but rather in the cards section, and then in the Glossary! Also the separate Glossary/Index didn't help, for me it should have been just integrated along with the rulebook. You would read them both after all. Currently, if you want to look on something, you have to look at different pages, which is hard. - The choice of colors of the components can still be improved. The boar must have been pink to distinguish from stone. The cattle could have been lighter brown to distinguish from wood. - I would appreciate more variability in the round action spaces, in a way that you can't fully expect that a particular action would be available in a game. Currently there is strictly 14 action space cards. Maybe something like the concept introduced in the expansion for Orleans: Trade and Intrigue where new events are added and you just select a few from those events from game to game. Though I understand that the added randomness may reduce the strategic aspect of the game, but the variability is just an added excitement/surprise from game to game. - Varying major improvements from game to game for more variability. As you can see, my only cons for the gameplay is just "I need expansions with more of cards". So for a base game, the gameplay is already perfect :) Weiterlesen
