All the Memorable Farming Stories from Fields of Green
Step into the world of farming to create a thriving area of buildings, constructions, fields, and livestock in Fields of Green.
It always feels like I wait too long between my plays of Fields of Green, and this time, it was no different! Although I saw plenty of content and didn’t have anything brand new to explore, I still had a long way to go before I hit some of the top scoring tiers. Ready to roll across the fields at the slow pace of a vintage tractor, I set out on this interesting journey!
Game Overview
Game Name: Fields of Green
Publication Year: 2016
Designer: Vangelis Bagiartakis
Artists: G. Bobrowski, T. Jedruszek, & N. Robinson
Publisher: Artipia Games
Solo Mode: Included in Fields of Green: Grand Fair
Over the course of 4 years, a little farm takes shape. Solo objectives provide the required goals to guide the choices of what to add to the area. Many cards exist and present a wonderfully relaxing sort of space with lots of activity in lovely little scenes. So much to explore and improve at!
First Play
January 27, 2019
Complexity
3
Latest Play
November 20, 2024
Expansions
5
Setup Time
5 Minutes
Lifetime Plays
40
Play Time
35 Minutes
High Score
89
Game Area
34" x 28"
Low Score
0
Getting Organized
Perhaps the only slight downside to gameplay is how the play area isn’t entirely defined, but still calls for plenty of components and different card stacks. I had an idea!
I grabbed my fancy bowls from Let’s Go! To Japan to keep all of the pieces neatly organized nearby. Excellent!
It can be hard to reserve enough table space, since cards can expand in all directions. The final farm is usually a manageable size… Just very unpredictable with its growth.
Seeing the card backs brought me back to this setting, which is filled with hard work in a rural environment.
Early Planning
Most of the time, I use some of the attractions, but I’ve found that these often distract me from the main game.
There are some excellent choices that create mini-games or offer special bonuses… Yet I left them out this time.
Instead, I enjoy adding in the smaller modules for early planning and events. The former simply provides a little discount when building a specific type of card in a spot.
Events have quickly shifted over into my favorite addition to the game. As I’ll show off in a moment, these can be pretty negative, but they’re worth it for the little stories.
A Busy Farming Life
From my very humble beginnings with a water tower and silo, I grew my farm into this successful arrangement.
So cool to see it expand! Unfortunately, I failed to meet the required solo goals, so I immediately lost. It was fine!
I love the decisions with the solo draft, which is about choosing wisely and making sure that new additions fit into the whole economy of the farm’s production.
Water, food, and coins all must be balanced so everything stays operational. It doesn’t help that there are animals, which I can never resist… I want them all on my farm!
The Greatest Carpenter
Despite this loss, I had an ongoing narrative from my card choices. A wood shed popped up pretty early, and before long, I had a couple of carpentry buildings around.
Did I build every wooden structure on this farm by hand? Not even a question about it. Ha! I just didn’t lean into this advantage like I could have. Distracted by livestock!
The card artwork is delightful in its own way. These may not look too attractive, but up close, there are full scenes.
I can sometimes picture myself in that card, working on my farm to make it better. Or just napping… Ha ha!
When the Idea of Hard Work is a Fun One
A lot of solo games transport us to the corners of our imaginations, setting out to explore fantasy or sci-fi worlds that will never exist. Others take a calm look at the natural world, creating a relaxing space in nature. Others give us a glimpse into what I would describe as hard work… Building, managing, and maintaining something realistic.
That might sound stressful in some sense, and it can be! What makes this game so appealing to me is that the hard work of managing a farm is depicted in a way that encourages a sense of accomplishment. Nothing is particularly easy about the tableau, but it is something to admire at the end. All of that work definitely feels like it pays off!
I love how the artwork mimics this, too. A lot of scenes are seemingly bland from afar, but up close, there are workers going about their chores. In some of my favorites, there are a few resting or napping in the midday sun! That all feels very organic in a way that gives a full-circle view of what the game setting has to offer. Always lovely to visit this one!
A Short History
I lost for a number of reasons, but the events probably worked against me the most. Such a terrible time to try to become a farmer in this area! Taxes, parasites, bad crops?!
The final year resulted in a government grant that was as small as possible. I had a few laughs about how poorly this all went for me, but it was quite memorable.
There is an option to split out these events a little more to ensure limited negativity… But I like the unexpected!
I enjoy the challenge of trying to figure out how to improve with a few wrenches tossed in. Very fun!
Ostracized Ostriches
Without too much effort, I reset everything to try for a slightly better farm. And it ended up with a really unusual play area for me. So much empty space in the middle!
Part of this was due to a bonus for the bison, who granted me more coins for being further away from the main silo.
It wasn’t going too well, so I decided to make it slightly comical to build all the way over to the right. Which card ended up furthest away? The ostracized ostriches!
My score was still paltry compared to what it might be, yet I didn’t mind. I simply loved the gameplay experience!
Session Overview
Play Number: 33 & 34
Main Expansion: Fields of Green: Grand Fair
Other Expansions: Many (4)
Solo Mode: Included in Fields of Green: Grand Fair
Play Details: Early Planning & Events Mini-Expansions
Outcome: 0, 56 (2 Losses)
These events were almost as bad! I liked the ongoing narrative… There was a call for diverse farming, then taxes, and then a grand gift of a new piece of equipment! Which then promptly damaged the crops. Ha! Not my best outing, yet still one of my favorite solo games.
%
40 Plays
Affordability
Price & Value
10
Functionality
Challenges & Mechanics
10
Originality
Design & Theme
7
Quality
Components & Rules
9
Reusability
Achievement & Enjoyment
9
Variability
Distinctness & Randomness
9
+ Pros (Positives)
- Each card shows a farming scene that feels alive in a way that shows the work that goes into living off the land.
- Gameplay moves along quickly over the course of just 4 rounds and has a nice selection of interesting choices.
- Only a portion of the cards are seen with each play, and duplicates can sometimes be very helpful.
- The required solo objectives create goals to guide decisions and ensure that victory isn’t easy to come by.
- Resources are fairly minimal, yet creating a working economy within a tableau is challenging and fun to see.
- Small mini-expansions for early planning and events add minimal overhead and introduce new elements.
– Cons (Negatives)
- A fair amount of randomness means that high scores can be a little too reliant on luck related to the card order.
- It can be hard to gauge how much table space is needed with the unpredictable way the cards can expand outward.
- Upkeep is important to plan for, but it can be tricky to keep track of all of the requirements in later rounds.
- Attractions are the main addition to the solo mode expansion, yet these can often distract from core gameplay.
Victory Conditions
Score 70+ Points
- Overall Goal Progress 67%
Goals and Milestones
Score at least 70 points.
Score at least 80 points.
Score at least 90 points.
Continue the Conversation
What do you enjoy about Fields of Green? Do you have any other farming-related solo games you like? I’ll admit that this one can be extremely random and difficult to score well, but I just adore the artwork and decision space. My little farms always have something interesting to remember about them! Now to just get a little better before packing it up…
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