Suggested 2-4 players, duration around 45 minutes
This review looks at Artipia Games new offering 'Fields of Green', designed by Vangelis Bagiartakis. This is a re-theme of their previous game 'Among the Stars', which I have never played or seen out of the box, so will draw no comparisons during this review. Fields of Green was recently rolled off the Kickstarter wagon into my eagerly waiting hands. I was tempted to seed this review with lots of farm related puns, but have decided against that. Alright, no more puns.
So the basic premise of this game sees you taking the role of a farmer (refreshingly a modern farmer and not one of the medieval themes which seem so prevalent), starting with just a silo for food storage and a water tower to keep your available water supply safely contained. During the next 4 years (a year is 1 complete round of the game, not a real year!) you will draft and place tiles from those available to expand and create your farm, these tiles continue to be passed and drafted between the players in this manner until you reach the harvest phase. During the harvest phase you must water fields (adhering to the range rules based on tile location of water towers to the fields), grow grain, pay to activate livestock and work towards gaining victory.
Finally after the 4 years are complete you tally up victory points awarded by victory point yielding areas, tokens gained, money and farm locations or added equipment that give added points, as normally happen the one with the most wins.
First impression on arrival was that the cover art whilst thematic does not scream dynamic game and probably will only grab the interest of tractor fans or euro game devotees who are not swayed by art work. The tiles are good quality card stock and my Kickstarted copy came with sleeves for the tiles which really help with the shuffling.
The cardboard insert folded inside the box was torn and damaged. I understand this had been a common problem for which Artipia were offering replacements, I just threw mine away as I don't keep useless folded card inserts that take up valuable box space.
The wooden resources are nice, although the shape of the water tokens are a little fiddly to pick up if you have fat clumsy fingers.
The card tokens and markers punched out easily, my only gripe would be the method of printing the coins and victory star tokens adds a top clear layer of very thin plastic which seems to separate or delaminate and I stuck this back in place with a bit of PVA glue. The coins are fine but I think I will probably replace mine with some of those nice metal Viticulture coins which would suit the task very well.
The rule book is clear and concise, with practical illustrations and left you in no doubt on how to play the game. I wish more rule books were up to this standard.
Turn by turn game play is smooth and reminiscent of the drafting process in 7 wonders, as you learn the game and get a deeper understanding of the strategy drafting becomes increasingly important, making sure you pick for your benefit whilst trying to prevent opponents getting good tiles. There is always an option in the drafting process to discard cards by using a market place action to gain money or buy more silos or water towers, this is a great safety valve mechanism.
The tiles when placed offer both instant effects, end of game victory point opportunities and actions which will occur in the harvest phase at the end of the drafting rounds. There are multiple combinations to build, some creating food, some requiring food to give money or victory points and others that give benefits based on positioning and adjacent field types. In addition you many also gain equipment cards which are attached to appropriate locations allowing you to generally giving some kind of boost or exception from standard rule.
I have now played this at 2, 3 and 4 player count and think it probably shines at 3 and 4 players but with the altered drafting rules for 2 players it is certainly very playable but I would suggest doesn't do justice to the interaction and enjoyment of a 3 or 4 player drafting round. The game sequence is intuitive and there is very little in game iconography, so it is fairly easy for new players to get to grips with. There can be multiple actions to take during the harvest phase, so this can be a little slow towards the end of the game as you try and work out the order in which to activate your farm tiles for best results. You will need a bit of table space to play, this game can be a bit of a table hog and requires a reasonable amount of space for each players farm to be laid out on the table top, but does have that satisfying feeling of building and developing your own creation. The game can be a little 'thinky' as the farms grow and you try and optimise your harvest action phase, but take your time and enjoy the interaction between the various tile actions and you will have a great time.
A good solid drafting, tile placement and engine building game, theme works well with the game to give an enjoyable experience with the feel of farm building. Rated this a stable 7/10
Link to Board Game Geek Entry
