The Breakdown:
Players: 2
Playing Time: 30-40 min
Weight: 5/10
Publisher: Z-Man Games
Mechanics: Worker Placement
Components: 1 Game Board
2 Farm Boards
144 Wooden Pieces (Animals, Workers, Resources, etc)
4 Expansion Tiles
9 Property Tiles (4x indicators)
8 Building Tiles
1st Player Marker
Scoring Pad
Rulebook
Players: 2
Playing Time: 30-40 min
Weight: 5/10
Publisher: Z-Man Games
Mechanics: Worker Placement
Components: 1 Game Board
2 Farm Boards
144 Wooden Pieces (Animals, Workers, Resources, etc)
4 Expansion Tiles
9 Property Tiles (4x indicators)
8 Building Tiles
1st Player Marker
Scoring Pad
Rulebook
The Review:
Worker Placement games seem to be all the rage lately, and the grand daddy of them all is probably Agricola. However, it’s a pretty heavy game with a long play time. Enter Agricola: All Creatures Big and Small, a 2-player spinoff. Let’s open the box and take a look:
Worker Placement games seem to be all the rage lately, and the grand daddy of them all is probably Agricola. However, it’s a pretty heavy game with a long play time. Enter Agricola: All Creatures Big and Small, a 2-player spinoff. Let’s open the box and take a look:
Take a look at those components, how nice are those animal meeples? Small gripe: pigs are not black, but whatever. As far as pieces go, this game has excellent quality. While the resource disks are not specialized, just colored, it is nice to have them instead of cardboard tokens or cards. The farm tiles feel very sturdy and are not prone to be bent or dinged up when shuffled around in the box.
The scoring pad is a huge bonus, even if it is slightly clunky. My only criticism in regards to the components is that the price point of this game is actually pretty high in regards to what you get, and a lot of that cost has to directly correlate to the components. Would this game be slightly more attractive/accessible if the components were a little different but at a lower cost? I guess that depends on if you prefer quality or value.
Gameplay:
The scoring pad is a huge bonus, even if it is slightly clunky. My only criticism in regards to the components is that the price point of this game is actually pretty high in regards to what you get, and a lot of that cost has to directly correlate to the components. Would this game be slightly more attractive/accessible if the components were a little different but at a lower cost? I guess that depends on if you prefer quality or value.
Gameplay:
Objective: To score victory points based on a combination of animals and buildings.
Set Up: Each player is given a farm tile, 9 fences, and 3 worker discs. The game board is placed in the center of the table, along with certain resources that are added each round.
How to Play: At the beginning of each round, players alternate placing 1 of their 3 workers, immediately taking the actions associated with the spots where they place those workers. Here are some examples of actions you can take:
As players take their actions, they will begin to enclose their farms with the fence tokens and add animals into fields and buildings. Each round in which a player has 2 or more of a type of animal, a breeding phase occurs that allows them to receive an additional animal of that type (assuming they have somewhere on their board to put it).
Game Ends: After 8 rounds. Rounds are counted by the action in which players can take additional fences/farm extensions, as a new fence is added each round.
Scoring: Players receive 1 Victory Point per animal, unless they have 3 or fewer of that type, in which case they receive -3 points instead. If they reach a certain amount of animals (in the higher range) they will receive bonus points depending on how many animals over the “normal” threshold. There is a scoring track on the outside of the box that shows you how many bonus points you receive.
Final Thoughts:
Agricola All Creatures Big and Small packs a pretty big punch for such a small game. It is well-balanced and it really fits in well for a more entry-level worker placement game. In all honesty, I prefer it to Lords of Waterdeep, the quintessential gateway worker placement game, which A.) Has a tacked-on, god-awful theme and B.) Becomes extremely clunky at 4 or 5 players. While I would classify it as entry-level worker placement, it's still a surprisingly deep game with a lot of decisions to be made over the course of 8 rounds. Obviously, the 2 player only restriction is going to be somewhat of a turn-off to gaming groups that regularly have 3 or more players, but it fills a niche.
My biggest problem with this game is that it becomes a bit repetitive very quickly. As with most worker placement games, adapting to different play styles based on what actions are blocked for you is a big part of the strategy. However, it really feels like there are only a couple meaningful strategies to win. The game seems to lack a certain amount of flavor, especially in regards to the special buildings, of which there are only 4. There is really only one building that changes up the gameplay in a meaningful way. This problem is alleviated somewhat by the expansions, but I don’t want to invest another $15 on a game I’ve already spent $35 just to add some flavor.
Positives:
Final Score: 7/10
Set Up: Each player is given a farm tile, 9 fences, and 3 worker discs. The game board is placed in the center of the table, along with certain resources that are added each round.
How to Play: At the beginning of each round, players alternate placing 1 of their 3 workers, immediately taking the actions associated with the spots where they place those workers. Here are some examples of actions you can take:
- Take Wood/Stone Tokens
- Take Horse Tokens
- Build a Special Building
- Add a Feeding Trough (doubles the amount of animals you can keep on a tile)
- Build Fences
- Take 1 Fence and Gain a Farm Extension
As players take their actions, they will begin to enclose their farms with the fence tokens and add animals into fields and buildings. Each round in which a player has 2 or more of a type of animal, a breeding phase occurs that allows them to receive an additional animal of that type (assuming they have somewhere on their board to put it).
Game Ends: After 8 rounds. Rounds are counted by the action in which players can take additional fences/farm extensions, as a new fence is added each round.
Scoring: Players receive 1 Victory Point per animal, unless they have 3 or fewer of that type, in which case they receive -3 points instead. If they reach a certain amount of animals (in the higher range) they will receive bonus points depending on how many animals over the “normal” threshold. There is a scoring track on the outside of the box that shows you how many bonus points you receive.
Final Thoughts:
Agricola All Creatures Big and Small packs a pretty big punch for such a small game. It is well-balanced and it really fits in well for a more entry-level worker placement game. In all honesty, I prefer it to Lords of Waterdeep, the quintessential gateway worker placement game, which A.) Has a tacked-on, god-awful theme and B.) Becomes extremely clunky at 4 or 5 players. While I would classify it as entry-level worker placement, it's still a surprisingly deep game with a lot of decisions to be made over the course of 8 rounds. Obviously, the 2 player only restriction is going to be somewhat of a turn-off to gaming groups that regularly have 3 or more players, but it fills a niche.
My biggest problem with this game is that it becomes a bit repetitive very quickly. As with most worker placement games, adapting to different play styles based on what actions are blocked for you is a big part of the strategy. However, it really feels like there are only a couple meaningful strategies to win. The game seems to lack a certain amount of flavor, especially in regards to the special buildings, of which there are only 4. There is really only one building that changes up the gameplay in a meaningful way. This problem is alleviated somewhat by the expansions, but I don’t want to invest another $15 on a game I’ve already spent $35 just to add some flavor.
Positives:
- The phrase “quick placement game” doesn’t come up often, this one does it well
- High quality components
- Great game to gateway into more complex worker-placement games
- It can be a little “fiddly” to learn
- Limited to 2 players only
- Price point is a little high for what the game is (although components are top-notch)
- Leader can "run-away" with the lead (lack of "catch-up" mechanic, aka you gon' get blown out)
- Almost requires one of the two "building" expansions to keep it fresh
Final Score: 7/10