Our review
Fresh, directly from the farm
La Granja
Farm your land and sell, sell, sell!
Since Agricola as a gamer one often tends to compare new games on the topic of agriculture with it. However, Agricola and La Granja only have the topic in common, as to game play and game mechanics they are totally different. The only mechanism in La Granja is expansion of your farm and marketing of the harvested products. The well-being of farm owners and workers, for instance, is not featured at all.
Each player owns a small farm on Mallorca, and he is tasked with expanding this small farm to the estate of La Granja by clever using of resources. On his farm you practice the handling of different commodities. You plant grain, plant olive trees and vines and, accordingly, harvest grain, olives and grapes respectively. Those commodities can also be upgraded: Grain and olives end up as food in cooking pots, grapes are refined into wine. Of course, as a farmer, you need to do some animal husbandry, too, so you are keeping pigs and donkeys. Where the pigs end up when they are refined doesn’t need a explanation and donkeys for carrying loads are also used in a common way, albeit having a special role in the game due to that ability, contrary to pork.
As a player, you have your farm in front of yourself in the shape of a player board. This board offers storage space for your commodities, which you collect in the guise of 25 markers. The choice of storage space decides what the marker is representing. A marker in the barn, for instance, represents a pig, and a marker of your color in the olive grove represents olives. In the center of your board markers represent tradeable commodities which can be converted any time during your turn into the pictured commodities or actions. At the start of the game each player only has one tradeable commodity there, the remaining markers form his personal stock.
La Granja also features 66 cards, the so-called Farm card. Each player receives four of those Farm cards at the start of the game and can add Farm cards to his farm in the course of the game. Farm cards that you receive are always taken up in hand, a card from your hand can only be played by using an action. Similar to the markers, the function for a Farm card that has been added to a farm is determined by the location of the card in relation to the player board. When the Farm card is added at the left side of the player board, the card functions as a harvest region, depending on the illustration of the card it is a grain field, an olive grove or a vineyard. Each case on those cards produces one marker in each year. When the Farm card is placed at the bottom edge of the player board, it works as a helper with special abilities; the ability is stated on the card and can be unique, or for use once in a round or permanent. At the right side of the board a player can place Farm cards to expand his farm. Farm expansions can result in a higher transport capacity for your own goods to the market, more room for pigs, a higher limit of cards in hand or additional income. Here, too, the information given on the card determine the function of the card. Finally, if you use the Farm card on the top edge of the player board, the card represents a market barrow that must be provisioned with all commodities depicted on the card to be ready for sale at the market. Due to the special cut-outs of the player board you always only see the relevant part of the Farm card according to its use. This provides a very clear and structured use of the cards. Those cut-outs also limit the available space for market barrow and helper to three cards for each function.
Each farm, that is, player board, of course also features a farm house, albeit with a missing roof at the start of the game. For this the roof markers will be used; in each round special roof markers in relation to the number of players are on display for sale. In the respective phase of the round each player has the option to buy one single room marker. With five roof markers the farm is completely covered by a roof. In order to achieve a complete roof, you have to buy a roof marker in nearly each of the rounds, and you also need to consider that those roof markers get more and more expensive from round to round. Those room markers are only one of several options to acquire victory points.
A word on the commodities: Harvest goods like grain, olives and grapes as well as the refined commodities – food, wine and meat – can be collected in any number on the player board in their respective storage spaces, in theory only limited by the number of your own markers. On the contrary, pigs have only limited space at their disposal, only two spots in a barn on a farm that was not yet extended, and without more room you cannot have another pig. The refining of goods can happen in two ways in the game: Either by paying for it with fixed costs or by actions that are free of charge. When you refine a commodity you move it from its location to the storage space for the refined commodity. If it happens that harvested goods or pigs get scarce you can buy them in your turn at a fixed price, the amount is only limited by your own money resources; or, if on the other hand, you are short of money you can sell harvested commodities and pigs for a fixed price. Harvest commodities also re-grow in the fields, that is on the Farm card placed to the left of the board. Those commodities, however, never go into storage, they can only be refined or delivered. It is also not allowed to sell those harvest commodities.
