Creator Response Game Result Log - Conclusions/Strategies/Rule Altering

[kailomonkey]

Feel free to join in with your own games, recording the elements you think relevant. I am mostly playing solo so far and am logging the results as I try to beat the game, while noting what strategies work and what parts of the game affect challenge the most.

(the (?) show where I don't remember something exactly)

########## 1 ##########

Players: 1
- Mixed profession, Hoe tool.
Season Deck: Starter
Pet: Cat

Grandpa's Goals: Friends, Tool upgrades, Building, Money.
Bundles: Summer crop, Spring forageable, Fish (?), Heart + Fish (?), 8 Gold, Mineral (?)
Buildings: Stable, (?), The Usual 2

Achieved: 9/10
Playing solo meant I had access to any of the professions and while I made use of a fishing upgrade to cage myself a crabpot fish, I had farming upgrades by Winter. Combined with my Hoe this was a mistake as they were worthless by winter and I was a few coins short of one of the Money goals. However I also forgot to take Items every time I fulfilled a bundle so I might deal them out under the bundle goals face down in future.

It was a fun first game. I definitely think the strength of the game is in the tight deadline so playing with less players and a tough time is fine with me. It gets tense by the end despite being somewhat down to luck. I actually think I got quite easy goals, I could have invested in animals to get the coins faster I think. The only goal I don't look forward to in solo is the mine level 12 goal. Joja was really mean with the starter season deck.

 

[kailomonkey]

########## 2 ##########

Players: 1
- Mixed profession, Pickaxe tool.
Season Deck: Starter*
Pet: Dog

Grandpa's Goals: Friends, Tools, Animals and Mines*.
Bundles: Summer crop and forageable, Sea fish maybe, Heart + Mineral*, 10 Gold*, Bug meat*.
Buildings: Farmhouse, Stable, The Usual 2

Achieved: 6/10
I got through a lot more items and legendary items this time which was a nice change. Got a scarecrow pretty early on which was awesome! Did well with the villagers by fishing for gifts but the mine required a lot of attention.

I really think I had a chance considering the Farmhouse was available. Perhaps if I'd have focused on that I would have had the spouse action that is sorely needed in solo play. But money was slow to come at first and I forgot I needed animals or I could have gotten that running for money sooner! Once I got 2 chickens in a coop I realised that wasn't so useful either solo as my inventory always had a few bits in it for other tasks. I pet just one of them to make the produce spread better with the dice.

Joja was less of a pain this game. The Joja cards were mostly easy to ignore and the odd one that wasn't was easy to get rid of on its own. I had the mine end up only allowing one action but even with the mine goal, I was more often travelling between actions to get forageables anyway. Ultimately I had minerals early on then couldn't find one for ages when I had the goal, and despite all the hearts I'd managed, I was still in need of more to unlock the last goal.

*However since I was playing alone and thus the year went quickly, and since I had so much left to do, I decided to play on for a second year. For the interest of anyone else this is how I dealt with a second year.

At the end of winter card I replaced the forageables and pulled upgrades as usual.
I shuffled a fresh deck of season cards this time from the non-starter cards.
I refilled the fish and mineral bag (Legendary fish caught and used could stay out the game).
I dealt one new random bundle facedown this and every season end onward.
I didn't so this as I had good buildings, but you could probably make one or two new buildings available for year 2 picked at random.

Finishing the original bundles would net me the legendary item reward, an additional legendary item would come if I cleared the community centre completely, as that is always a pretty useless place to get an item anyway.
I had personal aims of getting married and maybe getting the horse, as well as finishing the usual goals.
I also effectively cleared Joja before the end of year 2 which could be worth adding if spilling into year 2.
I didn't quite bother with the barn but that would have been a full house of buildings.

I did end up feeling a lot more well off in year 2, which is much more in line with the video game. The first new bundle I pulled was a money bundle which I hadn't turned over the original either so I knew I had some gold to earn (I turned the final card out of order due to an event or something). The second year was much more relaxed, although I ended up with a winter forageable bundle so I couldn't complete the community centre and finish without new surprise bundles turning up each season.

Obviously I still didn't beat the game and need to replay and get everything done in one year! The lesson perhaps is still, get some animals for better money! Or maybe the lesson is the Mines goal is gonna be a bad time in solo play!

.

Additionally I had a playlist on of music from the game this time round from each season, because the seasons went by so fast first game I did not get to feel as if I was there. The music really helped! I put it together on YouTube so here it is if you'd like to use it. Just skip to the first one with the season you're starting and the music box one for endgame music :) I think the title screen music is just a Spring tune so suggestions for a pre-game track from the game would be appreciated. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UXJmo7P1HL0&list=PLoqj12rADnQ4j7QrcddKTop2YbZkLZsK9

 

[kailomonkey]

########## 3 ##########

Players: 1
- Mixed profession, Fishing Rod tool
Season Deck: Starter + chance of 1 random from the rest per season (Spring/Summer got one each, Fall/Winter only had starter cards, not known until end)
Pet: Dog (this actually mattered as I got an item instead of 3 fish at some point)

Grandpa's Goals: Friends, Buildings, Animals, Gold.
Bundles: Winter forageable, Summer crop, Lake fish, Heart+forageable, 10 Gold, Bugmeat.
Buildings: Mill, Farmhouse, Usual 2.

Achieved: 9/10 would have been 10*
So close! I forgot to collect items when I completed bundles and checking the 5 items I missed, the last one would have won me the game for sure! The last bundle was bugmeat and I had the final turn left to get it. The last item I would have got prior was a cherry bomb I could have used to get the final bugmeat but instead I lost both rolls while my spouse was at the community centre waiting to donate the meat! There was a chest too in there but would have come to late to be helpful.

Shame I forgo the items. I put them up near the bundles to make it easier to remember but I still forgot this time, so I will need the item deck actually in line with bundles. I had everything else in my favour. All of grandpa's goals supported each other and I got a good flow with crops to make plenty of money which was exact needed by the end but I had an item with another 9 gold stored on it I could have used an action to gain if needed. The Farmhouse building is the absolute needed building playing solo and I built it and married Alex which helped catch up with everything I was getting behind on! Or perhaps those turns trying to get wood could have been put to better use. Who knows...

So this was almost a win and it was so close! Exactly the kind of thing that makes this game great solo. Yes I forgot the items but it still counts as a loss and need to try again.

.

This way of building the deck worked well I think, so here are more precise details how I did it if you want to try it this way. I shuffled 'the rest' of the season cards and drew 1 from each season. I put these in with the 'starter' season cards and shuffled each season, removing 1 card from the top before putting them onto the season end card and stacking for play.

This way there was an 80% each season of having something a bit different to usual. Or in other terms, each season until an 'other' card is revealed, there's exactly 20% chance of it being an 'other' card.

You could do the same thing but with specific 'other' cards that are purposely different, as I only really noted when it was a festival (I got the Jellyfish Dance in Summer).

 

[DJModulo]

Did a 1p game and logged it (because why not)

Setup:
Singleplayer (mixed professions); standard season cards

CC Bundles: Spring forage, Fall crops, Lake fish, Heart&Crop, 6 Gold, Bug Meat
Grandpa's Goals: 1 Legendary Fish, 1 Building, 2 Animals, 3 Friends
Buildings: Coop, Barn, Shed, Stable

Tool: Fishing Rod
Pet: Cat


Achievement: 10/10 by the end of week 14 (2nd week of winter).

