Common Mistakes and FAQ in Agricola

I started with cagriss form post linked below and added additional information from other
posts on BGG and Play Agricola to generate a common mistakes and FAQ guide that I
and my group of friends found helpful when starting to play Agricola

http://www.boardgamegeek.com/thread/332022/common-mistakes-while-playing-
agricola-summary/page/1

Common Mistakes While Playing Agricola - A Summary

Inspired by Jim Cote's thread for Pandemic, I thought I would compile a list of common
mistakes that can occur when first playing Agricola along with some rules that could
easily be overlooked. I just recently received my copy from Z-Man Games and read
through the many rules postings on BGG to have some of my questions answered. With
the new printing widely available in Europe and now hitting stores in North America, I
assumed there would be many like me who had a few questions or who played the game
incorrectly the first time. In this thread, I hope to compile all these common mistakes and
the aspects of play that could easily be confusing the first few games. For issues where it
matters, this information is based on the second edition of the game.

Ive divided the errors into two sections, one for the multiplayer game and one for a few
specific issues that may arise with the solitaire version, though many comments from the
first section also apply to the second. In general, Ive placed the items in the order they
occur during a game. Most of these answers relate to the general rules which can be
altered by various Occupations and Improvements. I decided to not include questions
about specific cards in this thread there were just too many of them (Ill leave that to
another BGG user). If there are additional items I need to include or errors Ive made,
please let me know in the thread and I will update this post (Ill try to do it on a regular
basis). Some of the information is a restatement of the rules while most of it comes from
other BGG threads. Thanks to all of you who have posted questions and, more
importantly, provided answers. Sorry if some of these seem obvious or too basic, but
nearly every one of them has come up in the forums. Please note, this thread is not for
errors in the printing of the game, just for mistakes that can be made while playing.

Multiplayer Game

-All players start the game with food. The starting player receives two food while all
other players receive three.

-When a player places a family member on an action space, he immediately takes that
action. In other words, action spaces ARE NOT resolved at the end of the round but are
resolved immediately.
-In all spaces with red arrows, the goods accumulate over the rounds, including the
Fishing and the Traveling Players action (the latter is only used in games of 4+
players). When a player takes goods, animals, or food from these spaces, he takes all of
them. Note that in the Family Version, the "Starting Player" space accumulates food each
round.

How do you take those goods - by assigning a family member to this action space? This
would be my guess, but I'm not sure as there's no such action on the available actions list
(there's just extend/renovate hut, grow family, plough/seed fields and build
fences/stables).
Yes, you just place your family member there to claim the goods.

The cards have red arrows. Pretty much everything that gives resources does get
replenished, but grain/vegetable won't.
Every accumulating action space has a red arrow. And note how RSf in the 4-player
game doesn't, but RSW in the 5-player game does.

In all spaces with red arrows, the goods accumulate over the rounds, including the
Fishing and the Traveling Players action (the latter is only used in games of 3+
players). When a player takes goods, animals, or food from these spaces, he takes all of
them. Note that in the Family Version, the "Starting Player" space accumulates food each
round.
-Using one of the "Occupation" action spaces in the game allows a player to only play
one Occupation card that turn (the only time a player can play more than one Occupation
card from a single space is if he has a Minor Improvement or Occupation in play that
allows him to break the rule).

The action '1 Occupation' which states the first is free and every other occupation costs 1
food. We kinda glazed over the '1' part of the occupation and interpreted it to mean we
can play as many occupations as we want with the first being free and any other
occupations played costing one food. It wasn't until we saw the Writing Desk
Improvement which I wondered what the point of it was... then a light bulb started to
shine over my head and I decided to double check the rules. I always wondered why
people would say they played so few occupations per game.

So for the pre-printed Occupation action space = 1 Occupation (A player's first

occupation is free, each additional 1 costs 1 food), it means that when you take that action
for the first time in a game, the occupation you play is for free. The next time you take
that action space to play another occupation, its at 1 food (and so on and so forth)?
Yes, that is correct. You can only play one occupation each time you select a space
(unless you have a card in play that alters this). Your first occupation card using the pre-
printed space is free and every occupation thereafter is one food.
There is another occupation space for use with more players and your first two
occupations on this space cost one food and the rest cost two.