As already mentioned, players deliver the commodities that they produce to a market or a craft building, that is, the commodity is shifted from its location on the farm to a market barrow or to a craft building. The market is located in the middle of the central board, made up of hexagon market spaces and surrounded by six different craft buildings. The delivery to the market is done by market barrows, while the deliveries to the craft buildings happen directly. Each craft building and each market barrow demand a unique and special combination of commodities which can be delivered in any order and also in part deliveries. Three of the six craft buildings are barred at the start of the game and are only unlocked one by one when a player has made a complete delivery to one of the available craft buildings. Each craft building also has its individual craft markers in relation to the number of players; you get such a marker for a complete delivery and the marker gives you advantages for the further course of the game.
La Granja is played over six rounds. Each of those rounds begins with a Farm phase. First, each player may play a card from his hand and add it to his player board, in the first year you may do this twice. Helper or market barrow are slid into the respective cut-out of the player board, fields and Farm expansions are fanned and placed underneath the player board to the left and right. Farm expansions are the only way to use cards that results in costs: the first Farm expansion has a price of any commodity of your choice, that is, harvest commodity, pig, refined commodity, victory point or money; the second farm expansion already costs you two different farm commodities, and so on. After playing a card you replenish your hand up the maximum, the basic number without a farm expansion are three cards. Should you at that point have more cards than allowed by your current limit you need to discard the surplus. In the next step, the income step, those players receive income who already own a craft marker or a farm expansion that yields income. All other players do not receive income. In the next phase the commodities grow on the fields and pigs proliferate. However, harvest commodities only grow on empty fields, a field where commodities are growing does not accrue more of them. When you have pigs and a free spot in the barn the pigs proliferate by one more animals. The farm phase ends with the acquisition of roof markers. Usually in turn order, players may choose a roof marker, pay for it and place it onto their incomplete farm house. Each round has its own roof markers, the price for such a marker is always identical to the round number. The rewards printed on those roof markers for acquiring a roof marker are similar to those provided for trade commodities, they range from receiving harvest commodities to additional actions. Those rewards can only be used once in the game, then the roof marker is turned over. You should also keep in mind that a player receives victory points instantly once they buy their second roof marker.
In the next phase, the revenue phase, the revenues of the round are determined by rolling a number of dice. The central board features six revenue slots, and each of them is assigned the pip number of a six-sided dice. The starting player rolls a number of dice equal to double the number of players plus one and then assigns them to the respective revenue slot according to the results. Each die assigned to a slot corresponds to one unit of revenue depicted in the slot. In two rounds in turn order each player selects one die, takes it off the slot and immediately receives the revenue depicted on the revenue case. Then all players receive the revenue according to last remaining die. A die result of 1 results in a revenue of one pig, a result of 2 gives you one harvest commodity or you may take a card or play a card. A value of 3 gives you two different harvest commodities of your choice, a value of four gives you four units of silver. For a value of 5 you can decide if you prefer to refine your own harvest commodities or if you want to influence the future turn order – you can either refine two harvest commodities or advance two steps on the turn order track on the central board, the so-called Siesta track, or do one each of both options. A result of 6 also demands a decision: You may either make an instant delivery to a craft building or to one of your market barrows or you may receive two units of silver instead.
Now the time of the donkeys has arrived, the transport phase! Each donkey enables a player to deliver one farm commodity to one of his own market barrows or to one of the craft buildings. The transport phase begins with the selection of one donkey marker. At the start of the game each player receives four donkey markers. Each of those donkey markers gives four actions, the composition of those actions varies from one to four donkeys with the corresponding number of steps on the Siesta track – if a marker, for instance, shows one donkey and three hats you have three steps on the Siesta marker. Thus the donkey markers have a double function: On the one hand, they decide how much a player can transport, and on the other hand they decide when he can do this, according to turn order sequence. Donkey markers that were used do not go back to a player immediately, he sets them aside first. In round four all markers that were set aside are returned to the player. For the transport phase each player secretly chooses one of his donkey markers, then all players reveal their markers simultaneously. Now in turn order the hat symbols on the donkey markers are resolved. Each player moves his marker disc on the Siesta track according to the number of hats on his donkey marker and then the new turn order is determined immediately. In this new turn order you now do the deliveries that are made possible by the number of available donkeys. For each delivery one commodity is taken off your player board and placed at a craft building or one of your own market barrows. When a delivery to a craft building completes the number of goods in demand there, you take back your markers from the craft building, score victory points according to the current round number and take the craft token for your farm. Each craft building has its own craft marker. Those markers give you income in the further course of the game, farm commodities, trade commodities, victory points or additional deliveries and hats in the respective phase. When a player has made a complete delivery to a craft building, he cannot make another delivery to that craft building.
