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mbl36's Agricola (Other)
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| [March 28, 2012 10:39:31 PM]
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Game Log 2:
This game took less time than the first because it consisted of four players, each having played the game prior. I decided to try a strategy in which I would fill up my board with a full house (5 rooms) and fences. Fences cost one wood and can be placed around farm spaces to create pastures. Typically, one wants a balanced farm as a player will lose points for not having certain things, such as each type of animal, vegetables, grain, pastures, etc. This game, I received a card called Yeoman Farmer (occupation). This card made it such that I would only lose points for unused farm spaces and begging cards. My idea was to focus solely on amassing animals in the pastures that I planned to build. To do this, I would use a card called Sheep Farmer (occupation) that allowed me to take an extra sheep when I obtained one with one of my actions, as well as allowed me to exchange these sheep for wild board and cattle (wild board and cattle gives higher points). With my Yeoman farmer, I would completely neglect pastures, vegetables, grain to focus on obtaining a high animal count. I came in second place in this game. I feel that I had a slow start (did not expand house quickly) and this hurt me in the mid to late game. As I mentioned earlier, it is important to expand your house and family early to obtain more actions. I felt that I also had problems with food early and had to use excessive actions to feed my family. Eventually I obtained a major improvement that allowed me to turn animals into food (which synergized with my strategy this game). The major improvements are cards located on the communal game board and can be purchased after using certain action spaces.
Conclusion:
I feel that the game is a strong example of Strategy and Resource Management. The way a person uses his actions and chains his occupation/improvements together is paramount for success (high score). Often times players must make decisions on what actions to use in what order, and certain routes may prove to be more beneficial. Everything in the game requires resources to build. In addition, at each harvest (the last round in a column on the communal game board) a player must be able to feed his family or suffer major point negations.
The game has almost zero Territory Control or Diplomacy. Players each have their own game space that they can build on. Also, no trading is allowed between players. Luck is also not present, outside of the luck involved at the very beginning when cards are dealt out (e.g., being dealt a hand of cards that chain together very well as in my Game 1). There are no dice rolls or anything else of the sort.
The valorization element is, of course, achieving the highest score and feeling that you made good, strategic decisions with your cards and use of actions.
This entry has been edited 5 times. It was last edited on Mar 29th, 2012 at 03:02:28.
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| [March 28, 2012 10:38:40 PM]
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Rather than right a complete introduction I will first reference a few articles/pictures and expand upon those references as I explain my gameplay.
Ref 1 (Wiki article): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agricola_(board_game)#Gameplay
Ref 2 (Communal game board): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Agricola_board_game.jpg
Ref 3 (Score sheet): http://www.flickr.com/photos/22611702@N06/2766239685/lightbox/
Ref 4 (Player board): http://funboardgames.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/Agricola_board.png
The occupations and minor improvements mentioned in the Wikipedia article are what really make the game dynamic. Typically, at the beginning of the game, I will analyze these cards to see how I might chain them together. The strategy I formulate at this point will greatly impact how I play the game.
The communal game board (Ref 2) is comprised of round spaces, each with an action card that is flipped over at the beginning of that round. At the end of a column of round spaces, each player must have adequate food to feed his family. During a round, players take turns using their pieces on the various action spots to do things such as play an occupation, play a minor improvement, gather materials (wood, stone, etc.), and many others.
Game Log 1:
Games typically take about 30 minutes per person. A few of the players in this game were new, so it took a bit longer. We had five players total. I decided to chain together cards that would allow me to expand and upgrade my house quickly, as well as give me extra points for doing so. The first card, Chief (occupation), gives bonus points for each room in a stone house. I also had Renovator (occupation), a card that allows me to pay less in order to renovate my house. In addition, I had Stone House Extension (minor improvement) which allows me to immediately extend my stone house by one room. I also had a card, that I can't remember at the moment, that allowed me to expand my stone house for cheaper than normal. The synergy of all these cards quickly caught my attention. My strategy was to quickly renovate my house to stone, then extend and eventually reach the maximum of five rooms. At this point, I used Master Builder (occupation) to allow me to upgrade to six rooms (beyond the maximum). This strategy worked out very well for me, and resulted in one of my few first place finishes amongst our group of friends. I was able to quickly expand early (with Renovator). By expanding I was able to quickly increase my family size (you need one room per family member), which in turn gave me extra turns (you get one turn per family member). Extra turns, especially if obtained early, can snowball as it gives the player more actions which can then be used to further increase family, obtain points, etc. At the end of the game, the massive amount of stone rooms I had, plus the bonus from the Chief card, secured me the victory.
This entry has been edited 2 times. It was last edited on Mar 29th, 2012 at 03:00:05.
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mbl36's Agricola (Other)
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Current Status: Playing
GameLog started on: Wednesday 28 March, 2012
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This is the only GameLog for Agricola. |
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