Agricola

Objective

Build the most valuable farmstead over 14 rounds. Points are scored for fields, pastures, crops, livestock, house extensions, family members, and played cards — but you lose points for empty farmyard spaces and any category of animal or crop you have none of.

The Basics

Agricola is a worker-placement game about 17th-century subsistence farming. Each player starts with a tiny wooden hut, two family members, and very little food. On each turn you place a family member on an action space to collect resources, plow fields, build structures, or grow your family. The catch: every action space can only hold one worker at a time, so competition for the good spots is fierce. Six times during the game, a Harvest forces you to feed your family (2 food per person) or take Begging cards that cost points.

Setup

Arrange the three game boards in the center. Each player takes a farmyard board, two wooden rooms (placed on the board), one Family member token in each room, and their color's supply of fences, stables, and additional family members. Sort the Round cards into their six Stage piles (Stage 1 on top, Stage 6 on bottom) and place them face-down in order. Shuffle and deal each player 7 Occupation cards and 7 Minor Improvement cards (filter by player count — some cards are only for 3+ or 4+ players). Place all Major Improvements face-up on the shared board. The starting player takes the First Player marker and 2 food; everyone else starts with 3 food.

Round Structure

Each of the 14 rounds follows four phases:

1. New Action Space — Flip the top Round card and add it to the board as a new, permanent action space.
2. Replenishment — Accumulate goods on all spaces marked with an arrow (resources pile up if not taken).
3. Work Phase — Starting with the first player, take turns placing one family member on an empty action space and immediately taking the action. Continue clockwise until all workers are placed.
4. Return Home — All family members return to your farmyard. After Rounds 4, 7, 9, 11, 13, and 14, a Harvest occurs before workers return.

Key Actions (printed on the board)

• Collect resources — Spaces accumulate Wood, Clay, Reed, Stone, or Food.
• Plow a Field — Add one field tile to your farmyard (adjacent to existing fields).
• Sow — Plant Grain or Vegetables in unplanted field tiles; each field holds multiple tokens that shrink at Harvest.
• Build Room(s) / Stable(s) — Expand your house or add stables (needed to hold more livestock).
• Renovate — Upgrade all your rooms from Wood → Clay → Stone (required before you can grow your family past the room count).
• Build Fences — Enclose pastures to hold animals.
• Family Growth — Add a new family member (requires a spare room); the new member acts immediately in the current round and is fully available in later rounds.
• Major/Minor Improvement — Play a card from your hand or the shared board for a cost, gaining ongoing benefits or bonus points.
• Play Occupation — Play an Occupation card (for a cost in some cases) to gain persistent bonuses.

Harvest

Harvests occur after Rounds 4, 7, 9, 11, 13, and 14.

1. Field Phase — Remove one Grain or Vegetable token from each planted field and add it to your supply.
2. Feeding Phase — Pay 2 food per family member. If you can't pay, take Begging cards (−3 points each) for each food you're short.
3. Breeding Phase — If you have 2 or more animals of the same type and space to hold them, add 1 animal of that type.

Cards

• Occupation cards (yellow) — Played for a small food/resource cost, providing ongoing rule modifications or abilities.
• Minor Improvement cards (orange) — Played similarly, often providing structures, bonus actions, or scoring bonuses.
• Major Improvement cards (red) — Shared board; includes Fireplaces and Cooking Hearths that let you convert animals/crops into food.

Scoring

Scored at game end on a track from −1 to 4+ in each category:

• Fields: −1 / 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 points for 0 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5+ fields
• Pastures, Grain, Vegetables, Sheep, Wild Boar, Cattle: similar sliding scales
• −1 point for each unused farmyard space
• +1–4 points for Clay/Stone house and room count
• +3 points per family member
• Points from any bonus-scoring cards

Key Rules

• You can never place more than one family member per action space.
• Resources do not expire — they sit on spaces and accumulate.
• Animals must be housed: in a pasture (fenced area), in a stable, or one animal of any type may be kept in your house as a pet.
• You cannot hold more animals than your pastures and stables allow — excess must be discarded.

At the Table

Grow your family to take more actions, but feed them at every Harvest. Build rooms before growing. Diversify — scoring nothing in any category costs you points.