Is family member:occupation = 1:1 or can u allow one member to have multiple

occupations throughout the game?
No, there is no limit to occupations based on the number of family members a person has.
You could potentially end the game with only two family members and still have played
all seven occupations you were dealt.

Another error that my friends were making until I pointed it out, is that it is a fixed 1 food
for each additional occupation, not a cumulative 1 additional food.

Playing Occupation Cards - once played, are they discarded? Can other players use the
occupations you've played? Do you have to pay to use them again?
They are permanently out and, indeed, the cost to play new ones sometimes depends on
how many you already have played. Only you are allowed to use the "bonus" granted by
that occupation.
-The actions on spaces that include two actions divided by and/or can be taken in any
order. Both actions do not have to be taken, but at least one must be taken or a player
cannot select the space with his family member. One example is the Sow and/or Bake
Bread space.

We have played it that we don't need to take the action even when we choose the space,
just for denial purpose. E.g its the first harvest and my opponent has a field and some
grains, I just took the sow/bakebread action even though I have nothing to sow and no
grain to bake, so this is illegal??
Correct.
What about taking the starting player action when I am already the starting player and I
have no minor improvement to play? Is that legal?
Yes. Taking SP when you're already Starting Player is perfectly legitimate. Note that the
space is an "and/or" space, and thus playing a Minor Improvement is not required. In fact,
if you wished, you could take the space, play a Minor Improvement, and not become
Starting Player if you so desired. Your opponents will look at you funny, but you can do
it.
I've often wondered about the "and/or" on this space. Is there ever a good reason to play a
minor improvement here and not take the starting player? I can't think of one.
Yes. There has been a fair bit of discussion about this on some recent threads. It's a very
cool move when it happens. If people thought about it, it would probably be more
common than you would expect.
You need to play a Minor. MIMI is already taken, and you don't have the option of Ren +
MIMI. You're to the left of SP, who's going to have to take FG + MI, or someone else
will, and there's going to be a 6Wood waiting for you after he does. You take SP, play
your Minor, and let him keep the button. That's one, anyway.

How we buy minor improvement?just take the card, and play it(pay the resources) any
time or we must pay the resources to buy that card?
To buy a minor improvement or occupation you must put one of your people on a space
that lets you do so. Same with major improvements. You must also pay any costs or meet
any requirements for the card. But, once you do that, the cards are in play.

-For action spaces that include two actions using After . . . also . . ., the first action
must be taken and the second action is optional. One example is the After Renovation,
also 1 Major or Minor Improvement space.

The bottom line is "After X also Y" actually means "You must do X and then you can
optionally do Y". The "after" is supposed to imply that the first one is mandatory, and
"also" means you don't have to do it if you don't want, even though I would never
understand it that way myself (if I did no know better I would also think that "also"
implies you must do that, too).
-In order to take the Family Growth action, a player must have more rooms than he
currently has family members (including other newborns). If a player expands his family
using the Family Growth even without space in your home action and later builds a
new room in his house, that family member must be moved into the new room.

My daughter wanted to play family growth without room for a second time.
Not in the same turn, but in subsequent turns I see no reason it wouldn't be OK, if you
had enough turns and no one else go there first.
The only note is that if you have more people than rooms, and you build a new room, one
of the people moves into the new room immediately, so you can't do family growth with
room until all your people have a room, and you have one extra.

When you use the 'Family Growth' action, do you get as many newborns as you have
rooms for them? I mean if you have built two extra rooms and now have four rooms and
only two family members, do you then get two newborns at the same time when you use
the 'Family Growth' action. The other question concerns the 'Family Growth even
without space in you room'. Do you only get one newborn at the same time or as many as
you're missing?
You never get more than one newborn on Family Growth unless you play cards that
allow for more (Mother of Twins, I guess, but am not sure).
It's also possible to squeeze a double growth out of a double build with the Wet Nurse.

Is it legal to put a family member on an action space and *NOT* actually do the action?
Basically, can I just block other players from actions that they legitimately need, even if I
am not capable of taking the action directed on the space?
You must perform the action on the space. However, the AND/OR spaces are just that,
AND/OR, meaning you can take both actions, or either action.
The easiest example is Start Player. You may take Start Player AND a play a Minor
Improvement. You may take Start Player and not play a Minor Improvement. You may
even just play a Minor Improvement and not take Start Player. But you must do at least 1
of these.
Nope. For the record, again:
Rulebook, page 3. Phase 3: Work Phase. Last line, first paragraph.
A Family member may never occupy an Action space without performing its action.
I trust that will settle things.