Really interesting playthrough.
Spring was fairly lucky; got 2 items early to a mine roll as well as the Spring Foraging bundle, with the Campfire coming in handy when the Fish Track was full of crap (pot fish).
Summer was very awkward and I didn't play well. My decision to wait till Fall to plant new crops backfired as the fishing track got empty and I ended up without Crop access for gifts, resulting in missing quite some hearts from villagers. (I also missed a window for the Campfire, which thankfully ended up not mattering much)
Fall thankfully turned the game back around for me; and thanks to some good luck (finding multiple minerals, getting 3 fish with 1 cast, getting a Bug Meat when I needed it) I was able to cleanly finish off the game 2 weeks early.

Due to being lucky in closing out the game I didn't even need most of the backup the game provided me with (Galaxy Sword, Dish o' the Sea); Magnet and Campfire were really good though.

Spoiler: Action log

Week 1
Season card: water, pet, sell (-)

Pierre: Buy Parsnip, Potato, Strawberry (-3G =0G)
=(+Daffodil*)=>
Water crops(+Parsnip)

EoT: -


Week 2
Season card: gCrow(-Strawberry); Gift(-), Event (Bubbly Spot; +Tilapia (Fish bag); sell (-)

Mine: +Item(Magic Rock Candy)
=(+Leek)=>
Gus: Linus (-Leek, +2H =2H)

EoT: -


Week 3
Season card: Quality(Potato->*), sell(-)

Mine: +Stone
=(+Horseradish*)=>
Community Center:
Reveal Crafts Room (Spring Foraging),
Reveal Pantry (Fall Crops), (-2H =0H)
Daffodil*->Crafts Room(1/1)->+Item(Campfire) (CC 1/6)

EoT: -


Week 4:
Season card: Quality(Parsnip->*), water(+Parsnip*),pet, Fish move, sell(-Parsnip*, -Horseradish* +6G =6G)

River fishing: +Sunfish, +Salmon
=(+Wood)=>
Water Crops (+Potato*, -Stone)

EoT: +Fishing Rod (-5G =1G)


Profession: +Magnet (>Lead Bobber, Angler/Pirate)
Week 5:
Season Card: Quality(-), Pet, Fish move, sell (-Potato*, -Salmon, +6G =7G)

Ocean fishing: +Red Mullet, +1H =1H
=(+Spice Berry*)=>
Gus: Robin (-Red Mullet +1H = 2H)

EoT: -


Week 6:
Season card: rCrow (-), sell(-)

Community Center:
Reveal Fish Tank (Lake Fish)
Reveal Bulletin Board (-2H =0H)
Parsnip->Bulletin Board(0/1H, 1/1)
=(+Stone)=>
Ocean fishing: +Halibut +1H =1H

EoT: -


Week 7:
Season card: water, gift(-), event (Mine Lv 1 -> 2), sell (-Tilapia, -Halibut, +4G =11G)

Mine: Mine Event (Epic Item; +Galaxy Sword)
=(+Fiber)=>
Gus: Caroline (-)

EoT: -1 Stone: Mine Lv. 2->3


Week 8:
Season card: Quality(-), Pet, Fish move, Joja(Pierre), sell(-)

Mine: +Geode
=(+Mineral(Basalt))=>
Gus: Jodi (-Sunfish, +1H =2H) 1/4 Grandpa's Goals

EoT: Remove Joja (Pierre; -1H = 1H)


Profession: +Dish o' the Sea (>Chowder, Trap Bobber)
Week 9:
Season card: gCrow(-). rCrow(-)

Pierre: Buy Bok Choy, Eggplant, Cranberries, Pumpkin (-4G =7G)
=(+Wood)=>
Water crops

EoT: -


Week 10:
Season card: Pet, Gift( Jodi; +Artifact(Glass Shards) -Fiber), Joja(Lake fishing), sell (-Spice Berry*, +3G =10G)

Robin: Coop (-Wood^2, -10G =0G) (2/4 Grandpa's Goals)
=(+Mineral(Neptunite))=>
Water crops (+Bok Choy)

EoT: -


Week 11:
Season card: Fish move, Joja(Collect from animals), sell (-Basalt, +5G =5G)

Water crops (+Eggplant)
=(+Fiber)=>
Gus: Jas (-Bok Choy, +2H =3H)
Use Item: Campfire -> Fish move

EoT: Remove Joja(Lake Fishing, -1H =2H)


Week 12:
Season card: Quality(Cranberry->*), water(+Cranberry*), Fish move, sell(-Cranberries* +5G =10G)

Community Center:
Reveal Vault (Six)
Reveal Boiler Room(Adventure) (-2H, =0H)
Eggplant->Pantry(1/1)->+Item(Hay) (CC 2/6)
=(+Blackberry)=>
Lake fishing: +Smallmouth Bass, Rainbow Trout, Angler (-Fiber, Blackberry); +1H =1H (3/4 Grandpa's Goals)

EoT: -


Professions: keep (>Blacksmith/Prospector, Neptune's Glaive, Staircase Recipe)
Week 13:
Season card: Pet, fish move, sell(-Angler, +5G =15G)

Marnie: Buy Chicken, Duck (-12G =3G) (4/4 Grandpa's Goals)
=(+Snow Yam)=>
Gus: Emily (-Glass Shards +2H =3H)

EoT: -


Week 14:
Season card: Event(Spring Onion), sell (-Snow Yam; +3G =6G)

Mine: Skull (+Bug Meat))
=(+Mineral(Marble))=>
Use Item: Magic Rock Candy: Pet Animals(Duck) -1H =2H
Community Center:
Rainbow Trout->Fish Tank(1/1)->+Item(Rarecrow) (CC 3/6)
Use Item: Hay(+1 Duck Feather*)
Bug Meat->Adventurer's Bundle(1/1)->+Item(Honey) (CC 4/6)
Use Item: Honey (Gain 1 Artifact(Elvish Jewelry) (>Vist the Spa))
-1H(=1H)->Bulletin Board(1/1H, 1/1)->+Item(Lewis' Purple Shorts) (CC 5/6)
-6G(=0G)->Vault(6/6G)->+Epic Item(Praerie King Arcade System) (CC 6/6)

EoT: Remove Joja (-1H =0H)

Spoiler: Mine cards

L1:
S B M
O - I
O D -

L2:
S M S
- G X
M X 2S

L3:
X S -
G M -
2O D X

Legend: S=Stone, B=Bug Meat, O=Ore, G=Geode, D=Descent(Staircase), I=Item, M=Mine Event, X=Skull, -=empty

Spoiler: Fish Track

Start(->): Chest, Sunfish, Salmon, Pike(R), Crab
Fish move (W4): Crayfish(R), Red Snapper, Chest, Sunfish, Salmon
Fishing (W4): Snail(R), Red Mullet, Crayfish(R), Red Snapper, Chest
Fish move (W5): Snail(M), Halibut, Snail(R), Red Mullet, Crayfish(R)
Fishing (W5): Broken CD, Snail(M), Halibut, Snail(R), Crayfish(R)
Fishing (W6): Cockle, Broken CD, Snail(M), Snail(R), Crayfish(R)
Fish move (W8): Albacore, Algae, Cockle, Broken CD, Snail(M)
Fish move(W11): Rainbow Trout(M), Chest, Albacore, Algae, Cockle
Fish move(Campfire): Smallmouth Bass(M), Sardine, Rainbow Trout(M), Chest, Albacore
Fish move(W12): Trash, Angler, Smallmouth Bass(M), Sardine, Rainbow Trout(M)
Fishing(W12): Shad, Crayfish(M), Perch, Trash, Sardine
Fish move(W13): Chub, Herring, Shad, Crayfish(M), Perch

