Designer / Publisher / Year: Uwe Rosenberg, Lookout Games, 2016
Player Count / Playtime: 1-4 players, 30-120 mins
Genre / Type / Mechanics: Eurogame, Strategy, Farming, Economic, Animals, Worker Placement, Hand Management
Do you like the idea of living off the land? Farming crops? Growing vegetables? Raising livestock? Building a homestead? Starting a family? What about taking up carpentry or masonry? Or maybe being a mushroom collector is more your speed? Have you ever dreamt about churning your own butter? Or making your clothes from your own loom? If you answered yes to any of these questions, Agricola may be the game for you!
Agricola, in my opinion, is the creme de la creme of Eurogames. It requires a lot of forward planning, careful resource management, and strategic decision making. There is minimal luck, indirect competition, no player elimination, and short downtime between turns, which means the game can go by fast. At the end of a game of Agricola, I always find myself thinking the same thing: just two more turns, and my farm would have been perfect. There’s always one more improvement to build, one more field to plow, one more meal to prepare. And this is what always keeps me coming back.
Score Breakdown
| Category | Description | Score (1–10) |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Aesthetics & Components | Visual design, artwork, tactile quality, and overall presentation. | 8 |
| 2. Rules Clarity & Accessibility | Ease of learning, clarity of rulebook, setup time, and iconography. | 7 |
| 3. Strategic Depth | Amount of meaningful decision-making and long-term planning. | 10 |
| 4. Luck vs. Skill Balance | How fairly chance and skill coexist. | 9 |
| 5. Player Interaction | Engagement and social dynamics between players. | 4 |
| 6. Pacing & Downtime | Flow, engagement, and smoothness of play. | 8.5 |
| 7. Replayability | Longevity, variability, and continued appeal. | 8 |
| 8. Theme Integration | How well the mechanics and story fit the theme. | 8 |
| 9. Enjoyment & Emotional Impact | Pure fun factor-excitement, tension, satisfaction. | 9 |
| 10. Innovation & Uniqueness | Creativity, originality, and distinctiveness from other games. | 8.5 |
| Final Average Score | 8.0 / 10 | |
Verdict: Peak Eurogame. Homey, approachable theme. Great components and meeples. One of my favorite games of all time.
Reviewed on 10/22/2025