According to this, if I do a family growth action, can I use the new family member for an
action in the same turn?
The rules state that you place the "new family member" under the original on the family
growth stage action to simulate the pregnancy. This placement is the resolution of the
action space IMHO. Then once all family members return home at the end of the round
do you actually get to capitalize on the new member.
We initially played that new family members born anytime in a stage would always eat
one food at their first harvest and two at future harvests. In actuality, they eat one food
only if they were "born" in one of the rounds immediately before a harvest
(7/9/11/13/14).
-The "Build Room(s) and/or Build Stable(s)" space allows a player to build as many
rooms as he can afford and, if he has enough wood, all four of his stables. However, there
is a "Build 1 Room or Traveling Players" space in a five player game that only allows a
player to build a single room.

The "Build" space lets you build multiple rooms (assuming you can pay for multiple).
Several people missed this for a few games (including me!).

This is true for the preprinted "Build" space, but not for the one added in the 5-player
game, which only allows the building of a single room.

Under Renovation, you say you only have to pay one reed, regardless of how many
rooms you renovate. Is the same true for build, as in only having to pay one reed
regardless of how many rooms you build?
It's actually two reed to build new rooms, but unlike renovate you must pay two reed per
room you build. So if you build 2 rooms, pay 4 reed, etc.

-In the five player game, the action space 1 Reed, In addition, take 1 Stone and 1 Wood
accumulates one reed every round. The one stone and one wood that come with the reed
are taken from the general supply and these two additional resources are given to each
player who takes the action.

-From the five player family game, the action space Take 2 different Building Resources
of your choice requires that a player must take two different resources.

-The Start Player Marker only moves to a new player when someone takes the Starting
Player action.

The "First Player" marker doesn't move until someone picks the "First Player" action
spot.
How we play, each turn, the first player (the one with the marker) puts a worker in play
and we go on in a clockwise order. Rinse and repeat.
My question (with an example): If the first player is taking some woods and the second
player chooses the "First Player" spot, does he gets to put is second worker first in the
next round of placement during that game turn? The way we play it at the moment, we
move the marker in front of the new first player, but he waits until the next game turn
before he can use the first player privilege.
You are playing correctly, but it never hurts to check. The first player does not change
until the start of the next round.
-Fences can only be built if they form a completely enclosed pasture with fences on all
sides. A fence cannot be placed unless it is part of such an enclosure.

I'd also amend your fences advise as it is a bit loose (I think what is written in the rules is
less ambiguous). As it isn't enough to just enclose at least 1 field, as all fence pieces must
fully enclose a pasture(s). For example you couldn't lay down 6 fences to enclose at least
1 field with say 4 of them and use the other 2 fences to start enclosing the next field space
but not complete it

A pasture is a fenced in area, not the number of squares enclosed by fences.

If I have a pasture that is 2x2 with no stables this pasture can hold 8 sheep. If I add a
stable I can double the capacity to 16. A second stable would be 32 sheep, 3rd stable = 64
and 4th = 128. Is this correct? I think someone else was asking this question above, but
the math was flawed
Yes, you are correct. Each stable doubles the capacity of the pasture

After your first pasture is built, all future pastures must use at least one pre-existing fence
segment. Put another way, all pastures have to touch.
That goes for extending your house and adding fields (after the first) as well. This is
where I was introduced to the word "orthogonally". Now, when I use this word while
explaining the rules, I get comments like, "what does that mean?". But, it should be clear
based on context, given that I show examples of what is legal and what is not.

Instead of building out, can I sub-divide an existing large pasture into multiple smaller
pastures? (e.g., place 1 fence and bisect a 2x1 pasture creating two 1x1 pastures)
Yes, you can.