 

[Colito]

Thanks for sharing these! :)

 

[kailomonkey]

########## 5* ##########

Players: 1
- Mixed profession, Pickaxe tool
Season Deck: Starter + chance of 2 random from the rest per season (got about 6/8 'other' cards no festivals)
Pet: Cat

Grandpa's Goals: Animals, Legendary Fish, Tool Upgrades, Mines.
Bundles: Fall ofrageable, Quality crop/forageable, Legendary fish (?), Heart+Animal Product, 6 Gold, Mineral.
Buildings: Mill, Farmhouse, Usual 2. (same as my previous game)

Achieved: 10/10 success!
Well I think success because:
1. I kept forgetting the bundle item rewards again and remembering soon enough to backtrack my use of them fairly.
2. I got a bit lost on the second to last day what phase I was on / if I had skipped the second to last season card turn over.
However I would have still been left with one final day, one more stone and a free gift I could have used both to descend any mine levels in discrepancy, and the 2 Joja tiles caused by the final card affected things of no importance to finishing. Still it kind of spoilt my first victory from feeling triumphant.

Not being required to make friends, even though I usually consider getting hearts and revealing bundles a priority, I actually mostly ignored villagers. I focused early on on planting and watering crops and grabbing wood so I could buy the barn. My first friend (Abigail) was actually a reward from an event so came with no hearts. Then Joja put a 1 heart cap on my village action so I went and made a friend (Robin) for 1 heart just so I could spend it to get rid of the Joja token. I was near the end of Summer or maybe into Fall when I finally revealed the first 2 bundles but I had everything needed to fulfill them there and then.

So half way through the game I felt very behind. My fortune really changed with:
A. Getting Robin as a friend and preparing to use her gift of buying a building without materials, so I could marry Abigail and get that precious extra turn during winter!
B. Mining profession getting me a heart after every monster encounter in the mine, and a mine layer weighted toward monster and stone.
C. Another mining profession card for winter getting me an ore after every monster encounter.
D. A legendary fish from a card draw* and very fortunately a card that let me use an extra end of turn action, when descending or upgrading both needed doing imminently.
Marrying Abigail finally allowed me to get products out of my goat and sheep once, as I failed the roll when I tried alone and wasted an action. Also she helped donating to the community centre and even did some mining! With the ability to get hearts from monster encounters I stayed on one level collecting stone and hearts for quite some turns, and copious bug meat I just sold by then. Not needing to hold the materials to build the farmhouse made a Huge difference as inventory space is so limited in solo play.

*A third real issue that could technically lose me this game:
3. I counted the legendary fish card as a catch where it wasn't caught.
I did not feel concerned choosing this interpretation considering it wasn't detailed on the card, and solo being tough enough as it is, the leeway seems a little fair. But thinking about it, I probably needed to Catch a legendary fish as well. I will just call this reason to play again still, in pursuit of a cleaner victory! (it has been clarified in another thread as counting, but the question was regarding not keeping it, so the point may have been missed) Legendary fish from cards have been confirmed as counting as 'caught'.

.

I never get to opening geodes or donating to the museum. So I wonder if that will ever become a worthwhile action for me as hearts and an epic item could surely come in handy! Does anyone know if I'm missing something regarding getting minerals? I'm sure I've gotten them but not sure how. I had to use my gift to get one from my wife Abigail. The worms get you an artifact but not a mineral. I've now seen worms with minerals as well as ones with artifacts. They still seem a pain to get!

Really interesting playthrough.
Spring was fairly lucky; got 2 items early to a mine roll as well as the Spring Foraging bundle, with the Campfire coming in handy when the Fish Track was full of crap (pot fish).
Summer was very awkward and I didn't play well. My decision to wait till Fall to plant new crops backfired as the fishing track got empty and I ended up without Crop access for gifts, resulting in missing quite some hearts from villagers. (I also missed a window for the Campfire, which thankfully ended up not mattering much)
Fall thankfully turned the game back around for me; and thanks to some good luck (finding multiple minerals, getting 3 fish with 1 cast, getting a Bug Meat when I needed it) I was able to cleanly finish off the game 2 weeks early.

Due to being lucky in closing out the game I didn't even need most of the backup the game provided me with (Galaxy Sword, Dish o' the Sea); Magnet and Campfire were really good though.

Nicely detailed log! I have been reporting from memory after the fact so only the highlights. Seeing what goals you had and how your fortunes waned and waxed is the bit I most enjoy reading. When I remember to gain items for completing bundles the game gets a lot more varied! Thanks so much for sharing a game :)

Thanks for sharing these! :)

You're welcome! The game is tough for me solo, always seems to be an uphill struggle, so I'm trying to learn from my mistakes... The ups and downs of fortune make each game a story in itself, which I feel is worth sharing :)

 

[Blauwfuur]

#5 (i guess i'll continue your counting)

Players: 3
-Miner, pickaxe
-Fisherman, watering can
-Forager, fishing rod
Season deck: starter deck
Pet: Cat

Grandpa's goals: Friends, Mines, Money, Legendary fish
Bundles: Summer forageable, Fall crop, River fish, Heart + Forageable, 8 gold, artifact
Buildings: Farm house, The thing that gives quality crops, the usual 2

Achieved: 10/10, succes!
There was a lot to learn, there were rules confusions (which we usually let fall in our favour), but most importantly this was a lot of fun. Our game went pretty well, we got an early clint as friend and were able to upgrade our pickaxe and watering can early.
The copper watering can is very strong to give you a head start in gaining money, especially if you can send others on other errands. Iron seems also good and from there the value of the upgrade kindda falls off.
The pickaxe on the other hand is mediocre at first and only at irridium level it gets crazy good.
We got the (silo?) early for quality crops which meant we were good on money even with the money goal from grandpa. We never needed to invest in animals.
Throughout the game we spent our fair share on fishing, foraging and mining and all was coming along well except for the mining.
With the worm bin we were able to cycle through a ton of fish to find the legendary fishes, which were easy pickings for the upgraded fishing rod (we had all the money in the world to upgrade it). That teamwork felt realy statisfying.
When nearing the end of fall we every goal almost ready to complete, but the mines goal was still far off. We also had enough friends for the goal, but we were unlucky with gifts and birthdays, so we were still a few hearts short. So we made some extra friends, managed to complete a full museum row for an epic item and finally got enough hearts for everything, but still the amount that we had to mine was crazy. For part of fall and the whole winter all 3 of us were mining and we only had a week left before reaching the bottom and having finished all our goals in one year. Then we spent the leftover money on a coop and a duck so that we were able to pet the duck once <3.
As you might have guessed we payed of all joja with money, not hearts.

main takeaways:
-A single upgrade in the watering can is very strong
-The mines felt disproporionately difficult compared to the other goals, despite us investing a lot in both the miner profession and tools
-in 3 player games, the farmhouse is still very strong
-Abigail best wife <3



#6

Playes: 2
-Miner, Pickaxe
-Forager, Hoe
Season deck: starting deck
Pet: Dog

Grandpa's goals: Buildings, Mines, Animals, Museum donations
Bundles: Fall forageable, Summer crop, Lake fish, Heart+Forageable, 10 gold, Ores
Buildings: The one that makes animals happy and the well.

