Agricola: Farmers of the Moor

While my overall enthusiasm for Agricola has died down somewhat, I think this expansion adds more interesting decisions to the game.

Played this one time so far. I was really looking forward to it, and I like what it adds to the base game (horses, heating your home), and yet... not sure if I think it makes the game better or worse. I like that it adds even more stuff to do in this game, but it made the game significantly longer. Even including set-up time and break down, we can play a 2 players game in under an hour. Not so much with this expansion, but I'll have more to say after a few more play throughs.

Incredible expansion, will always play with this from now on. Adds several new elements that integrate very smoothly: 1) new animal (horses) which count as 1 point for as many as you have, and are needed to super power some improvements, 2) 2 huge new decks of minor improvements, just amazing variety to add to the game, 3) new action cards that you can select as a turn rather than placing a worker; in general, these actions are lesser but you can get extra actions so makes decisions much thinkier, 4) randomly preset player boards which are seeded with moor and forest tiles- these cover the negative spaces, but they can also make building your farm trickier, and they can also be harvested for resources but then you’re opening up blank space for negative points again...5) new major improvements, lots of them and some are pretty cool (I love major improvements).

I’ve never played the silly “family” version of Agricola and while the rules don’t recommend playing level 3 (improvements plus occupations) I dived right in and haven’t looked back; any experienced Agricola player will have no problem with this.

I will rarely play regular Agricola again. I enjoy the extra options this gives. Some of the less hectic aspects of Caverna are hinted at here.

Jan 2010 acqsn. Not a fav addition to the game, surprisingly.

More options, more to think about. I was dubious at first but it makes for an interesting variant on the base game. Not essential though. Probably best with fewer players as it can drag out the game - I'll never play this 5p again.

balanced out the base game and added extra complexity.