Is it a requirement to have a fenced in field to have animals (apart from the housepet)?
i.e. is it possible to have animals on the field, but no fences. To my logic, they would run
away, but I have heard arguments against this - mainly that it doesnt make sense that the
sheep comes early compared to the time to collect wood and being able to play "build
fence".
There are four places you can keep animals:
- In your house (normally only one animal)
- On a Minor Improvement or Occupation card that expressly states you can store animals
on it
- In a stable that is not within a pasture (normally only one animal per unfenced stable)
- In a pasture (number of animals that can be stored in a pasture varies with the size of the
pasture and other factors).
You cannot store an animal on a farmyard space that is not a pasture, unless you have a
stable there (or the space is one of your rooms, and the animal is the single animal that
you are keeping in your house).
Can the existing pasture which you intend to subdivide already have animals on it? I
understand that subdividing may break some animal placement rules, but since animals
can also be moved around and thrown away freely, it seems like this should still be
possible, because moving/throwing away would allow the subdivider to still adhere to all
of the animal placement rules - e.g., if a subdivide leaves a new pasture with too many
animals on it, the overage can just be thrown away.
Yes. Essentially you can take all the animals off, add fences, then put all the animals back
wherever they fit.

Can you move your animals around? Example: I have a 1x1 pasture with 2 sheep and 1
sheep living in my house. Then I build a stable in my pasture. Am I allowed to move my
sheep from my house to the pasture in order to make room for a pig pet?
Yes, you may freely rearrange your animals at any time during your turn.

Can we place 2 different animals, ex: sheep and wild boar on 1 pastures?
Only one type of animal per pasture.
-Stables A player can only have one stable on any farmyard space, but can have two or
more stables in a pasture - each stable doubles the capacity again. A fenced stable
doubles the capacity of the entire pasture (not just the farmyard space it is on). An
unfenced stable can be fenced later. When scoring, a farmyard square with just a stable is
considered occupied, which allows a player to avoid the -1 penalty for an empty space
(an unfenced stable is not worth any positive points, however). Also during scoring, one
pasture is a single fenced in area, regardless of the number of farmyard squares in the
pasture.

True. However, only fenced stables score points. Another way to think about this is that
in fields with unfenced stables the -1 for an empty field cancels out the +1 for a stable.

Stable double the capacity of the entire pasture they are in, not just the square they are on.

More than one stable is allowed per pasture, we always played it such that one pasture
can only have one stable, but this rule seems skewed when the stable comes before the
fences, saying "you can't fence in two stables" just doesn't seems right.

-Renovation A player cannot renovate to clay and then to stone in the same action.
When renovation occurs, the entire hut must be renovated at the same time. The amount
of reed required for renovation is always just one total, regardless of the number of rooms
being renovated. For example, if a player is renovating a four-room clay hut to stone, he
must pay four stone and only one reed.

I'd say another common mistake is regarding renovation. You require 1 resource of the
hut type you want per room but only 1 reed TOTAL for the roof regardless of number of
rooms. This is noted in the rules but can often be skimmed over and played as a resource
and a reed per room which is not correct.
[For example to renovate a 3 roomed wooden hut to a clay hut requires 3 clay and 1 reed
(NOT 3 clay and 3 reeds)]

The 'upgrade' space for the house costs 1 reed (that is a set number) + 1 stone/clay per
room. For the first 3 or 4 games, we played it as one reed and one clay per room, so
upgrades were rare.

-When a player takes a Sow action, he can sow as many fields as he has plowed,
provided these fields are empty and he has enough grain and/or vegetables.
-When harvesting grain and vegetables, one of each good is taken from each stack in a
field and the remaining goods are left in the field until the next harvest. This occurs at the
beginning of the harvest phase, before a player feeds his family members. Grain and
vegetables in a field are not consumable they must be harvested and placed in a players
personal supply first. However, grain and vegetables left in the fields at the end of the
game are counted for scoring purposes.

One other note is that you harvest before you feed, so you can use the grain to feed your
people if needed.
I thought grain had to be baked into bread to produce food -- veggies and animals can be
converted to food at any time, but grain specifically required a baking action?
You can eat raw grain as food, 1 grain = 1 food.
The rule I missed for my first 20 or so games was that raw grain and vegetables in a
player's supply can be converted to food at any time. I was playing that they could only
be eaten at harvest time, and there were times when I wanted to play an occupation card
and had grain in hand but no food, so didn't. Now I can!

The rules which confused me where were the ones that stated you could convert 1 grain
or vegetable to 1 food at any time, or could cook a vegetable at any time (with the
appropriate improvement).
In both cases, I assumed that that was true only for grain and vegetables in your supply,
but not on your fields, however I wasn't sure about that.
You are correct - while you can convert grain or vegetables to one food at any time, they
must be from your personal supply.