Achieved: 9/10, not even close
This game went a lot like the first one in the sense that we spread our time evenly, had things going well except for the mines which we could not get anywhere close, despite again having both mining profession and tool.

Looking at our goals and availlable buildings we had a good combination of just buying a barn, having happy animals as the 2nd building and buying the 4 required animals and having those as an income. This meant that by the time the hoe was upgraded, we never used it, so it underperformed a bit.
Without any fishing upgrades we had a few lucky rolls and easy to catch fish, being able to catch two in 1 action twice at the ocean. This set us up for some good gifts and income (a legendary fish just landed in our lap). We made some friends and watered some crops in order to invest in the barn. This game we were luckier with birthdays and we had some hearts to spare. Halfway through fall we saw only 2 problematic goals ahead of us: Lake fishing and the mines. All of the fish in the track were ocean or river fish and we had no actions to spare there because we were no where close to completing the mine. We still had to get some donations for the museum, but we figured we would get that while mining. So we had a straw hat so that replacing bundles was cheaper. And we had 2 hearts to spare. So with a little prayer we got the ocean fish bundle and donated the easy to grab ocean fish.
For mining our items seemed strong and we had a golden pickaxe, but alas we could not get anything done. We had a map where only the double heart dindnt do anything. I managed to roll 4 out of 5 actions in a row double hearts. Nothing. Wasted turns. But even if the turns had been fruitful we wouldnt have managed to complete the mine, there were simply too few end of turns left to make staircases. 3 stone for a staircase is crazy much we were just unable to get any on that cursed level map. I feel it would have taken another 3 seasons for us to get through that mine. It would just not work for us.

Main take aways:
-the hoe does not combine well with an animal focused approach, its too little too late
-the mines really do feel disproportionally difficult compared to the other goals, and it gets worse the fewer players you have. The amount of stone required is just too much. I feel the mine should scale with the amount of players as well, for example level 4 for 1 player, level 7 for 2 players, level 10 for 3 players, level 12 for 4 players. Or if you like something easy to write on the card: "3 times players", but that would maybe be too easy
-with the beginner friendly game setup for 2 or 3 players, the game seems on average not too hard (if you play tactically well) but still a good challenge and exciting time crunch near the end.

 

[Blauwfuur]

#7

Players:1
-Mixed professions, watering can
Season deck: set up for a 2 year game; 3 non starter cards and then an event card each season.
Pet: Dog

Grandpa's goals: Buildings, Farm animals, Friends, Legendary Fish.
Bundles: Construction, Spring crops, River fish, Fish+Hearts, 8 gold, bug meat
Buildings: Mill, Silo and the usual 2.

Achievement: 10/10.. in a year?!?!
I am confused. I am utterly stumped. How did i do this. I am the luckiest farmer alive. The plan was to play a 2 year game, so i treated everything as though i were playing with 2 players. That should make it take twice as long to collect and do everything right? Well i did it in 1 year.

My first season card is an event and a red crow. The event was "oasis", where i chose the nega bomb. My thought process was to go to the mines early, get the first watering can upgrade and be rich. And lucky as i was, with the mega bomb i got a mine event, an item and 2 copper ore. The mine event was the dwarf, giving me another good item. I was ready to uprade my watering can and a whole lot more after just one action.

But it gets better. The next 2 season cards contain events, the train passing (all the recouces i needed!) and the mutant carp. I spend my time harvesting crops and making friends, getting lucky with 2 out of 3 spring birthdays and at the end of spring i have a silo, iron watering can, 3 friends and some hearts. And! 1 of 2 legendary fish which were gonna be hard to get. One of my friends is Lewis, so every bundle he would open saves me 2 hearts. I was set. I spent summer just easily getting the money for the coop (those animals are cheaper) and all the animals. The leftover actions were spent opening some community center bundles, dumping my fiber and buying the coop and animals.

End of summer. I have most of the bundles flipped open (with some help from lewis). 2 grandpa goals were complete, and the other 2 well on their way. The last season card is dance of the summer Jelles. I choose to get another event and a watering, wich harvests the last planted star fruit and the event was 3 gold. Not bad.
In fall i got some more money for the vault, and made some more friends and started working on the bug meat goal. Wich i get once more get lucky on. I needed heart+junimo and i got that twice in 4 rolls. The last season card of fall was spirit's eve, which could have finished the spring crops or bulletin board for me! But alas, it had to get more tight.

I had spent some hearts on removing joja but i just kept getting lucky on birthday seasons. So winter. I still needed a bunch of fish and i would have to wait for spring to finish the spring crops. If i wanted to replace the pantry bundles to try and get winter crops and everything aligned perfectly and i caught the legendary+another fish in one throw i could win this year. But that was not to be. I catch one fish and none on the second try. I get ready to dump some stuff at the community center (i still had the bug meat)
Last "normal" (not special event) season card.
Its a present and an event.
The event gives me 2 fish from the track. Including the legendary fish. It was amazing. I have no inventory space and not enough actions to plant and harvest winter seeds, so i congratulate myself on getting so close and go to dump everything at the community center. I get the "hay" and the "field snack" from the bundles. I replace the pantry bundle anyway just to try to plant crops and harvest them with field snack and be exactly 1 action short of finishing the game. I reveal the "animals" instead. Confusion. Didnt know it was in the game. Realisation as i see i can use the hay right this very moment. I win??? What???? That was crazy, i just what???? So lucky

Main take aways:
Just the same things as before
-Early watering can upgrade is crazy strong
-The grandpa goals are all very doable if you dont have to complete the mine

 

[Colito]

Thanks for sharing! These are fun to read.

Also, one note, the Mutant Carp event does count towards the "Catch Legendary Fish" goal!

 

[kailomonkey]

I win??? What???? That was crazy, i just what???? So lucky

So you played requiring 2 hearts, 2 stone, and x2 for every bundle with only 1 player? And still won? Wow I cannot imagine the maths of how that is possible, but I guess it just is :) The combination of buildings and animals goal surely helps and the friends goal as you're almost always going to get friends during any game.

Great games thanks for sharing! The mines goals is surely the worst for less players. Certainly seems the watering can is a big plus and the hoe is near useless; maybe the two in combination make the hoe okay... Just a note; there are no winter seeds/crops. It's a dead season for farming! Lucky to get a bundle you could complete that last game. Very lucky game!

 

[kailomonkey]

########## 9 ##########
(continuing the overall count I guess)

Players: 1
- Mixed profession, Watering can tool
Season Deck: Starter + chance of 4 random from the rest per season (got 3,1,2,3 'other' cards by season, including some festivals)*
Pet: Cat

Grandpa's Goals: Animals, Tool Upgrades, Money, Museum Restoration.
Bundles: Winter forageable, Spring crop, River fish, Heart+Animal Product, 6 Gold, Bug Meat.
Buildings: Mill, Shed, Usual 2.

Achieved: 10/10 success!
After rewatching playthroughs I previously watched before I had the game, and not having the mines goal, I decided to try the watering can. It was nice to use and definitely helped with money despite only getting a couple uses out of it. This game went relatively smoothly. I revealed the first 3 bundles in summer I think but the only fish I had caught for not much reason happened to be the river fish I needed, and I had the spring crop needed (and a forageable just in case either were needed), so I was able to clear 2 bundles first visit! (and get items which I usually forget)

I didn't really need much friending so I skipped a couple that would have wasted resources for just one heart. The artifact/mineral was a stresser but I knew I'd have the hearts from that to help me out so I only made 2 friends in the whole game. One of them was Jas who's gift says any player may donate to any museum slot which sounded like it was giving permission to place in non-matching slots but since I wasn't certain** I passed her gift for the other one which gave me another item, although I often had to juggle to keep items down to just 2. I had a cherry bomb at one point which was exciting and I hoped to use it, but eventually discarded for another incoming item.

