Lookout Spiele | Agricola | Board Game | Ages 12+ | 1 to 4
Lookout Spiele | Agricola | Board Game | Ages 12+ | 1 to 4 Players | 30 to 120 Minutes Playing Time
| Dimensions: | 22.54 x 6.99 x 31.43 cm; 1.81 Kilograms |
| Model: | MFG3515 |
| Material: | Wood |
| Colour: | Multicolored |
| Batteries Required: | No |
| Batteries Included: | No |
| Age: | 12 – 18 years |
| Assembly: | No |
| Dimensions: | 22.54 x 6.99 x 31.43 cm; 1.81 Kilograms |
| Material: | Wood |
I got this as a gift for my in-laws as they have a spare room dedicated to board games. They have game nights with friends a few times a month. Other board games that I’ve gotten for them for Christmas in the past have been played once or twice and then retired to the spare room. Agricola has been placed over 20 times since Christmas day. They love it that much!
The game is basically a board game version of Farmville. There are different strategies to win the game and it has a lot of aspects to manage. Learning the game is the most difficult part as there are so many things. The game play speeds up as you progress, it almost feels like there should be one more round in playing the game or a free play round before starting the game. It is a really in depth game that I would recommend for the board game enthusiast!
My son is a big board game fan and has made me into one as well. He brought this game to his sister’s home and her elementary school boys LOVED it and have talked about it for almost a year! They were excited to receive it for Christmas! We will all enjoy playing this for years to come! It teaches critical thinking, planning ahead and strategy. If you like board games, this is a good one!
Agricola has more nuance to it than games like Ticket to Ride or Settlers of Catan. It kind of reminded me of Castles of Burgundy, which is a good thing in my mind. Our family enjoyed it, but it took a play or two beyond reading the directions to appreciate the nuance. I have been told that you can play it without the cards, which would make it much plainer but also much simpler as you learn it, and then you can put the cards in once you have played it enough to get the style of the game down. Looking back on it, that seems like good advice. We’ve played it with 2 people and with 3, and 3 is probably preferable (there is an additional piece you add to the game board when you play with more than 2) even though we enjoy it just fine playing it with 2.
I bought this for our once a week, family game night. I looked up a couple of different ‘how to play’ tutorials on YouTube to get a feel for the game, you will probably need to do this aswell as the instructions booklet can be rather confusing at times.
A few weeks in and the children won’t play anything else (ages 8 – 14), the all love it.
The pieces are very high quality and the board can be chopped and changed depending on the number of players.
Play time is about 90 mins.
It may take a few sessions to get into the full swing of the game, but once you do, it’s absolutely worth the patience.
There is also a solo option to play a single player game if, like me, your into that kinda thing.
Highly recommend.
Review is for Agricola sold by Toycra which arrived today and pics taken are right after unboxing.
Despite the box being torn at 2 places (one on the head and one at bottom), I have rated this product 5 on an exception basis because the product surely feels original. Made in Germany and wooden components.
Delivery was also on time. Weight and thickness are all apt as well.
The only 2 demerits:
-box condition was torn at 2 places. I am assuming since it may have been kept in storage for a while.
-the box itself doesn’t have compartments for storing cards and components which I would have appreciated especially since it’s second edition.
Overall I am happy with the purchase because the board and the components quality is good. Not too finicky on the box at the moment. Keeping it!
Would recommend that you can buy this game from this seller.
El acabado es hermoso y lleg en perfecto estado. La jugabilidad es genial y permite variabilidad segn las cartas, lo cul lo hace complejo para explicar al principio pero ms adelante funciona de maravilla.
Lo nico es que me parecera ms ecolgico si mandan una pequea caja organizadora para las pequeas fichas en vez de un montn de bolsas de plstico, pero eso es ms un gusto personal. Encontr una caja econmica que encajaba perfectamente en la caja del producto.