When a player has made a complete delivery to a market barrow he takes back his markers from the barrow, puts the market barrow on the discard pile and receives the victory points noted on the market barrow, and also one trade commodity and may place a marker on a free hexagonal case on the market. Similar to the market barrows themselves, the market cases have a value between 2 and 6. Depending on the market barrow that you delivered a player places his marker on a corresponding case of the same value on the market. When then there are adjacent market cases of lower values holding markers of other players, he may remove them. For each such removed marker of another player the active player scores one victory point. Markers in the market cases earn you additional victory points in each of the later scoring phases.
Player turn order during delivery can be of importance for receiving victory points. When you make a delivery to a craft building, the first player who meets to total demand of the craft building receives one additional victory point and, eventually, one additional victory points in case of there being a blocked craft building that is now unlocked. In the event of deliveries to market barrows a later delivery can cause additional removal of markers on the market place and thus earn you additional victory points.
When all players have evaluated their donkey markers and have used potential additional deliveries provided by craft markers or roof markers, you can now buy additional deliveries in a second stage according to turn order sequence. For such additional deliveries you need entitlement. The number of additional deliveries a player can do, is marked on his farm and the farm expansions. Without farm expansions he can do one and only one additional delivery. Each additional delivery is optional and must be paid for with one unit of money.
At the end of the round a scoring phase is resolved. Each player receives one victory point for each of his markers in the market. Then each player receives a number of victory points between 0 and 3, in relation to the position of his marker on the Siesta track. Then all marker discs on the Siesta track are put back to Zero, stacked on top each other in player turn order. All other preparations for the next round are done or, after Round Six, the game ends. In the final scoring after Round Six all harvest commodities, pigs an trade commodities on your farm are converted into their money value, all money is then converted into victory points at a ratio of 5 money for 1 victory point.
La Granja is a game that allows a player to try different strategies as there are several ways to acquire victory points. The central feature of the game is delivery to craft buildings and market; victory points are gained by both options, but the advantages within the game are different. You need to consider if you would rather deliver market barrows and thus earn victory points round after round or rather deliver to craft buildings and secure craft markers for yourself, which give you advantages in the rest of the game. The choice of the best timing is an essential feature. TO collect craft markers at the start of the game has the advantage that you can use them in all of the remaining rounds. However, completing a delivery to a craft building, which is necessary to acquire the craft token, brings the more victory points the later you complete the delivery. In considering this you must also take into account that only the first player, who makes a complete delivery to a craft building, will receive an additional victory point, and maybe even a second one, if there are any blocked buildings left. From this point of view a quick delivery would make sense.
The game itself gives a very balanced impression. The only real imponderability are the Farm cards that make up your hand. There are definitely better ones and worse ones, in that aspect chance is definitely an influence, but in my opinion each Farm card can be made useful in one way ore another. It might happen that the Farm cards in hand determine part of your strategy. The chance element of dice in the revenue phase has been dealt with interestingly and surprisingly with the use of the additional die that yields revenue for all players.
Game components are well made and nicely done, even for a topic that might seem a bit forced, as the mechanisms of the game are mainly abstract ones that do not really support the flair and atmosphere of the game. That, as the winner of the game, you now have the estate of La Granja on the table, takes a lot of imagination to believe.
A positive mark goes to the design of the game. Each phase has its own color, which is repeated on all relevant elements and also on the game summary which uses symbols to describe the individual phases very nicely.
Bernhard Czermak
Players: 1-4
Age: 12+
Time: 120+
Designer: Andreas Odendahl, Michael Keller
Artist: Harald Lieske
Price: ca. 45 Euro
Publisher: PD Verlag 2015
Web: www.pd-verlag.de
Genre: Resources management
Users: For experts
Special: 1 player
Version: de
Rules: de en fr pl nl
In-game text: yes
Comments:
Second edition
First edition Spielworxx 2014
Beautiful, very structured components
Demands optimization of resources and time management
Compares to:
First game with this combination of mechanisms
Other editions:
999 Games, G3, Pearl Games, Stronghold Games
My rating: 6
Bernhard Czermak:
A game for thinkers and ponderers who have fun in using their limited resources at the right moment and under consideration of the interlocking mechanisms to acquire as many victory points as possible in several different ways.
Chance (pink): 1
Tactic (turquoise): 2
Strategy (blue): 3
Creativity (dark blue): 0
Knowledge (yellow): 0
Memory (orange): 0
Communication (red): 0
Interaction (brown): 3
Dexterity (green): 0
Action (dark green): 0