A wood/stone item for building came in useful for the coop. Just after I bought my coop and animals, the animal product bundle revealed and I had a profession upgrade to reroll animal dice (which I didn't need and didn't help) so that came easily with a lucky roll. When I late revealed the last bundle of bug meat I thought I was done for! I had bug meat early on but used it and I'd passed the useful mine levels getting to the ore I needed to upgrade. Luckily I was saved by the underpants which I forgot about for a moment, that I could turn in instead of the meat! A take the whole fishing track item netted me a decent sale to have 10+ gold for grandpa's goal on the last turn.

I'd conclude that this was a gentle set of goals and the watering can is a great tool to choose, since I did waste a few actions failing to do anything! Also that it really helps to remember to take your bundle completion item reward and in solo to take 3 profession cards to choose from not 2.

*to build my season deck, for each season I shuffled the 'other' cards and took 4, combined them with the 4 'starter' cards, shuffled the 8 and removed back down to 4.

**it seems to be confirmed here the Jas gift does allow placement in a non-matching museum slot

 

[DJModulo]

Doing another log right now.

Setup: 2 players, random season cards

CC Bundles: 2 Spring forage, 2 Spring crops, 2 River fish, 2 hearts+crops, 2*10 Gold, 2 Minerals
Grandpa's Goals: 4 tool upgrades, Mine lv. 12, 4 Museum donations, 2 Buildings
Buildings: Coop, Barn, Farmhouse, Stable
Pet: Dog

P1: Mining, pickaxe (starting player)
P2: Foraging, watering can

Achievement: 10/10 (week 14)

Insane setup with some more lucky pulls (Farmhouse, early weapon, early Staircase recipe, early Backpack upgrade), but due to the Mine refusing to cooperate in the slightest early on, the game was kept tense throughout the larger part of the first three seasons. Vincent came in clutch and almost always led to a fitting change of plan.

Spoiler: Action log

Legend: # = using enhancement (Profession, epic item...)

Spoiler: Spring

Week 1
Season card: Quality (Parsnip->*), Pet->P2, Fish move, Joja(Clint), sell(-)
P1: Farm; P2: Town

P2: Pierre: Buy: Potato, Strawberry, Cauliflower (-3G =0G)
=(+Mineral(Malachite))=>
Water crops
EoT: -

P1: Water crops (+Parsnip*)
=(+Horseradish)=>
Mine: Stairs => Lv 2
EoT: -


Week 2:
Season card: Pet->P1, Fish move
P1=(Horseradish)=>P2
P2=(Malachite)=>P1
P1: Mountain, P2: Farm

P1
Fishing(Lake): +Chub
=(+Leek*)=>
Gus: Vincent (-Parsnip*) (+3H =3H)
EoT: -

P2
Water crops (+Potato)
=(+Wood)=>
Gus: Emily (-Horseradish) (+2H =5H)
EoT: -


Week 3:
Season card: gCrow(-Cauliflower), Gift (P1: Vincent: peek; P2: Emily: Event (Lost Book(Mining); P1+Prof(Bone Sword) ) ),
Event (Loot Garbage, P1+Item(Crab Pot)), sell(-)
P1=(Leek*, Malachite, Chub)=>P2
P2=(Wood)=>P1
P1, P2: Town

P1
Community Center:
Reveal Crafts Room (Spring Foraging)
Reveal Pantry (Spring Crops) (-4H =1H)
=(+Stone)=>
Fishing(Ocean): +Glasses
EoT: -

P2
Pierre:
Sell: Potato, Chub;
buy: Parsnip, Potato, Strawberry, Cauliflower (+5G -4G =1G)
=(+Daffodil)=>
Museum: Malachite=>E
EoT: -

Week 4:
Season card: water, water (P1 +Strawberry, Parsnip)
P1=(Parsnip, Wood)=>P2
P1: Mountain, P2: Farm

P1:
Mine: +Stone
Mine: +2 Stone
EoT: Staircase*2 (-4 Stone) (Mine -> Lv 4)

P2:
Water: +Potato
=(+Artifact(Fossil))=>
Community Center:
(Daffodil, Leek*)->Spring foraging(2/2)->+Item(Backpack Upgrade) (CC 1/6)
(Parsnip, Potato)->Spring crops(2/2)->+Item(Clay) (CC 2/6)
EoT: -

EoS:
Profession upgrades:
P1: +Staircase Recipe(>Blacksmith/Prospector)
P2: +Hardwood(>Seed Maker)

Spoiler: Summer

Week 5
Season card: Quality(Strawberry->*), gCrow(-Cauliflower), Pet->P2,
Gift( P2: Emily (Event: Lucky Find: +Sweet Pea*, +Fiddlehead*); P1: Vincent(peek) ),
sell(-Strawberry, Fiddlehead* (+8G =9G))
P2=(Sweet Pea, Fossil, Item(Clay), Item(Backpack Upgrade))=>P1
P1=(Item(Crab Pot))=>P2
P1: Farm, P2: Town

P2:
Pierre: Buy Hot Pepper, Blueberry, Melon, Starfruit (-4G = 5G)
=(#+2Wood)=>
Water(+Strawberry*)
EoT: -

P1:
Water(+Hot Pepper)
=(+Spice Berry*)=>
Gus: Pierre(-Spice Berry*) (+1H =2H)
EoT: #Staircase(Use Item(Clay)): Mine->Lv 5


Week 6
Season card: Quality (Blueberry->*), water (P2+Blueberry*), Fish move, sell(-Strawberry*(+5G =10G))
P1=(Glasses, Item(Backback Upgrade))=>P2
P2=(Wood*3)=>P1
P1: Mountain, P2: River

P2: Use Item(Crab Pot): +Periwinkle, Crayfish
Fishing(River): +Broken CD
=(#+2 Wood)=>
Water(+Melon)
EoT:-

P1:
Robin: Build Stable (-Wood*3; -10G =0G) => +Horse
#=(+Fiber)=>
Gus: Shane (-Hot Pepper) (+2H = 4H)
EoT: -


Week 7
Season card: Luau (no crops discarded)
P1=(Sweet Pea*, Fossil)=>P2
P2=(Crayfish, Periwinkle)=>P1
P1, P2: Town

P2:
Pierre: sell Melon, buy: Hot Pepper, Blueberry, Melon, Starfruit
=(+Stone)=>
Water(+Starfruit)
EoT: -

P1:
Community Center:
Reveal Fish Tank (River Fish)
Reveal Bulletin Board (Chef) (-4H =0H)
(Crayfish, Periwinkle)->Fish Tank(2/2)->+Item(Bait) (CC 3/6)
#=(+Spice Berry)=>
Mine: +Stone
EoT: #Staircase(-1 Stone) => Mine lv. 6


Week 8
Season card: rCrow(-Starfruit), sell(-Starfruit, (+5G =5G))
P1=(Spice Berry, Horse)=>P2
P2=(Stone)=>P1
P1: Farm, P2: Town

