Fields of Arle

We begin our yuletide journey with Fields of Arle, a mid-heavy euro from 2013 by Uwe Rosenburg. I’ll begin by saying that Amanda is not a particular fan of Rosenburg games, especially Agricola, but she enjoys worker placement in general. On the other hand, Agricola and le Havre were the games that made me realize there was more to the euro genre than settlers of Catan.

One of the reasons we started with Fields of Arle is because it’s two players only. Most of these write-ups will contain a section of how well each game scales down to to players compared to a full complement but that is obviously not an issue here. If it’s your first time playing, expect a considerable setup time. There are a ton of cardboard things to punch out. Most of the resources are cardboard and there is a whole whack of tokens for buildings and the like. Also there are stickers, I haven’t put stickers on a game since Commands and Colors: Ancients, luckily there aren’t so many here, but expect a solid half hour of prep before the game begins. Note: Amanda disagrees because she had to sticker 20 cows. TWENTY cows. BOTH SIDES!

Component wise the game looks very nice. The boards have a bit of an odd layout, but once the game begins it’s actually quite functional and flows well with the gameplay. The cardboard is solid and chunky, and the meeples are distinct and solid wood, and the board, although not terribly exciting, is well designed and pleasing to the eye. Overall the graphic design is clear and crisp, and the symbology readily apparent. I didn’t have to look in the rulebook more than once during our first game. Speaking of which, the rulebook is extremely crisp and to the point, so although the game is a relatively complex one, the rules were clear and largely intuitive, so they did not require a re-reading. The game provides some perhaps overly large quick-reference guides, but they make the turn structure simple and easy to follow.

My only major complaint with the components stems from the overall blandness of a lot of the pieces, typical of eurogames. If it were not already and expensive box, I would say it cries out for a deluxe edition. That being said, they are extremely functional, so I will not likely break out my 3d printer to jazz it up.

Onto the fun part, the gameplay. This is a pretty heavy euro game. I’d call it worker placement for lack of a better term, although the workers are more a means to build your tableau and engine more than anything else. In fact the whole thing almost feels like a Rosenburg/Feld crossover in the sheer number of actions you can make use of to score points in this game. There are generally 2 schools of Rosenburg worker placement games, either very tight, cut-throat placement a la Agricola or the “choose the best of a dozen good choices” in the style of Le Havre, and this is definitely the latter.

I will say the learning curve of this one is pretty steep. We spent the first 3-4 turns just trying to figure out what the hell to do out of he staggering amount of options the game throws at you. After that point we both got our engines going and built our villages in wildly different directions, yet finished with a very similar score; 78-74. This is most definitely a game that will benefit from multiple play through, both in terms of recognizing a viable strategy, and cutting down on play time, it clocked in at 2 and a half hours for our first game. A randomized selection of buildings for each game will keep it fresh, and I suspect it will take quite a few more games before I begin optimizing a strategy.

Overall I would highly recommend Fields of Arle, but only to a pretty specific subset of gamers. If you enjoy thinky euros, or heavier worker placement games than this is the game for you. On the other hand if you prefer lighter games or games with a lot of player interaction or direct conflict, then you should look elsewhere, as you should also if your gaming partner is prone to analysis paralysis.

That’s about it for Fields of Arle, tomorrow, on to solve mysteries in Victorian London with Sherlock Holmes: Consulting Detective.

Note: Amanda here, with nothing much more to add than I really enjoyed the game and look forward to playing it again. I think that knowing the mechanics and how you score etc. will help the game move faster and cut down a lot of the time we spent on it today. Do count on AT LEAST a half hour to set up for all the punching and stickering during a first play through.

The Teal Dear

Game: Fields of Arle
Designer: Uwe Rosenburg
Price: $90
Players: 2
2 player Scaling: N/A
Playtime: 2ish hours
Estimated Lifespan: 10+ games
Complexity: 4.5
Components: 4
Bang for Buck: 4
Value for Time: 4
Fun Factor: 4.5
Overall: 4.5