-Grain can only be baked into bread when using a Bake Bread action (don't forget that
one grain, or one vegetable, can be used as one food at any point in the game). Ovens
convert a limited amount of grain into food while Fireplaces and Cooking Hearths
convert unlimited amounts. A player can own multiple cooking improvements and use all
of them when he takes the "Bake Bread" action. A player can only cook the grain in his
personal supply, not in his fields. Immediately after a player places an oven as a major or
minor improvement, he get to perform the "Bake Bread" action.
-With a Fireplace or Cooking Hearth, animals and vegetables can be converted to food at
any time, even immediately after they are taken from the board. The only limit is that
animals cannot be made into food during the Breeding phase of the Harvest. Thus, a
player could take animals for the sole purpose of cooking them immediately (a player can
even take animals and simply let them all go if he does not have an improvement to cook
them or room to place them on his farm).

I thought it was only the three animals involved - two parents plus the offspring - that
could not be cooked that round? If you have more than 2 animals, you could cook any
number of excess and still breed 1 that round.
There's no such thing as "two parents" though. All your animals combined create 1 baby.
So by that time, you really can't cook any.
Doesn't much matter, because you can cook them beforehand in the feed phase, and just
leave yourself with 2 if that's your plan.
I reread the rules last night and it just says "the animals" that have offspring - I guess I
logically assumed that meant "the two parents" that produced an offspring, but in keeping
with that logic it would mean every pair of animals reproduced, which isn't the case.

This one seems to get a lot of players. They seem to think that you need to have space on
your farm before you can convert the animals into food... so they take the animals... and
only convert to food the ones that they actually have room for.

Of course, converting animals to food at any time still requires a means of cooking them.
Take it from one who has watched the extra sheep bound off into the sunset as he
munched on his handfull of raw grain.

So just to clarify: Even if NOBODY has any major improvements of any sort. And
nobody has any fenced pastures or stables out. Are you saying that if someone could take
sheep, and you have none of the above, you can take the sheep, and let them run away so
that nobody else could get them?
Yes, that is correct

For each breeding phase, you can have at most one of each animal born. So, no matter
how many sheep you have spread throughout various pastures, you will still only have
one lamb born during the breeding phase.
I was surprised to read about not being able to burn animals during the breeding phase.
Suppose a player has:
- A 1-square pasture without stable.
- An unfenced stable.
- 2 sheep in the pasture.
- 2 boars, 1 in the unfenced stable and 1 in his home.
During harvest, he feeds his family through any other means, without slaughtering any
animals. In the breeding phase of the harvest, can't he take one new lamb and one new
piglet and immediately burn them to make food for the next harvest, or any other use and
still keep 2 of each kind to keep breeding?
No they can't. I think it says somewhere in the rules possibly in wordy code.
You cannot cook baby animals, you can only create baby animals with two or more
animals of the same type, so there is no way cook any animals with two (or two sets of
two) and no space for more. If the two animals have a baby it cannot be kept anywhere
and runs away. If you cook one of the animals there will not be enough for them to breed.
If you had one more space for animals you could breed the boar and during the next
round sometime you could cook it. It is however a simplification that you can't cook
animals in the breeding phase, but probably a useful simplification.
No, he may not. You may never cook newborns. In fact, in the situation you describe,
both newborns will run away, since they have no place to live. You could, however, cook
either one wooly or one pig to make room for the newborn of the other type of animal.
Again, cooking newborns is simply not allowed. IIRC, there's a card in the Gamers Deck
that does allow it, but that's an isolated case. No cooking newborns!
Glad you found the post helpful. It looks like you already got the answer, but you can't
cook animals during the breeding phase. I do think that one is spelled out somewhere in
the rules.

Buying ovens gives you an instant "bake bread" action. This is definitely one of the most
overlooked things in games I played. Sometimes it may pay off to get another oven JUST
to use this extra bake bread action if the one on the sow place is already being used.

Also we didnt realise that once you've build a fireplace you can replace it with a cooking
hearth for free (the next time you choose the improvement action) The first couple of
games we thought you had to pay again for the cooking hearth.
-A player can keep only one animal is his house which is known as a pet. This pet is
identical to other animals in all respects it can breed, it can be eaten, and it is counted
for scoring at the end of the game. All animals, including a pet, can be freely moved
(meaning it does not require an action) during the course of a game as long as all rules
regarding animal placement are followed. The general consensus on BGG is that a player
is better off not naming a pet the animal will likely meet a tragic end.