P2:
Gus: Lewis(-Blueberry*) (+2H =2H)
#=(+Sweet Pea)=>
Farm: Water crops(+Hot Pepper)
EoT: -

P1:
Water crops(+Blueberry)
=(+Mineral(Mudstone))=>
Mine: +Bug Meat
EoT: #Staircase(-1 STone) ->Mine lv. 7


Professions:
P2: +Tracker>Botanist(>Snack Recipe)
P1: +Neptune's Glaive(>Bomb Recipe) -Bone Sword

Spoiler: Fall

Week 9
Season card: Fish Move, Joja(Mine), sell(-Sweet Pea*, -Sweet Pea)
P1=(Blueberry, Item(Bait))=>P2
P1,P2: Mountain

P2: Fishing(Lake): Use Item(-Bait), +Legend, Sturgeon, Item(Wild Seeds)
#=(+Wild Plum*)=> (discard Glasses)
Gus: Linus(-Spice Berry) (+2H =4H)
EoT: Remove Joja(Mine) (-5G, =5G)

P1:
Mine: +Stone
Mine: +Stone
EoT: #Staircase(-1 Stone) -> Mine lv. 8

Week 10:
Season card: rCrow(-), Pet->P1,
Gift( P1: Vincent (peek), P2: Lewis(Reveal Vault(Ten))),
Joja(Marnie), sell(-Legend, Sturgeon, Wild Plum*) (+14G = 19G)
P1=(Stone)=>P2
P1: Mountain, P2: Town

P1:
Mine: Mine Event(Diamond; +5G, =24G)
Mine: Mine Event(Mushroom Floor; +Hazelnut, Blackberry, Stone)
EoT: Staircase(-1 Stone) -> Mine lv. 9

P2: Community Center:
Reveal Boiler Room(Geologist) (-2H =2H)
(2H, Hot Pepper, Blueberry)->Bulletin Board(2/2H, 2/2)->+Item(Heater) (-Item(Wild Seeds)) (CC 4/6)
#=(#+2Wood)=>
Robin: Buy Farmhouse(-3 Wood, -Stone, (-10G = 14G)) +Epic(Mermaid's Pendant) (Expand the Farm; 1/4 Grandpa's Goals)
EoT: -

Week 11:
Season card: Spirit's Eve (-)
P1=(Mudstone, Bug Meat, Blackberry, Hazelnut)=>P2
P2=(Broken CD, Wood, Mermaid's Pendant)=>P1
P1 marries Shane
P1, Shane: Mountain; P2: Town

P1
Shane: Mine: +Item(Torch)
Mine: +Copper Ore
Mine: -
EoT: Upgrade Starting Tools(-Copper Ore=>Copper Pickaxe)

P2
#Tracker: Reveal
=(+Artifact(Rare Disc))=>
Museum: Donate Fossil(C)
EoT: -

Week 12:
Season card: gCrow(-Melon), rCrow(-)
P2=(Mudstone)=>P1

P1, P2, Shane: Mountain

P1
Shane: Mine(+Silver Ore)
Mine: -
=(+Mineral(Limestone)=>
Community Center:
(Limestone, Mudstone)->Boiler Room(2/2)->+Item(Life Elixir)
EoT: Upgrade(-Iron Ore -> Iron Pickaxe)

P2
Mine: +Copper Ore
#=(+Stone)=>
Fishing(Ocean): +Red Mullet
EoT: Upgrade(-Copper Ore -> Copper Watering Can)

Professions:
P1: Keep(>Transmute, Excavator/Gemologist)
P2: +Glow Ring(>Lightning Rod), -Hardwood

Spoiler: Winter

Week 13
Season card: Pet->P2, Fish Move, Joja(Community Center), sell(-Hazelnut, (+3G =17G))
P1 =(Item(Life Elixir))=> P2
P2 =(Stone, Item(Heater))=>P1
P1, Shane: Mountain; P2: Town

P2:
#Tracker
=(+Artifact(Golden Relic))=>
Fishing(River): +Walleye
EoT: -

P1:
Shane: +Item(Miner's Treat)
Mine: -
Mine: +Gold Ore
EoT: Upgrade(-Gold Ore -> Gold Pickaxe) (4/4 Upgrade Starting Tools, 2/4 Grandpa's Goals)

Week 14:
Season card: Event(Spirits Are Happy), Joja(Ocean Fish), sell(-Walleye (+3G =20G) )
P2=(Rare Disc, Golden Relic)=>P1
P1=(Wood, Fiber, Broken CD)=>P2
P1, Shane: Mountain; P2: Town

P2:
Gus: Wizard (-Blackberry, +2H =2H)
#=(Winter Root*)=>
Community Center:
20G ->Vault(2/#3)
EoT: Remove Joja(CC, Ocean) (-2H)
=> Vault Completed (CC 6/6)
+Epic(Crystalarium)

P1:
Shane: Mine +Stone*2 (-Miner's Treat)
Mine: -
=(+Mineral(Opal))=>
Museum: Rare Disc->D, Golden Relic->G (4/4 Restore the Museum, 3/4 Grandpa's Goals)
EoT: #Staircase*3(-Stone*3) -> Mine lv. 12 (4/4 Grandpa's Goals)
+Epic(Minecart)

Spoiler: Mine cards

L1
B - -
G D -
I M 2G

L2
X S X
- 2S -
X O D

L3
- - S
M 2S X
- X -

L4:
B B S
- X S
- S 2S

L5:
X - X
S D M
X B 2G

L6:
S X X
X B D
X O 2O

L7:
I S I
S 2O -
O G M

L8:
M X D
X G 2G
S S 2S

L9:
- O 2O
S D G
G I G

L10:
D - B
- M X
- X -

L11:
2O G O
D M M
G M -

L12:
G G O
S B X
D X 2O

Legend: S=Stone, B=Bug Meat, O=Ore, G=Geode, D=Descent(Staircase), I=Item, M=Mine Event, X=Skull, -=empty

Spoiler: Fish track

Start(->): Super Cucumber, Tilapia, Periwinkle(L), Trash, Tiger Trout
W1(Fish move): Albacore, Pike(R), Super Cucumber, Tilapia, Periwinkle(L)
W2(Fish move): Glasses, Chub(L), Albacore, Pike(R), Super Cucumber
W2(Fishing(P1)): Chest, Glasses, Albacore, Pike(R), Super Cucumber
W3(Fishing(P1)): Periwinkle(R), Chest, Albacore, Pike(R), Super Cucumber
W6(Fish move): Perch, Crayfish(R), Periwinkle(R), Chest, Albacore
W6(Crab Pot): Legend, Broken CD, Perch, Chest, Albacore
W6(Fishing(P2)): Chest, Legend, Perch, Chest, Albacore
W9(Fish Move): Red Mullet, Sturgeon, Chest, Legend, Perch
W9(Fishing(P2)): Lingcod, Tuna, Largemouth Bass, Red Mullet, Perch
W12(Fishing(P2)): Red Snapper, Lingcod, Tuna, Largemouth Bass, Perch
W13(Fish Move): Walleye, Dorado, Red Snapper, Lingcod, Tuna
W13(Fishing(P2)): Squid, Dorado, Red Snapper, Lingcod, Tuna

 

[Blauwfuur]

I am going to make a set of balance changes based on my previous experiences. I will tell you guys how it worked out for me.
Things i want to adress:
-"collect from animals" action has never been a relevant action in my games, it costs too much to invest in
-The hoe does too little, the watering can does maybe a little too much
-The community bundles all seem fun and balanced compared to eachother, but as for grandpa's goals there are some discrepancies.
-The friendsgoal seems free, i always end up with 3 friend per player without the goal cuz we need the hearts. The mines goal tales way too many extra actions in my experience.