My favorite board game. Not for beginners though. It takes a few 2 hour play throughs to really feel comfortable with the game. After that it is amazing. Tons of replay value. This game is for people who like board games, have at 3 or 4 people to play, and three hours to spend playing it. To enjoy this game the most you need to like basic planning and have the ability to be a bit flexible with your plans. The game ebbs and flows with anxiety and exhilaration as your plans become dashed in some parts but somehow flurish in other ways. The cards add a bit of randomness and inventiveness to your plans as you compete with other players to get the resources you need to make your farm flourish. Great game!
Classic game, means every hobbiest should play it at least a couple times, or own it. Theme is good, components, art, pieces, play are all tied in well. Teachability is medium. Language skills are necessary middle school level and up ( it has been translated into several languages so English isn’t the barrier). Replayability ..you have to play this game several times to really enjoy it. Most hobby games are like that… not a once and done. Value —- this is a real game. I wouldn’t spend $100 because, as a classic, it has it replicants in several newer games. But I would go to 60$. You can get it in secondary market fairly easily, but—new, delivered in 1-2 days … that’s worth some dollars to me. Punching out the cardboard cutouts, unwrapping the cards…ahhh! Can’t get that much in secondary markets.
Every turn there are multiple choices that are limited by the choices other players are making. The key is to be flexible and opportunistic. This game does not reward players that want to repeat strategies that have worked in the past, but will reward players that can put together new strategies on the fly.
The components are of very high quality, save for a few cardboard punch outs. Some of the field tiles had hanging bits of paper left on, or stripped off the edges after popping them out. Not enough to warrant a manufacturer contact, but enough to ding one star.
Plastic bags included are plenty to make future setup happen in 10 min or so. Cards are slightly longer and more narrow than standard cards, so take that into consideration when selecting (optional) plastic sleeves.
I’m amazed at how well everything was designed. The side of the board has a puzzle piece type link, that allows you to quickly setup for 1-4 players. There are also optional tiles for a campaign style play and varients that add more advanced placement options.
If you’re on the fence (farm reference, he he ho ho) and think you might enjoy this, absolutely get it.
We love this game. Each time you play is slightly different and you can try a different strategy each time. Set-up can take some time, but is made easier if you buy a craft divider box for all the pieces. I didn’t think this was quite as hard to learn as some say – the choices for actions are right in front of you and you just pick one to do for each of your farmer pieces. Lots of rule details, but you can learn those as you go. Really fun strategy game.
I love this game. It’s worth watching a video on YouTube re how to play and the first play through will be just learning the rules, but it’s so much fun. You get a sense of a achievement from having built up your farm even if you don’t win.
His game is great! The mechanics of it are very sound. It is constantly challenging even for veterans. The instructions are a lot to take in at one time. I learned from the phone app (a bit pricey….but it was either that, or I wouldn’t understand the rules to teach it to those I play with (that have no patience!)…also, ended up really liking the game on my phone).
Once you get the hang of the game it is quite easy. My wife, who does not care for heavy strategy loves this game. Partially because of the little farm animals, but also because it is relatable and makes sense. You don’t have to refer to the rules much after learning.
All of the wooden pieces are shaped so no need to worry about your resources being discs and your animals being cubes. The central board is a single folding piece with a jigsaw type side which is used to attach the second board piece for the correct number of players. It’s nice but I do wonder how it will fare after a number of plays, I personally would have preferred separate boards like the original edition but this is probably just a matter of taste.
Plenty of ziplock bags are provided for storage, though I do wish they would just provide a nice box insert instead. The only fault in the copy I received was that one of the purple family member pieces had a piece of wood splintered off – a little superglue fixed this easily.
Brilliant game mechanics and thoughtful play. Can be a bit multiplayer solitaire at times, but there is competition for the same resources often and a need to be mindful of other players. High quality wooden animeeples and pieces.
