Agricola: All Creatures Big and Small (Big Box)

Very complex for a small game, with lots of different opportunities for building your farms.

It doesn't come to the table much, but when it does we love it and always say we should play it more. It is complex, but once you know the rules its a great play.

Agricola is a joy to play. The theme is endearing, and you'll feel gratified as your farm develops turn-by-turn. But don't be fooled by all the cuteness; there are so many options to choose from, and rarely an obvious 'best' move, which makes this more strategic than it may first appear. You can also improvise with solo modes if that's of interest, although this has established itself as one of the gentler two-player competitive games in our house.

Agricola: All Creatures Big and Small (Big Box) is a 2 player version of Agricola, without the pain. That being said there are still some tough decisions to be made. Expand your farm, construct buildings and fences, and get those cute animals. All in about 30 mins. The Big Box offers great replay with all the extra buildings, so each game is different.

Agricola: All Creatures Big and Small (Big Box) is a fun 2 player game of developing your personal farm with building (in the form of tiles), fences, and animals (sheep, pigs, cows and horses).

You have 3 workers which can be placed on the main game board to obtain resources (wood, stone and reed) for expanding and developing the farm, and for obtaining the livestock. At the end of 8 rounds you calculate points based on what your farm holds to determine the winner.

This Big Box edition contains all the special building tiles from the 2 expansions so that each game will be different. It plays in about 30 minutes, and you don't have the pain of having to feed your workers. A great game!

I found the original Agricola game very complicated, with too many rules to comprehend. However, this 2-player variant is simple enough to grasp very quickly, but complex enough to enjoy while exploring multiple possible options. I like how you have to balance between getting the resources and animals and making sure you can fit all your plans within the 8 turns. A benefit of the game is that you always know how much time you have left until the game ends.

After the first (introductory) game, we've only played the advanced variant with 8 more special buildings. They add a lot of variety and make every game different, even if you play against the same person every time.