Changes to the game:
-The Barn and Coop cost 5 gold and 1 wood each. When you aquire the building, you get 1 chicken/cow for free.
-The barn or Coop do not count towards the buildings goal, and you play the game with 4 additional buildings that can be built instead of 2
-Double the effect of the hoe i.e. copper hoe you can have 2 extra stacked tiles and at gold hoe youre gonna stack so much, you get a 3rd payer of crops. This still is less efficient harvesting that with a watering can, but that is outweighed because everyone can harvest with that same efficiency.
-The friends goal now requires 4 friends per player
-The mines goal now requires you to get to the "red" levels of the mine i.e. lvl 9


Other changes im still considering:
-when you get nothing in the mine, have a chance to get a rock anyway.
-have the watering can move less crops


I'll tell you how that goes!

 

[kailomonkey]

Good luck with the change of rules! Look forward to reading the results. I have opinions on those rules less relevant to this thread but I'll supply them in a spoiler tag if you want to see them :)

Spoiler

-"collect from animals" action has never been a relevant action in my games, it costs too much to invest in

I agree this is an issue. Once you get enough animals to guarantee produce it's better, but with a couple animals it can be a real waste of a turn. Perhaps a fix would be you roll (or reroll) every new day (no resources are taken) but only collect the established produce if you take the action. Taking the action twice in a turn would make this irrelevant though.

I also agree the Hoe is a bit rubbish although it's probably better in a group combining the watering can. Perhaps we just need an exception for solo play.

The balancing of goals you suggest makes some sense although I personally like it when goals align I wouldn't want to change that. The mine goal is desirable to change but getting that goal is an extra challenge to complete so I guess I like the imbalance for variety of replay. I would maybe add a new building every time you buy one rather than your proposal on buildings. That way there's always more to buy unless you have them all...

 

[Blauwfuur]

Results are in!

#11

Players: 2
-Fisherman, Hoe
-Forager, Pickaxe
Season deck: 2 starter, 2 random each season
Pet: Dog

Grandpa's goals: Museum restoration, Legendary fish, Animals, Money
Bundles: Fall forageable, Summer Crops, Crab pot, Heart + Crop, 8 gold, Minerals
Buildings: Mill, Shed, Well, Stable, usual 2

Achieved: 10/10: Succes!
So we played with the rules as stated above. We worried about the museum, but ended up getting somewhat lucky with foraging and getting 3 different minerals from there. I fished a lot to cycle through a lot of the fishing bag because we had no luck finding the legendary fish. With a copper hoe + mill we had some decent money income but it still felt slow. We almost never got gifts from the season cards and of the first 3 crops we planted 2 got eaten so maybe thats why it felt slow.

Grandpa's goals ended up being manageable after investing some time in each of them and with the 2nd legendary fish donated most bundles were also doable. The forageables and the minerals were a problem tho. We had already foraged a bunch in fall and gotten rocks and artifacts and whatnot. Of all tiles left, only 1 was not a forageable that we could donate, 1 in 7 chance or so. With our last move action we found the fiber and failed the bundle. So we made another friend and replaced the bundle. To the winter bundle, luckily. We then got a profession upgrade to flip open 6 forage tiles. And we did and were able to locate 2 forageables. Now we had already put effort into the mines, got some levels, but no minerals. So we had to rely on the mineral forageable. Which was the very last tile we hadn't checked yet. Due to a torch to get penny's gift to forage something and lewis shorts we were barely able to finish the community center, but it got very close.

Opinions on the new rules:
-Gather from animals was almost useful this time, but not quite (partially due to joja) and i want to keep looking for a different option
-Doubling the effect of the hoe seems fair
-I have no opinions on the changed goals because they were not in this game

I like what you brought up about automatically rolling and then picking it up later

 

[DJModulo]

I am going to make a set of balance changes based on my previous experiences. I will tell you guys how it worked out for me.
Things i want to adress:
-"collect from animals" action has never been a relevant action in my games, it costs too much to invest in
-The hoe does too little, the watering can does maybe a little too much
-The community bundles all seem fun and balanced compared to eachother, but as for grandpa's goals there are some discrepancies.
-The friendsgoal seems free, i always end up with 3 friend per player without the goal cuz we need the hearts. The mines goal tales way too many extra actions in my experience.

Changes to the game:
-The Barn and Coop cost 5 gold and 1 wood each. When you aquire the building, you get 1 chicken/cow for free.
-The barn or Coop do not count towards the buildings goal, and you play the game with 4 additional buildings that can be built instead of 2
-Double the effect of the hoe i.e. copper hoe you can have 2 extra stacked tiles and at gold hoe youre gonna stack so much, you get a 3rd payer of crops. This still is less efficient harvesting that with a watering can, but that is outweighed because everyone can harvest with that same efficiency.
-The friends goal now requires 4 friends per player
-The mines goal now requires you to get to the "red" levels of the mine i.e. lvl 9


Other changes im still considering:
-when you get nothing in the mine, have a chance to get a rock anyway.
-have the watering can move less crops


I'll tell you how that goes!

Definitely some interesting takes.

- I used to have a similar idea about Coop/Barn (have them auto-built upon the start and start with four non-Animal buildings) but found it didn't really fix the basic issue at hand that you basically need both a full Coop and Barn (or at least one full building plus the Coopmaster/Shepherd profession) to really utilize Collect from Animals.
My best idea for a workaround (untested): Instead of rolling dice, Collect from Animals lets you choose a building to collect from (Coop or Barn, cannot choose a building more than once a turn) and obtain all of the products from the animals within. This requires a Coopmaster/Shepherd rework (e.g. Coop/Barn animals cost 2 less to obtain) as well as maybe some items I've forgotten about right now.

- The hoe actually doesn't check for additional crops planted, it lets you plant additional crops after you've filled in the gaps; that difference is bigger than you might have thought
(and yes, I used to think the ruling was as you stated until Colito corrected me).
IMO it still is the worst tool, but it is within reason; and the Watering Can as the second worst tool doesn't need a nerf either.

- Bumping 'Making Friends' to require 4 friends definitely works; Mine lv. 9 I'd think too easy though (especially since staircasing is fairly easy in 1-2 player)

 

[Blauwfuur]

- The hoe actually doesn't check for additional crops planted, it lets you plant additional crops after you've filled in the gaps; that difference is bigger than you might have thought
(and yes, I used to think the ruling was as you stated until Colito corrected me).

Can you elaborate what you mean, i don't quite understand. How I interpret it, with a copper hoe you buy crops until every tile from 2 to 5 is occupied and then plant 1 more on an occupied tile, regardles of any other already stacked tiles.

Then if we calculate the income you get for harvesting is that 1 out of 4 tiles is covered so you get like 1 and 1/4th crop average every time you water with a copper hoe. Now for a watering can you just get 2 crops. Thats not how it actually works, i know, but i feel these numbers correctly reflect my game experience.

In my opinion the watering can is the number 1 best tool, but its harder to compare with the pickaxe and rod that do wildly different things.

