2010-8: Agricola (-7)
Some of the shine wears off the hotness of two years ago, but the only game I own about medieval farming still survives in my top 10.
Narrative Theme: 5.5. The cards have names on them. Does that count as narrative? Well, the instructions talk about farming, so that's something.
Mechanical Theme: 7. There's an awful lot that's mechanically thematic in Agricola. Growing your family and having to feed them is a multi-step process, which the rules reflect. The process of [plowing --> sowing --> harvesting --> building an oven --> baking --> feeding] makes lots of sense (even if it is hard to explain the first time). The mechanical upgrades and jobs you can get mostly make sense, too. But there's also an awful lot that makes no sense at all. Where are all these animals coming from that you're collecting? Why can my farmer build fences immediately, but can't have sex until turn 5, after he's built an addition to his house? And speaking of sex, why can only 1 person at a time have it (or do anything else for that matter)? I can see two people not being able to harvest wood from the same forest at the same time. But not both being able to sow their own fields? Or build their own fences?
Price v Component Quality: 7. $45 (online) is a pretty good deal for what you're getting here, which is to say: lots and lots of wood and cardstock. The bloody box weighs almost as much as I do!
Rule Complexity: 6.5/7.5 (family vs. full game). Agricola comes in 2 versions, with double-sided boards. The real difference is that the "family" game doesn't have a handful of cards to manage, while the "full" game does. Neither is particularly simple to teach the first time (despite the excellent teaching tools that come in the box), due to the number of steps necessary to accomplish the two main tasks in the game (feeding your family meat and bread, respectively). But that added level of hand management and looking for card combos in the "full" game can make some people's heads explode. Start people off with the "family" game, especially if they're new to gaming.
Depth/Replayability: 9 (-2 for the family game). The replayabilty here comes both from the semi-random way in which the board opens up, and, in the full game, the random cards you'll have in your hand. In all instances, you're trying to be as efficient as possible, and (due to the way the end-game scoring rewards you for diversity) do everything at once. This turns out to be very hard to do, and will take you quite a few play-throughs to do well. Looking for card combos to help you out adds an interesting level of both depth and complexity.
Mechanical Elegance: 7.5 (+1 for the family game). Agricola has a very simple, elegant worker-placement mechanic that keeps the system purring along. The card combos can gum up the works a bit, though, and in some instances break the game if one player lucks into the card combo of doom while everyone else is holding junk. If this bothers you, stick to the family game.
Length vs. Enjoyment: 7. There are a lot of decisions to be made here, and a lot of them are agonizing. This makes the time fly by... unless people freeze with indecision. Depending on how analysis-paralysis prone your players are, Agricola's playtime can expand from the predicted 90 minutes (which is perfect) to 150 minutes (which isn't).
Other indefinables: The reason for my rankings drop is simple: I've had difficulty on several occasions in teaching the game, and there have also been several occasions where broken card combos have made the game a less-than-pleasant experience for the less-lucky players. The solutions here are also simple: play the family version with noobs, and, if you have time, draft cards rather than randomly dealing them out. Alas, no one ever wants to spent the extra 15 minutes this would add to the game.
Best for: Those looking for a deep, thematic game, with lots of choices and very little direct conflict (but lots of direct competition). Bonus points if you like collectable-card-game-style combos. Or like farming.
Avoid if: You hate complicated games, or are prone to analysis-paralysis. Also avoid if the card-combo thing bothers you.
Narrative Theme: 5.5. The cards have names on them. Does that count as narrative? Well, the instructions talk about farming, so that's something.
Mechanical Theme: 7. There's an awful lot that's mechanically thematic in Agricola. Growing your family and having to feed them is a multi-step process, which the rules reflect. The process of [plowing --> sowing --> harvesting --> building an oven --> baking --> feeding] makes lots of sense (even if it is hard to explain the first time). The mechanical upgrades and jobs you can get mostly make sense, too. But there's also an awful lot that makes no sense at all. Where are all these animals coming from that you're collecting? Why can my farmer build fences immediately, but can't have sex until turn 5, after he's built an addition to his house? And speaking of sex, why can only 1 person at a time have it (or do anything else for that matter)? I can see two people not being able to harvest wood from the same forest at the same time. But not both being able to sow their own fields? Or build their own fences?
Price v Component Quality: 7. $45 (online) is a pretty good deal for what you're getting here, which is to say: lots and lots of wood and cardstock. The bloody box weighs almost as much as I do!
Rule Complexity: 6.5/7.5 (family vs. full game). Agricola comes in 2 versions, with double-sided boards. The real difference is that the "family" game doesn't have a handful of cards to manage, while the "full" game does. Neither is particularly simple to teach the first time (despite the excellent teaching tools that come in the box), due to the number of steps necessary to accomplish the two main tasks in the game (feeding your family meat and bread, respectively). But that added level of hand management and looking for card combos in the "full" game can make some people's heads explode. Start people off with the "family" game, especially if they're new to gaming.
Depth/Replayability: 9 (-2 for the family game). The replayabilty here comes both from the semi-random way in which the board opens up, and, in the full game, the random cards you'll have in your hand. In all instances, you're trying to be as efficient as possible, and (due to the way the end-game scoring rewards you for diversity) do everything at once. This turns out to be very hard to do, and will take you quite a few play-throughs to do well. Looking for card combos to help you out adds an interesting level of both depth and complexity.
Mechanical Elegance: 7.5 (+1 for the family game). Agricola has a very simple, elegant worker-placement mechanic that keeps the system purring along. The card combos can gum up the works a bit, though, and in some instances break the game if one player lucks into the card combo of doom while everyone else is holding junk. If this bothers you, stick to the family game.
Length vs. Enjoyment: 7. There are a lot of decisions to be made here, and a lot of them are agonizing. This makes the time fly by... unless people freeze with indecision. Depending on how analysis-paralysis prone your players are, Agricola's playtime can expand from the predicted 90 minutes (which is perfect) to 150 minutes (which isn't).
Other indefinables: The reason for my rankings drop is simple: I've had difficulty on several occasions in teaching the game, and there have also been several occasions where broken card combos have made the game a less-than-pleasant experience for the less-lucky players. The solutions here are also simple: play the family version with noobs, and, if you have time, draft cards rather than randomly dealing them out. Alas, no one ever wants to spent the extra 15 minutes this would add to the game.
Best for: Those looking for a deep, thematic game, with lots of choices and very little direct conflict (but lots of direct competition). Bonus points if you like collectable-card-game-style combos. Or like farming.
Avoid if: You hate complicated games, or are prone to analysis-paralysis. Also avoid if the card-combo thing bothers you.