Agricola

What you need

• Agricola base game: main action board, per-player 2-room wooden shack farmyards, action cards, occupation cards, minor improvements, major improvements, resource tokens (wood/clay/reed/stone/grain/vegetable/animals/food/fences/stables), family markers

Setup

1. Give each player a farmyard board with a 2-room wooden shack in the top-left, plus 2 family markers on the shack rooms.
2. Set the main action board in the center. Cover the round-1 through round-14 spaces with matching round action cards face-down.
3. Reveal the round-1 action card. Each round reveals one new action space.
4. Deal 7 Occupations + 7 Minor Improvements to each player (in the base 'family' variant, skip these).
5. Set the harvest schedule: harvests happen at the END of rounds 4, 7, 9, 11, 13, and 14.

How to play

1. OBJECTIVE: Grow the most balanced farm in 14 rounds — fields, pastures, animals, house upgrades, family members, minor improvements — while feeding your family every harvest.
2. TURN STRUCTURE: Each round has (1) Replenish resource action spaces (wood +3, clay +1, reed +1, etc.), (2) Reveal new action, (3) Work phase, (4) Return home, (5) Harvest if scheduled.
3. WORK PHASE: Going in turn order, place ONE family member on any open action space and take that action. Continue until all workers are placed.
4. Family starts at 2 workers. Growing your family (via 'Family Growth' action) adds workers — but only AFTER upgrading your house first (rooms must exist to house new family).
5. KEY ACTIONS: Take wood/clay/reed/stone piles, plow a field, sow (place grain/vegetable), build fences (make pastures for animals), take sheep/pigs/cattle, bake bread, day laborer (+2 food), starting player + minor improvement, occupation, family growth, house renovation.
6. HARVEST (end of rounds 4/7/9/11/13/14): (1) FIELD phase — take 1 grain/vegetable from each sown field, (2) FEEDING phase — pay 2 food per adult family member and 1 food per newborn. Missing food = take a begging card (−3 VP each). (3) BREEDING phase — for each animal type where you have 2+, gain 1 more (must have space).
7. COOKING: Grain converts to bread only via an improvement (Fireplace, Cooking Hearth, Baking); animals convert to food via kitchen improvements too. Raw grain = 1 food, raw vegetable = 1 food, raw animals cannot be eaten.
8. HOUSE UPGRADES: Wooden shack → Clay house (2 clay + 1 reed per room) → Stone house (1 stone + 1 reed per room). Better material = more end-game VP per room.
9. GAME END: After round 14 harvest. Score based on categories (see scoring below).
10. SCORING: −1 to +4 VP in EACH category — fields, pastures, grain, vegetables, sheep, boar, cattle, unused farmyard spaces (each empty space = −1), fenced stables, family members (3 VP each above 2), house type (0/1/2 VP per room). Plus bonus points from improvements/occupations. Minus 3 per begging card.

Host tips

• Strategy board game — read the rulebook once before hosting.
• Use the in-app Scorekeeper to track running totals.
• Tap 'Ask AI Judge' if a rules dispute comes up.

Snack & drink pairings

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