Agricola (board Game) - Gameplay

Gameplay

Each player begins with a small two-room farmhouse for a family of two. This allows them two actions per round, such as gathering building materials, plowing or sowing fields, extending their house, or building improvements to the farm. The number of different actions available varies according to how many are playing, and each action can only be played once per round.

There are two sets of rules: the Family version and the Standard version. The main board of the game is reversible: one side is for the Family Version (as noted by the icon of two adults and a child) and one side is for the Standard Version. In Standard gameplay, each player is dealt two sets of seven cards: one for occupations, such as woodcutter, bread seller, rat catcher, etc.; and one for minor improvements, such as a fishing pole, an improved plow, a bean field and so on, which grant small advantages such as extra food or resources. With the Family rules, all the rules are identical, except no cards are used.

There are 169 different occupations, and 139 different minor improvements, so the game will play differently every time.

As the game progresses and players expand their home, they can add new family members who then allow more actions to be taken each round. An additional action space also becomes available each round, adding the ability to acquire vegetables and animals (sheep, wild boar, and cattle) for planting, breeding and cooking.

Every few rounds there is a harvest turn, in which crops are reaped, animals bred, and, most importantly, each family member must be fed. This is one of the most challenging aspect of the game, as failure to feed family members is disastrous for a player's score.

Aside from feeding the family, players must seek a balance of building a well-rounded farm. Failure to farm the land or keep animals or pastures will result in penalty to the player's score.