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Agricola is seldom mentioned as a gateway game to introduce non-gamers to our glorious hobby but somehow I always felt that the theme will more than compensate for it's somewhat higher complexity than games like 'Ticket to Asia' or 'For Sale'.
I was just recently been inducted to the boardgaming world, and been playing and purchasing boardgames feverishly in the last few months. The outbreak's started and it's time to spread the disease to my circle of family and friends!
First target was my sister as I knew she like games but have never played boardgames before (except Monopoly and others which we will not go into!)
We started off with the Family Variant without the Major Improvements as I was afraid of overwhelming her. Somehow she caught on very quickly and we included the Major in our 2nd game. She wanted even more and we were playing with the Minor Improvements and Occupations in our 3rd game!
That was our first and only session, and she has been asking me when is our next session. Seems like Agricola will be a must-bring every time I visit her.
Maybe part of her enjoyment was that she beat me in all 3 games! And the third one was a whitewash, 30 - 18. She got the Hedge Keeper early and manage to gather animals and build a well-rounded farm while I can't seem to get mine going.
FIRST OUTBREAK: SUCCESS!
Next city was my circle of cousins. Jet & Lin are brothers and they have a sister, Min. Lin's girlfriend was coming too. I knew Jet will be a bit reluctant as he was more into video games and might consider a farming boardgame 'childish'.
They were coming to my house and I casually mentioned that we can play some board games. Stage was set and when they arrived, I quickly set up the board and started explaining the rules.
It was disastrous. Explaining Agricola to 4 people at the same time was harder than I imagined. Their eyes were glazed, they started fidgeting and Lin's girlfriend said that she would not play the first round.
Seeing that, I immediately suggested that we play a sample game and they can see how it works. That sample game went on to become a full game and they were totally into it before Round 6!
Still, because I again started with no Major Improvements, there was a struggle for food, and at the end of the game, each of us had 3 begging cards!
They were intrigued by then, and asked for the Major to be included in our 2nd game. We started the 2nd game after dinner with even Lin's girlfriend joining in. At once, things began to improve as they figured out how to build a food engine to support their plans.
Lin's girlfriend immediately started slaughtering lambs for food, so much so that we started calling her 'Silencer of the Lambs'
Jet started hoarding all the building resources and this eventually proved to be his downfall. Lin meanwhile was concentrating on using up all his farmyard spaces and was doing quite well in diversifying his farm.
He would have cruised to victory but I snuck in a Stone Room renovation in the last round and I had one extra family member.
Final points:- Me(20), Lin(18), Min(17, she got the Well in the last round), Lin's GF(16), Jet(10)
They admitted having an immense amount of fun and even Jet agreed.
3 days later, to my suprise and delight, Min bought the game herself!
SECOND OUTBREAK: RESOUNDING SUCCESS!
Now both my sister and cousins are talking about meeting up to play Agricola. It has been a wild success beyond my imagination. My next target will be another group of friends. One of them is a Starcraft fan. If Agricola can't do the trick, maybe Space Hulk can!
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James Klemm
United States
Walnut Creek
California
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That's really great! It is good to hear your story and about the rapid spread of enjoyment from this game! It is nice to be able to play with people you know.
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Tadeu Zubaran
Germany
Berlin
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Nice.
I had similar experiences [1], I actually think Agricola can be very effective weapon to convert people. Nowadays I use Hansa Teutonica as my go to gateway precisely because what you commented about Agricola's theme, namely some people may find the farming theme childish.
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Geoff Burkman
United States
Kettering
Ohio
"Punk is not dead" by daughter, Emily
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Heh! Stick 'em on a real farm someday and see how childish they think it is after that!
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Jack Smith
United Kingdom
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Its good to hear of new players coming to the hobby. I do something similar but I always try to play 1 on 1 first (which is not always possible of course) That allows me to focus on helping them learn the game. I also do nothing more than a brief overview before we start, anything more is pointless and can lead to boredom or the feeling it is too complicated. Of course I teach them during the game too but no so far as to make decisions for them.
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Mike T
United States
Maryland
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Your enthusiasm really shines through!
Only one suggestion (and it seems like you might have figured this out on your own): Do start with the family game, but ALWAYS use the Majors. The game basically just doesn't work if people can't buy an improvement to feed their families.
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MisterBond wrote: That's really great! It is good to hear your story and about the rapid spread of enjoyment from this game! It is nice to be able to play with people you know.
