Agricola Farmers leading to Agricola: Solo

Agricola Farmers

Today I was on BoardGameGeek (BGG) and as my eyes scanned through the front page, the first thing that caught my eye was the word Agricola in an active auction followed by the numbers $80.

I just can’t believe that someone is buying these Agricola farmers for RM240 when the game itself is RM209 in BGC so it is quite interesting the lengths people go to just to make their gaming experience more fulfilling =).

Thanks to the random auction that caught my eye, I am now curious and itching to play the 1 player variant of Agricola just to avoid doing an assignment (Referral Letter for 3 marks). Here goes!!

 

After playing the solo version of Agricola, I quickly finished my Referral Letter assignment before Jun Yet came home =P!

My opinions on the solo version of Agricola:-

If you have never played the solo version before, the only difference between a solo version and a 2 player version is:-

• You start with zero food as compared to the 2 or 3 food you normally get.
• You have to feed your family members with 3 food each instead of 2.
• You only get 2 wood refilled per round instead of 3 wood.
• If you play a minor improvement that required you to pass to the next player, it is discarded.

That all sounds easy right? Before I started the game, I envisioned having loads of wood and animals for my disposal and I could choose anything I wanted without having to fight for it! It seemed fun at first till time really flew and when I say time, I mean HARVEST TIME! It's quite scary since I have to provide 3 per family member.


Before I knew it, it was time for the first harvest, it seemed easy enough the first few rounds but towards the end, you're finishing and you've still got so many things that you wanted to do but have not done or that was how I felt playing the solo version.


(On a random note: I just remembered that I forgotten to breed my animals =P)


I played 4 Occupations (Tutor, Field Watchman, Wet Nurse, Clay Worker) and I got 2 Major Improvements (Cooking Hearth and Stone Oven). I used the drafting method where I took out 10 random cards (I only used the 1+ Occupations) and chose 7 of both Occupations and Minor Improvements.


I definitely had big plans for my occupations and minor improvements but mathematically, 14 rounds *2 actions = 28 so it is quite limited what you can do which is why I abandoned majority of my planned Minor Improvements and Occupations in the end =P.


I survived the game without any begging cards and no negative points but I could not achieve the goal score provided by the rule book which is a score of 50 points. I only scored 43 points. Interestingly, our previous plays with Agricola in the 4 or 5 player version, players got 45++ or 50 points but playing it solo doesn't make it any easier.


In conclusion, if you haven't played the solo version of Agricola, don't assume it's easy because it's all about planning way way way ahead.. Whether to leave your wood there for another 2-3 rounds to accumulate more wood or take it soon to build a room or stables before the game is nearly finished.