Stats:
No. of players: 1-2
Amount of time to play: 75-120 min
Age requirements: 14+
Set-up time: 5-10 min

Fields of Arle is a solo or two-player worker placement game. It is full of ways to score VPs with just a few constraints.

Fields of Arle Rules Description:

Fields of Arle takes place over nine rounds. Five are in the summer and four are in the winter. Different actions are available to you depending on the season. At the end of a round you must feed your family.

I am sure many people reading this are thinking … Hey that sounds a lot like Agricola. Well it is by the same designer and shares a similar theme, but the games are pretty different. Fields of Arle is more of a sandbox game. All the actions you can take are available from the start of the game. And though you do need to feed your family the cost is less prohibitive than the cost is in Agricola.

Some actions you take get you resources or animals. Others improve your tools for gathering these resources or converting resources into other goods. You must also use actions to clear space on your player board to construct buildings. Some of the buildings are drawn randomly and add variety to the game.

You may also build vehicles. Vehicles are used to upgrade goods or deliver goods and resources to surrounding villages for food.

There are stables and animal husbandry in this game too. You can own horses, sheep and cows. Each winter your animals have babies if you have room for them. At the end of the game you score VPs based on the number of animals of each type you have. But the animal you have the most of scores you nothing.

When playing with two, each round one player may take one action from the “off-season” side of the board. If you do this then the other player becomes the first player for the next round. This option is not available in the solo game.

At the end of the game you tally your points from your goods, resources, vehicles, upgrading your tools, travels and animals. The player with the most VPs wins.

Quick Review of Fields of Arle:

Fields of Arle is a fairly complex, sandbox, worker placement game. The mechanics themselves are not complicated, but seeing how everything fits together can take a few plays. I enjoy worker placement games, and though this doesn’t offer a bunch of new tweaks to the genre, it is still fun.

The components are very nice and durable. The art is good and adds to the relaxed feel this game has. The rules are well written with good examples of play too. The player aids are great and the back of the rulebook shows what you need to get certain resources, animals, tools and vehicles.

I really enjoy Agricola and Glass Road. This game shares aspects with those games but truly stands on its own. There are fewer restrictions and more possibilities from the start of this game. Figuring out where to concentrate your efforts to gain the most VPs is at the heart of its gameplay.

I have enjoyed experimenting with the different ways to score VPs. There is a rhythm to this game that will take a few plays to figure out. Being aware of what actions are available in the current season and planning for the next season is hard at first. But it is quite satisfying discovering the ebb and flow of this game.

Fields of Arle is fun with two players but not as tense as Agricola. There is far less competition for actions and there is even a space that lets you duplicate any other action in the current season. For me I miss the tension, competition and restrictions from Agricola a bit. They help guide my strategy and more easily see a path to victory.

The solo game is fun too, and a great way to hone your strategies for the two player game. It also might suffer in replay value more than the two-player game.

If you enjoy worker placement games or often play board games with two or less, try Fields of Arle out. It is fun, challenging and has lots paths to victory to explore.

Score and synopsis: (Click here for an explanation of these review categories.)
Strategy 5 out of 6
Luck 1 out of 6
Player Interaction 2 out of 6
Replay Value 4 out of 6
Complexity 5 out of 6
Fun 5 out of 6
Overall 5 out of 6