My son who is now 10 and I play a lot of board games. We go to a club with hundreds of games and try a few a day. I must say that Agricola is probably my favorite one. It is a competitive game but much less frustrating for the people who did not get the highest score. By the end of the game even if you took the last place you can still have a beautiful developed farm. In this game I generally do not care to beat others but rather I aspire to beat my previous score. It is pretty much like real life. You do not have to have the most successful businesses. You can just have a successful business and do great. Of course you need to work with the constraints of supply, cash flows, etc. However the game has enough flexibility for each player to have their own successful strategy that does not collide with other player’s goals. I think this game can be played in a partially collaborative fashion where people agree not to step on each other’s feet but rather use the resources in the most efficient way. This way everyone can get the top score.
Excellent game! This game & Catan are by far our favorite family games to play. What’s great about this game (Catan as well) is every time you play it the game play and outcome are different. Your individual strategy in how you approach the game depends on what cards you are dealt. On top of that, the decisions of other players can greatly impact the availability of resources. These variables alone make the game play unpredictable – and that always makes a game better. Your ability to alternate or develop a flexible plan in managing your family farm is critical to finding success. If you are not used to these type of games they can seem overwhelming at first with all the game instructions/rules and game pieces. However, after playing this thing 2 or 3 times you will be hooked.
I have the Mayfair version and a friend of mine has the Z-man version. Compared to the Z-man version, the Mayfair game has wooden shapes for each playing piece (including all animals, plants, and building materials) as opposed to colored discs, the Z-man version comes with 5-player capability only whereas the Mayfair version is for 4 players with an expansion up to 6. There were also some small differences in the assortment of minor improvement and occupation cards, but they are mostly similar and you should not notice much difference in game play as a result.
This game is also available via iPhone app. I think it’s a lot more fun to play in person, but the app is easier to take on airplanes and you can use it to learn the rules quickly and thoroughly.
December 2017 – I’m upping my rating from 1 start to 4 stars. After watching several ‘how to’ videos on you tube and re-reading the directions several times we have figured out how to play the game. It is fun to play. I like that you can’t tell who won til you score at the end. Directions are still poor/confusing/in no particular order or it might have gotten a 5. Tips to play. Being first is important. Having fields is important. Getting an oven is important. Having enough food at the harvest is important. Basically you start with 2 people. They go to work every day (round). Your people can go to any one of the areas and collect or do what it says there. You accumulate things on the top of your personal game board (or anywhere you want since it isn’t marked). You resupply the board after each round. After each round you turn up another round card. At harvest time you feed your people. After all the harvests the game ends. End of game you score.
This is a great board game, definitely one of my favourites. My partner and I are big board gamers but even when I take this to my parents they love it. It took us a couple of plays to pick up all the rules and the sheer amount of bits to go with it can look intimidating but, it’s actually relatively easy to play once you get the hang of it. The production quality is also excellent .
The board art and game pieces are satisfying to look at and play with. However, the game has many different components, so it takes some time to set up–about 15-20 minutes, maybe a little faster if you play often. Including set-up and clean-up time, a leisurely two-player game takes around 90 to 120 minutes.
In terms of strategic complexity, amount of randomness, play length, and set-up time, Puerto Rico is the game that most closely compares to Agricola. Though the two games play very differently, people who enjoy one will most likely enjoy the other. Unlike Puerto Rico, Agricola can be played with 2 players and has a surprisingly fun solitaire mode. Overall, Agricola a beautiful and satisfying game for players who are up to the challenge.
Overall I’d say I prefer a game like T’zolkin, which borrows or directly lifts elements from this title and adds a few takes of its own. I guess that’s the problem with getting into games so late – when you try the newest take on ____ genre first, the originals that inspired them can seem derivative. Still, this is an awesome little game and you’re guaranteed to love it if you are into Euros.
I have so far only played the 2 player version but loved it. You can build your home, expand your family, grow and harvest crops and collect cattle, as well as having to ensure that you have enough food to feed your family. If you like Carcassonne and Catan I dont think you will be disappointed in this game.