Agricola All Creatures Big and Small - First Play

Take your hand off the horse I was going to get!

Gwen and I finally got to sit down and enjoy the first of our three games from Christmas.  Abby was asleep for a short afternoon nap, so we picked Agricola: All Creatures Big and Small for a first play.  The box says a game can be played in about 30 minutes, and given it was a first play and it took just over an hour, I would say that is a fairly accurate estimation, since it included briefing the rules.  Rules are nice and clear, and they encourage play of parents with children, suggesting one parent team with a child against the other parent, letting the child choose two of the three actions and giving input on how to build the farmyard.  The box says 13+, but I would think this method would allow a child much younger to play and learn the game.

Initial thoughts on Village, Agricola All Creatures, and Small World.

Well, I've gotten all the boxes open now from our Christmas games I mentioned last post.  I have to say the overall quality of the pieces in cardboard and wood, plus game boards have been great as expected.  Small world has loads of cardboard pieces, and the other two have their fair share as well.  Agricola has the standard wooden pieces like its larger counterpart, and Village comes with a large assortment of colored wood pieces as well.  I was a little disappointed by the size of the 'cubes' in Village.  They are pretty small, and because of that, will likely be easy to lose.  I would have preferred something about twice the size, similar to those in Agricola.

Z-Man Games' Agricola: All Creatures Big and Small packs a lot of pieces into a small box, and as such, I didn't expect a lot of ability to organize.  They have two ziplock bags of wooden pieces, plus 4 cardboard forms of punch outs.  No problem, and I don't think there will be any major setup issues.  The rules aren't lengthy, and I expect that this will be a fun go-to game for my wife and I when we have a little time to play.  The regular version is always fun, and our only lament is the time it takes to set up.  I'm hoping they caught the same magic in this smaller version.

German Board Games make the best Christmas Gifts...

Every Christmas Gwen and I try to get a game we can play together.  We don't spend lots on each other, but would rather get something that will help us spend time together.  We were first introduced to Settlers of Catan many years ago and our games closet has had less and less room in it each year ever since.  Last year was the first year we missed out on the tradition, so we made up for it this year.

Board games make a great pastime because not only do you get to exercise your mind, you get to have fun doing it while enjoying the company of others.  We've introduced our youth group to them and so far we haven't found anyone that dislikes the games we've introduced.  There's a German board game out there for everyone, from the complex to the simple.  I love introducing people to good board games and have given them for birthday and Christmas presents.  People seem to shy away from board games these days - they don't give enough entertainment and are boring is often the claim.  Most are thinking of the golden oldie standbys like Risk, Monopoly, Sorry, Clue, and the like that have been around for years and at least one lies in every family closet.  Once introduced to the new breed of board games, people realize why there is a growing interest in board games again.