I couldn't agree more; though playing with strangers is the fastest way to befriend them. The interaction and camaraderie during the game is simply fantastic!
MisterG wrote: Heh! Stick 'em on a real farm someday and see how childish they think it is after that!
They would sit down on that farm to play Agricola anyway rather than the real thing 
This point did came up after the 2nd game when Min commented that there should be more number of rounds as she can't seem to get anything done.
I replied that was the idea of the designer as 17th century farming is supposed to be a struggle and a constant battle to put food on the table.
Halfinger wrote: Its good to hear of new players coming to the hobby. I do something similar but I always try to play 1 on 1 first (which is not always possible of course) That allows me to focus on helping them learn the game. I also do nothing more than a brief overview before we start, anything more is pointless and can lead to boredom or the feeling it is too complicated. Of course I teach them during the game too but no so far as to make decisions for them.
Yeap, I learnt that the hard way. Funny thing is they will always say, 'Let's start anyway, I can pick it up during the game' and then berate you later with 'You should have told me that earlier!'
smcmike wrote: Your enthusiasm really shines through!
Only one suggestion (and it seems like you might have figured this out on your own): Do start with the family game, but ALWAYS use the Majors. The game basically just doesn't work if people can't buy an improvement to feed their families.
That's the way I am going to do it in the future. I don't have enough begging cards otherwise.
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Mike Stevens
United States
Nebraska
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Very nice session report. Good job spreading board game love and and teaching a new game to several people. I cant tell you the number of people that roll their eyes when I suggest that we play a board game. Then once they start playing, they ask "where can you buy this game at, I have never heard of it or seen it in the store, but it is really fun"
I played my first 2 games of Agricola last Saturday and the guy who taught me the game is a very good game teacher. We used one of the regular decks, which included minor improvements and occupations as well as the major improvements. While it was very challenging to keep your family growing and fed as well as trying to keep expanding the fields and pastures, the game itself is not overly complex. It really taxes your forward thinking ability but I really enjoyed it and cant wait to play again.
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Omahavice wrote: Very nice session report. Good job spreading board game love and and teaching a new game to several people. I cant tell you the number of people that roll their eyes when I suggest that we play a board game. Then once they start playing, they ask "where can you buy this game at, I have never heard of it or seen it in the store, but it is really fun" I played my first 2 games of Agricola last Saturday and the guy who taught me the game is a very good game teacher. We used one of the regular decks, which included minor improvements and occupations as well as the major improvements. While it was very challenging to keep your family growing and fed as well as trying to keep expanding the fields and pastures, the game itself is not overly complex. It really taxes your forward thinking ability but I really enjoyed it and cant wait to play again.
Thanks. I get the eye-rolling a lot too. The boardgaming scene is still very new here and many people think games are for children. You don't see a lot of older adults playing games as a hobby and the consensus is that a group of adults huddled around a board game or video game, are inappropriate and wasting their time.
I wished I had picked this up sooner. Recalling back those times when a group of friends were gathered together and were sitting around with nothing to do. 'Why don't we play some board games?' would have been a hit!
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Jack Smith
United Kingdom
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nevhirion wrote: Omahavice wrote: Very nice session report. Good job spreading board game love and and teaching a new game to several people. I cant tell you the number of people that roll their eyes when I suggest that we play a board game. Then once they start playing, they ask "where can you buy this game at, I have never heard of it or seen it in the store, but it is really fun" I played my first 2 games of Agricola last Saturday and the guy who taught me the game is a very good game teacher. We used one of the regular decks, which included minor improvements and occupations as well as the major improvements. While it was very challenging to keep your family growing and fed as well as trying to keep expanding the fields and pastures, the game itself is not overly complex. It really taxes your forward thinking ability but I really enjoyed it and cant wait to play again. Thanks. I get the eye-rolling a lot too. The boardgaming scene is still very new here and many people think games are for children. You don't see a lot of older adults playing games as a hobby and the consensus is that a group of adults huddled around a board game or video game, are inappropriate and wasting their time. I wished I had picked this up sooner. Recalling back those times when a group of friends were gathered together and were sitting around with nothing to do. 'Why don't we play some board games?' would have been a hit!
It's similar in the UK and I suspect large parts of the world. Some people manage to say it's too complicated and childish at the same time They then say it's a waste of time while glued to the TV watching some puerile game show.
Having said that many are judging by being exposed to games like Monopoly so you can't blame them.
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