This is a series of posts where I play 100 boardgames.
Game: Agricola (1st Edition)
Expansion: Farmers of the Moor
Designer: Uwe Rosenberg
Year: 2007/2009
Country: Germany
Publisher: Lookout Games
Agricola is soon going to be 20 years old, but I find that its design remains as strong as ever. Trying to keep your family from having to go begging for food by planting fields and breeding animals is anxiety-inducing, with victory points accrued from such a selection of disparate sources it’s hard to keep all of them in mind while playing.
Farmers of the Moor adds the exciting topic of peat. Your farm no longer consists of empty fields, but instead features forests and moorland as well. The expansion adds new actions that can be performed without using a family member, usually related to its new features. Forests can be chopped down for wood and peat can provide fuel. It’s no longer enough to feed your family. Now you must heat your buildings too, otherwise your family members are going to get sick and you’ll lose their actions.
A good expansion, Farmers of the Moor makes the farm more interesting while providing new gameplay options that nevertheless don’t make the game too complex. We played it with the maximum five players and chose the most complicated Occupation and Minor Improvement decks, and the resulting experience felt very rich.