That means not one pet in every room cause all rooms are considered to be one house.

-A Begging Card is taken for each food that a player is short when he feeds his family,
not for each family member that cannot be completely fed.

It's not explicit in the rules, but beggars are unlimited, right? If you need ten food and
have none, you get ten beggar cards, right?
Correct.

-During the Breeding phase of the Harvest, a player with at least two of one type of
animal receives only one baby animal of that type. In other words, a player with two
sheep gets one lamb and a player with ten sheep gets one lamb as well. A maximum of
three animals can be bred during this phase, one each of sheep, boars, and cows.

-When a player plays a Minor Improvement or Occupation card from his hand, he does
not draw a new card to replace it. Unless playing with any of the variants listed in the
rules, a player is limited to the fourteen cards he is dealt at the beginning of the game (the
only exception to this limit if when a player is required to pass a Minor Improvement
card to his left after playing it).
-If a player "returns" a Major Improvement, the card goes back to the major improvement
board where it can be repurchased, either by a different player or the same player. The
player returning the Major Improvement does not forfeit any goods he received, or will
receive, from the card (this is really dealing with the well). When a player "returns" a
Minor Improvement or Occupation, it is removed from the game. If a player is still to
receive goods in upcoming rounds for these removed cards, those goods are removed
from the board.

When you "return" a major improvement (such as the well) it goes back to the major
improvement board for re-purchasing. When returned you do not lose any of the
resources it granted you (such as food from the well), and when re-purchased it re-
triggers anything associated with its being built.

And when you "return" a minor improvement, it goes out of the game (eg trading in a
Simple Fireplace for a Cooking Hearth).

Also, when you return improvements/occupations, any upcoming resources on the round
spaces are normally returned - you can't collect the resources without a card to show your
claim on them. The upgrade from Well to Village Well is an exception.

One thing I don't understand is how one can RETURN a minor improvement or
occupation card? You can play it and lay it ont the table for all to see, but RETURN it?
I guess the word "return" is a bit confusing when it comes to Minor Improvements and
Occupations. All it means to "return" one of these cards is to discard it completely or to
remove it from the game. This can be confusing because, when you "return" a Major
Improvement, it goes back on the Major Improvement board - it's literally returned. That
being said, it is rare that a player has to "return" a Minor Improvement or Occupation.

-A card that states something like, Add 5 and 9 to the current round . . . means that a
player adds the given numbers on the card to the current round number and places the
designated goods on the corresponding round spaces. For example, if a player is to add 5
and 9 during round 4, he would place the respective goods on rounds 9 and 13. If this
card was played in round 7, the player would only place the goods in round 12 since there
is no round 16.

-Any card (Major or Minor Improvements) with the word "Fireplace" in its title is
considered a Fireplace. Any card with the word "Oven" in its title is considered an Oven.
Though both can bake bread, a Fireplace and an Oven are considered different cooking
implements in this game.

if I have a fireplace or hearth can I only bake on grain into bread or can I do an unlimited
number of grains into bread?
Every card with the bread symbol says "up to x number of grain into y amount of food
each." You would have to take multiple bake bread actions to convert more.
That is incorrect. With Fireplaces and Hearths, it is unlimited. Ovens are not.
-As noted in the rules, resources, animals, and food are meant to be unlimited, as are
plowed fields and rooms for the various houses. Only a players family members, stables,
and fences are limited in number.

Are all resources and/or animals infinite? Can a player hoard resources or animals to
deny other players? Is there ever a case where used (baked,cooked,spent,set free)
resources do NOT go back to the bank?
Yes, animals and resources are infinite. Use multipliers or some other marker if needed. I
do not know of any time when resources do not go back to the bank.

The game includes chits for when players run out of the provided markers. Players could
theoretically use up all the animal markers at which point some type of chit would be
needed to identify the number of animals owned.

-I have a question about the main board (the one with all the actions on the right hand
side). It has six spaces which are roughly card shaped, what are they for?
Those spaces are provided to lay out the additional action cards that are part of the 3-, 4-,
and 5-player games.