Agricola – Review

Agricola is a game about creating the best farm you can! It was published in 2007, designed by Uwe Rosenberg and currently published by Z-Man Games. This review was originally published on BoardGame-Reviews.com.

Agricola:

Designed by: Uwe Rosenberg
Published by: Z-Man Games
Number of players: 1-5
Playing time: 120 min
Player ages: 12+

A Quick Overview

Players are farmers with a small plot of land that, over the course of the game, will develop into a robust farm consisting of animals in pastures, fields of vegetables and grains and the sounds of a happy, content and well-fed family!

Sounds like an intriguing game?

It sure is!

Game Play

In Agricola players attempt to turn a bare plot of land (except for two wooden rooms) and turn it into a diversified farm. How this is done is by sending mum and dad out to the fields to gather “stuff” to help the farm.

Some of the actions are to:

Collect wood
Go fishing (for food)
Sow a field
Get some animals
Enlist some help
And so on

Initially, players are limited to 2 actions (one for mum and one for dad) but as the family grows, additional actions are given per family member.

How to effectively make use of your actions over the course of 14 rounds is what makes this a gem of a game. And the winner of the game is the one with the most points.

Observations

I like Agricola but it is not my favourite game. That being said, Agricola is (currently) rated #1 on BoardGameGeek.com and there’s probably a good reason why.

It is a worker placement game and there are tense decisions which are qualities that I like. However, I don’t feel satisfied/full at the end of the game as I think I should feel.

The premise of the game is quite simple; take your almost empty farm and make something grand of it in the allotted 14 game turns.

The game rewards diversity instead of specialization. A well rounded farm, one that has sheep, cattle, boar, vegetables and grain, will score more than a farm with only sheep or only cattle.

The game is made more complex by the addition of the Occupation and Minor Improvement cards totaling 300+ cards. Each player is dealt 7 of each at the beginning of the game.

Careful play and interaction of these Occupation and Minor Improvement cards can give a player an advantage over another player.

Agricola is a fun game and engaging. I have played this game with younger players (ages 12 and 14) with mixed results. The youngest doesn’t like it too much but the older one enjoys it.

I have found this game to be more appealing to players who do not like direct confrontation. Even the farming theme brings forth the qualities of sharing and cooperation.

Happy gaming.

Reef Encounter – Review

Reef Encounter was published in 2004 and is designed by Richard Breese and is currently published by Z-Man Games. This review was originally posted on BoardGame-Reviews.com.

Reef Encounter:

• Designed by: Richard Breese
• Published by: Z-Man Games
• Number of players: 2-4
• Playing time: 90 min
• Player ages: 12+

A Quick Overview

Imagine yourself as a parrotfish with a crew of 4 shrimp who help you to manoeuvre around the reef to feed your appetite for coral!

Well, that’s Reef Encounter for you! It’s a challenging game and requires careful and strategic management and placement of shrimp to guard coral, larva to instigate coral growth, polyps to grow coral, and algae to manipulate ocean conditions to favour one type of coral over another.

The winner of the game is the one (parrotfish) who has consumed the most valuable coral in the ocean.

Game Play

The goal of the game is to grow coral as large as it can be and then to eat it. Sounds simple, doesn’t it? Well, it is but game play is a bit trickier in how you accomplish the goal.

On a player’s turn, there are available ten possible actions; some which can be played multiple times and some which can be played once.

At the beginning of a turn (1st action), if you are able to, your parrotfish can eat a coral and its guardian shrimp.

At the end of the turn (10th action), you then replenish a set of tiles and larva cube from the ocean board.

In between the 1st and the 10th actions, you can:

• Grow coral
• Attack coral
• Change ocean conditions
• Move your shrimp
• Introduce a shrimp
• And other actions

Growing coral and attacking coral form a lot of your actions. How you do so affects the nature of the game and therein lies the skill in playing Reef Encounter!

Observations

I like Reef Encounter but, unfortunately, it doesn’t get played as much. This is because the game is very involved!

On your turn you decide whether to eat, create up to two new coral chains, introduce a single shrimp, (re)move shrimp and so on…

…There are many things going on and it takes a number of plays to wrap your head fully on the consequences of your actions.

Though there are “only” 10 possible actions you have to choose from, the way the actions interact have a great impact on how you make strategic decisions. This is how the game becomes “involved”.

Should I eat my shrimp now? Or should I wait to grow my coral a bit?

Should I lock the ocean tile now and ensure dominance or do something else?

Should I defend this coral and grow it or should I use another player’s coral as a temporary shield?

The answer to all these questions is: “It depends.”

Reef Encounter is a strategy game but you should also be noticing how other players are playing. In some ways the balance between strategic moves and tactical moves shifts during player turns.

Do you sacrifice that bit now and play to your overall strategy or do you cause a bit of a scare and respond to the threat?

I have played this game with 2, 3 and 4 players. The more players you add, the greater the time between turns (and not in a linear sense). If this is something that turns you off a game, please give this one a wide berth.

Is this a satisfying game? Most definitely yes! Try it over several games and come back to it every once in a while.

Happy gaming.

Imperial – Review

Imperial was published in 2006 and is designed by Mac Gerdts and is part of the “Rondel Series” of games. This game is widely available and is published by Rio Grande Games. This review was originally published on BoardGame-Reviews.com.

Imperial:

Designed by: Mac Gerdts
Published by: Rio Grande Games
Number of players: 2-6
Playing time: 120 min
Player ages: 12+

A Quick Overview

Players take on the role of investors in the Age of Imperialism in Europe. Their goals are to invest their monies wisely in the imperial nations of Great Britain, German Reich, Russian Empire, Austria-Hungary, Kingdom of Italy and the Republic of France.

The winner is the one who is able to carefully manipulate the industries of the imperial nations and get the greatest returns on investment.

Though the title may suggest otherwise, Imperial is a stock-manipulation and economic game.

Game Play

In Imperial, players don’t have actions; rather the six nations that take turns in a fixed sequence. Players who have a majority stake in any nation act as the nation’s decision maker to manipulate the “Rondel”.

The positions on the rondel are:

• Investor
• Import
• Production (x2)
• Manuver (x2)
• Taxation
• Factory

The actions provided on the rondel are at the heart of the game. The nations occupy a particular action on the rondel and on each turn will advance (clockwise only) to strategically viable positions on the rondel.

Nations advance on the point track when “Taxation” is chosen; once a nation reaches 25 points, the game ends and the winner is the player with the most amount of personal money.

Observations

The “Rondel Series” of games was, I believe, introduced by Mac Gerdts with the game, Antike, published in 2005. Imperial was published a year later in 2006 and is an excellent and tense game.

I enjoy playing Imperial very much! It is a luck-less game and there are many decisions to be made.

The box says that it plays between 2-6 players but the Board Game Geek community suggests it is best played with 4 players.

This game is different from a lot of other games. It requires some time to get a feel for the nuances of the game which ebb and flow as a gentle stream or as a mighty river!

Would I recommend this game? Most certainly! I believe it has its place in the collections of gamers who want a heavy-weight, economic game.

Happy gaming.