Tabletop games
Agricola
Filosofia ÉditionsUwe Rosenberg2007
- players
- 1–5
- minutes
- 100
- years
- 12+
In the box
1 board and Action boards, depending on the number of players · Individual Farm boards · Major Improvement, Minor Improvement and Occupation cards · Wooden family members, fences and stables · Wooden animals and resources · Room and Field tiles · Food tokens and Begging cards
Official rules (PDF, publisher's site)
Box details
- Designer
- Uwe Rosenberg
- Artwork
- Klemens Franz
- Publisher
- Filosofia Éditions
- Mechanics
- Automatic Resource GrowthDraftingEnclosureIncrease Value of Unchosen ResourcesSolo Play
- Expansions
- Agricola: Farmers of the Moor · 2010
- Agricola: Extension Belgique · 2012
Where to buy it
Near you and online
In a shop
Within 50 km.
Online
Affiliate link: Marquoir may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you.
The basics
Each player develops their farm and must feed their family, every shortfall costing points. On your turn, place a family member on a free action space, which is then blocked (plough, take wood, build, extend your house, have a child…); at harvest time, each family member eats 2 food and each missing food brings a begging card worth -3 points. After the fourteenth round, fields, animals, house and family are scored, and the highest total wins.
Checked against the official rules · September 2026
The rules, step by step
Setup
2 wooden rooms, 2 family members, 7 Occupations each
- Each player gets a farmyard board with a two-room wooden house, and one family member in each room.
- Each player also receives seven Occupation cards and seven Minor Improvement cards.
- The starting player, chosen at random, receives 2 food; the others receive 3.
- A new action is added to the central board each round.
How to play
Place a family member, 2 food per member, Missing food: begging
- On your turn, place a family member on a free action space, which is then blocked.
- Plough, take wood, build a stable, extend your house, have a child.
- The harvest takes place at the end of rounds 4, 7, 9, 11, 13 and 14: harvest your fields, feed your family, then the animals breed.
- Each family member eats 2 food; a child born during the round eats only 1.
- For each missing food, take a begging card, which can never be discarded afterwards.
Scoring
−1 to 4 per category, Family member 3 pts, Begging −3
- Seven categories follow a scale printed on the board, from -1 to 4 points: fields, pastures, grain, vegetables, sheep, wild boar, cattle.
- Fields: 0 or 1 field -1, 2 fields 1 point, 3 fields 2, 4 fields 3, 5 or more 4.
- Pastures: none -1, then 1 point per pasture up to 4 points for 4 or more.
- Grain: none -1, 1 to 3 give 1 point, 4 or 5 give 2, 6 or 7 give 3, 8 or more 4. Count the grain in your supply and in your fields.
- Vegetables: none -1, then 1 point per vegetable up to 4 points for 4 or more.
- Sheep: none -1, 1 to 3 give 1 point, 4 or 5 give 2, 6 or 7 give 3, 8 or more 4.
- Wild boar: none -1, 1 or 2 give 1 point, 3 or 4 give 2, 5 or 6 give 3, 7 or more 4.
- Cattle: none -1, 1 gives 1 point, 2 or 3 give 2, 4 or 5 give 3, 6 or more 4.
- Each unused farmyard space costs -1 point.
- Fenced stables: 1 point each. Clay room: 1 point; stone room: 2 points; wooden rooms score nothing.
- Each family member: 3 points.
- Each begging card: -3 points.
- Improvements and Occupations: the points printed on the cards, plus any bonus points.
End of the game
14 rounds, After the final harvest, Highest total
- The game ends after the fourteenth round, once the last harvest is done.
- The highest total wins. In case of a tie, the player with the most building resources in their supply wins; otherwise, the tied players share the place.
House rules and pitfalls
Failing to feed your family is the costliest mistake: three points lost per missing food, at every harvest.
- Failing to feed your family is the costliest mistake: three points lost per missing food, at every harvest.
Going further
Frequently asked questions · Rules on video · In the same family
Frequently asked questions
What happens if you cannot feed your family?
At each harvest, you need 2 food per family member, only one for a child born during the round. Each missing food is paid with a begging card, worth -3 points at the end of the game: famine kills nobody, but it is expensive.
How do you grow your family?
By taking the "Family growth" action, if you have room (a free room in your house). The newcomer arrives in the free room and only counts as a worker from the following round. Each new member gives you one more action in the following rounds — but also one more mouth to feed.
Why are some actions blocked?
Each action space holds only one worker per round. The first to take it closes it to the others: the game is a race for the key spaces, food and wood above all.
What are Occupation and Improvement cards for?
They are played through dedicated actions and give lasting powers (discounts, resources, points). Chaining them well is the heart of the strategy; without them, you quickly hit a ceiling.
How are points counted at the end?
Fields, pastures, grain, vegetables and each of the three animal species score on a scale from -1 to 4 points: you LOSE a point for each category where you have nothing (no pasture, no sheep…), and even with just one field. On top of that come fenced stables, clay or stone rooms, 3 points per family member and the cards, minus one point per unused farmyard space and three per begging card. Diversity is rewarded, gaps are punished.
Rules on video
Videos in French, hosted on YouTube.