Caverna: The Cave Farmers

Get ready for an underground and rural adventure in Caverna: The Cave Farmers, a worker-placement game that takes the essence of its predecessor, Agricola, and expands it with new possibilities. Here, you take on the role of the bearded leader of a small dwarf family, living in a cave in the mountains. Starting with a farmer and their spouse, each member of your dwarf family represents a valuable action you can take each turn. Your mission is twofold: cultivate the lush forest in front of your cave while simultaneously digging deeper into the mountain. Inside the cave, you can create cozy dwellings for new dwarves and also workspaces for your small enterprises. Mining ore is crucial, as it allows you to forge powerful weapons. With these, your dwarves can embark on exciting expeditions, yielding bonus items and extra actions. During excavation, you might discover water sources, ore mines, and even precious rubies, increasing your wealth. Outside, on the surface, agriculture is key to prosperity. Cut down trees to create fertile fields and build fences for pastures, where your animals can thrive. As your farm grows, your family can also expand, broadening your action options. The ultimate goal is to develop your personal player board as efficiently as possible, ensuring victory. Caverna also offers a solo variant, perfect for familiarizing yourself with the 48 different furnishing tiles that can decorate your cave. With roughly 30 minutes per player, this game is a complete redesign of Agricola, swapping the card decks for a building system and adding the exciting mechanic of forging weapons and sending dwarves on quests. Designer Uwe Rosenberg emphasizes that while the game retains elements of Agricola, it brings significant innovations, especially in the cave part, with its mines and ruby searching, as well as the introduction of new animals like dogs and donkeys.