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viktor_haagLast night, my wife and I played Agricola after the kids went to bed. Game number one between two players lasted for 90 minutes, with about 10 minutes of set-up time (mostly because I was counting the pieces as I went forward to make sure I had what I was supposed to have in the box: I have more wood and less clay than the rule book says, but I understand that is a Known Issue™).
Some quick notes of observation:
• Although it's easier to generate food later on in the game than it is earlier, it's not one of those games where you'll automatically say "oh! by the second half of the game, it's trivial to get resource x". This could well be evidence of first-play phenomenon: not really understanding yet the engines of production in the game.
• Tempo is massively important: like so many other economic building games, doing things at the right time, in the right order, is vital to efficient production and return on investment. Also, like other games of this type, it's vital to observe what other players would like to do, what the turn order is, and when to leave an action alone and do something else. Every turn more resources are made available, at a steady rate, but surpluses aren't cleared. Thus, if you don't consume a resource now but wait until next turn, there will be more of that resource available for purchase at the same cost (one action). It feels very much as if Rosenberg (the designer) noticed the "put a doubloon on those actions" methodology in Puerto Rico and built it more intimately into his game: as the game progresses, more and more of these greed-is-good actions pop up, so sometimes it hugely pays off to (a) do something other than what your opponent is doing, and (b) time your actions around the ends of turns to reap maximum rewards for your limited pool of actions.
• Do not fall behind in population. Each family member is worth three points. If you have to starve that family member for a single turn, you lose its points at the end of the game, but you still get all its actions. The earlier in the game you have that family member, the more value you get from it: the more actions it can contribute. If you find yourself with less family members than every one else in the table, not only will you have less actions than everyone else, but suddenly the advantage of going first looks much less attractive, because you will hand several turns of actions to your opponents without your ability to interpose your own actions. Do not fall behind in population growth, or catch up as soon as you can.
• Do not leave field ploughing until the end of the game. Each field ploughed takes an action. Each field ploughed is really worth (potentially) two points: one point for the field, and one point for the wasted space it then occupies. Spare ploughed fields let you suddenly start getting more and more utility out of your grain and vegetables because you can sow crop right back into another field. And you don't want to be wasting tempo at the end of the game desperately trying to plough fields. Ploughing fields is rather like investing in locomotive in Age Of Steam: do it early, do it often, because the earlier you do it (as with family growth) the more value it will be worth to you as you go along.
• Don't build more fences than you need early. Fences are wonderful. They also suck up wood. Wood, early in the game, is a vital resource. There's a temptation to blow it immediately on fencing; however, consider the costs of extra housing (worth points and capacity for family); consider improvements (major only in the game we played). Getting stables on the board early where you know you're going to have fences later seems to me a slightly safer practice. But I haven't tested out that theory yet.
No doubt I will have more musings after play number 2 and forward.
Some quick notes of observation:
• Although it's easier to generate food later on in the game than it is earlier, it's not one of those games where you'll automatically say "oh! by the second half of the game, it's trivial to get resource x". This could well be evidence of first-play phenomenon: not really understanding yet the engines of production in the game.
• Tempo is massively important: like so many other economic building games, doing things at the right time, in the right order, is vital to efficient production and return on investment. Also, like other games of this type, it's vital to observe what other players would like to do, what the turn order is, and when to leave an action alone and do something else. Every turn more resources are made available, at a steady rate, but surpluses aren't cleared. Thus, if you don't consume a resource now but wait until next turn, there will be more of that resource available for purchase at the same cost (one action). It feels very much as if Rosenberg (the designer) noticed the "put a doubloon on those actions" methodology in Puerto Rico and built it more intimately into his game: as the game progresses, more and more of these greed-is-good actions pop up, so sometimes it hugely pays off to (a) do something other than what your opponent is doing, and (b) time your actions around the ends of turns to reap maximum rewards for your limited pool of actions.
• Do not fall behind in population. Each family member is worth three points. If you have to starve that family member for a single turn, you lose its points at the end of the game, but you still get all its actions. The earlier in the game you have that family member, the more value you get from it: the more actions it can contribute. If you find yourself with less family members than every one else in the table, not only will you have less actions than everyone else, but suddenly the advantage of going first looks much less attractive, because you will hand several turns of actions to your opponents without your ability to interpose your own actions. Do not fall behind in population growth, or catch up as soon as you can.
• Do not leave field ploughing until the end of the game. Each field ploughed takes an action. Each field ploughed is really worth (potentially) two points: one point for the field, and one point for the wasted space it then occupies. Spare ploughed fields let you suddenly start getting more and more utility out of your grain and vegetables because you can sow crop right back into another field. And you don't want to be wasting tempo at the end of the game desperately trying to plough fields. Ploughing fields is rather like investing in locomotive in Age Of Steam: do it early, do it often, because the earlier you do it (as with family growth) the more value it will be worth to you as you go along.
• Don't build more fences than you need early. Fences are wonderful. They also suck up wood. Wood, early in the game, is a vital resource. There's a temptation to blow it immediately on fencing; however, consider the costs of extra housing (worth points and capacity for family); consider improvements (major only in the game we played). Getting stables on the board early where you know you're going to have fences later seems to me a slightly safer practice. But I haven't tested out that theory yet.
No doubt I will have more musings after play number 2 and forward.
