Agricola

As a board gamer, I see a lot of games set to a myriad of themes. Many times these themes include things like commerce, the political process, or even farming. While conquering the galaxy, fighting monsters, or questing for treasure might seem like the only way for a board game to be fun, most board gamers know that a great game can take a seemingly mundane theme and turn it into a marvelous board game. This is precisely what has been done with Agricola, a game where you play as a farmer and his wife as they build their farm and family.

I'm going to stop for just a second so that this can sink in. Agricola is a game about farming. You plant crops, raise livestock, have children and improve your house. This should neither be fun nor interesting for a bunch of nerdy city folk, and yet it is. More so, Agricola is an awesome game. It's definitely one of the best board games I've ever played.

The strength in Agricola lies in its replay value. In every game, each player gets a different hand of farm improvements and occupations that provide benefits. These are where players generally get the direction for their particular strategy that game. In addition, the types of actions that can be taken by the player’s changes depending on the number of players in the game, and later actions have a level of randomization to them. Finally, the before-mentioned occupations and improvements can come from one of three decks. These decks include an "easy", "complex", and "interactive" level of play with a more humorously themed X and Z deck available as well.

All of these aspects combine to make each game of Agricola truly different from the other. Beyond playing the hand that's literally dealt to you, it's even possible to eschew your cards and simply build a competitive farm without bothering to spend resources on occupations or improvements. I've not seen the kind of variety available in board game that Agricola has since Twilight Imperium. It may seem strange to compare these two wildly different games, but when you consider that both offer extremely deep replayability the comparison makes sense. Many of the actions are not even printed on the board itself, making easy to release card-only expansions that can drastically change the way the game is played. I can easily foresee playing Agricola for years to come and not getting sick of it in the least.

Agricola is a near perfect board gaming experience, getting a 10 out of 10 from me. It's challenging, great fun, and easily adaptable to any group of players.