 

[kailomonkey]

Did you have fun with the changes? Saying the rule change 'almost' made the animals useful is a good indication it hasn't broken the balance I think :) And there are 2 chickens/cows so a free one with the coop/barn does have some feel of right to it :P I guess the lack of produce does match the video game before your animals are grown and well loved and I've seen people profess them to being good money makers in the board game as they are so who knows. Perhaps it's just another solo struggle thing! Less wood cost for buildings in solo is definitely a good idea with the limited space for holding wood along with everything else.

So with the Hoe I believe you don't need the whole track filled, you just buy seeds as normal whenever you want to do that action and they go to the normal indicated starting space, but individually each space can hold max 2 tiles instead of only 1. Or 3, 4, 5 depending what Hoe upgrade you're on. Watering works as normal moving all tiles.

I said this on this post but with the weight of both Blauwfuur and DJModulo, I took a closer look and their interpretations seem correct. You only get to stack 1 seed per buying action and it doesn't matter how stacked that tile would be. Seems even more underpowered than I thought, and I already found it to be pretty weak. I don't see any condition that you fill the whole track though, so you could just stack it on something that is there already or just double buy a single crop and no others.

To be fair I was so excited about the game I was watching walkthrough explanations and gameplay months before the game arrived, whereby I learned a couple things a little wrong that were dropped in here and there, but hopefully this was the last to unlearn!

Also, I don't want to make a reply just for it so I'll add it here, regarding the statement and response to the Watering Can being the best tool. I agree it is better than the Hoe as a farming tool, but if I had the Mine goal or Legendary Fish goal I would consider the Pickaxe or Fishing Rod respectively. 1 Legendary isn't so bad to need the Rod so I guess solo it is less important, but multiple Legendaries definitely require the Rod but that's multiplayer where you'll probably have the Can in play as well! In single player I would always pick the Pickaxe if the mine goal was there. In a 4 player game of course someone will have the Hoe, and you could argue that the Hoe is the better passive farming tool requiring no extra actions to get use of, but without watering yourself with a Can you're not going to be buying seeds efficiently very often.

 

[DJModulo]

Can you elaborate what you mean, i don't quite understand. How I interpret it, with a copper hoe you buy crops until every tile from 2 to 5 is occupied and then plant 1 more on an occupied tile, regardles of any other already stacked tiles.

Then you got it right, that is exactly how it works. From reading your post I assumed you thought that with the copper hoe you could only have 1 stacked tile total (which is what I had previously thought).

Then if we calculate the income you get for harvesting is that 1 out of 4 tiles is covered so you get like 1 and 1/4th crop average every time you water with a copper hoe. Now for a watering can you just get 2 crops. Thats not how it actually works, i know, but i feel these numbers correctly reflect my game experience.

It certainly may feel that way, but as you noted, that's not quite how it actually works since it also takes an action to plant your field.

Let's make a simple model: Suppose all crops are equally valuable, we always buy 4 crops (we buy slots 2-5 once they're free but slot 1 is still up), there's no crows and no other ways to accelerate crop growth other than profession upgrades. How many actions do we have to take for a full harvest, and how many crops are we getting out of it?

Blank: 4 crops / 5 actions

Copper Watering can: 4 crops / 3 actions
Steel W.C.: 4 crops / 3 actions
Gold W.C.: 4 crops / 2 actions
Iridium W.C.: 4 crops / 2 actions

Copper Hoe: 5 crops / 5 actions
Steel Hoe: 6 crops / 5 actions
Gold Hoe: 7 crops / 5 actions
Iridium Hoe: 8 crops / 5 actions

This suggests that the Copper upgrade of the Watering Can vastly improves action efficiency and is very much worth it. However, once we start accounting for Crows (-1 crop for that cycle), rain days (-1 Action for the Hoe, but only -1/2 action for a Copper WC) or actual crop values (the Hoe upgrades will tend to fetch higher crop values), that gap gets smaller. (There also is positive Watering Can synergy like the Mill, but that's not as common).
The Can remains better than the Hoe just because of how much the Copper Can trounces the Copper Hoe and that is the upgrade that matters most IMO.

In my opinion the watering can is the number 1 best tool, but its harder to compare with the pickaxe and rod that do wildly different things.

If you're coming from a pure profit standpoint, the Watering Can is the best tool in that regard. If we're talking general utility, I heavily disagree.

It is indeed harder to compare a tool that generally increases profits (Watering Can) to more specific ones that make it more likely to accomplish certain tasks (Pickaxe; Fishing Rod to a lesser extent). If I don't need the second category, I'll happily take the first. However, if you do need to accomplish these certain tasks, the effect of the second category cannot be mirrored even if the general profit increase is lesser than that of the Watering Can.

That said, there's two points you can directly compare Pickaxe/Fishing Rod to Watering Can/Hoe on, both being favourable to the former:
- Upgrade material: If you cannot upgrade the tool it doesn't matter which one you picked. The Fishing Rod only needs money for its upgrades (and especially the first one is both significant and generally affordable during Spring); the Pickaxe makes it easier by a significant margin to even get to the point of being able to upgrade the non-Rod tools to a certain level.
-Availability: Hoe and pickaxe upgrades effectively remain active 4 weeks longer (not entirely accurate for the Can, but you do have a hard limit on your number of actions during these four weeks).


Sorry for going a little off-topic here, but I very much enjoy having discussions on game mechanics and if we're posting logs to potentially analyse later, might as well lay out some common ground.

 

[kailomonkey]

########## 12 ##########

Players: 1
- Mixed profession, Pickaxe tool.
Season Deck: Shuffled from full deck
Pet: Meow

Grandpa's Goals: Buildings, Money, Legendary Fish and Mines*.
Bundles: Winter forageable, Animal product, Lake fish, Heart*+forageable, 10 Gold*, Ore.
Buildings: Well, Stable, Barn, Coop

Achieved: 10/10 success!
Seeing money, legendary and mines as goals was a scary start but seeing as alone I only have to catch 1 Legendary fish and one actually started in slot 2 of the fish track, I chose the pickaxe to help me through the mines. Turning over the first season card I just hoped for the fish to not get pushed along and was lucky. I then set out to immediately fish for the Glacier Fish and failed, having a second go and succeeding! That was my Legendary goal achieved on day 1 and I hung onto it hoping to use it in the fishing bundle.

This was also my first game using the completionist checklist so I faffed around ticking things off the list as I went!It was quite satisfying and I came away with a few changes ideas. I focused most of spring I think on friends and donated to the museum to get the first 4 bundles revealed asap. Using the full season deck had me constantly plagued with Joja tiles and barely any rain, but I kept my hearts and gold up by planting and watering and friending to clear restrictions on building and animal buying and producing over time to get what I needed. I had thought the Stable was my best bet until Animal Product came as a bundle.

I got a card at some point that let me *draw a new grandpa goal then discard one, where I pulled the Friends goal which was already complete! So I naturally kept it and dropped the Mines. I also got a card that let me complete a revealed bundle for free which I used to *save a heart on the Dye bundle (I had already invested the forageable). When the final 2 bundles revealed I still hadn't upgraded my pickaxe even once, and I had I think 2 days left of Winter to get some ore and money! Luckily I also had a mining profession upgrade that let me reroll on a monster which I used and gained 2 ore! On the money front I had set up what Fall crops I could and had been watering them toward the main money goal, but also from friending I had an abundance of hearts so *I swapped out the 10 gold bundle and got 8, then did so again to get 6, and paid it off with the 10 gold to spare I needed! And I was done...

Since I had the checklist to work on I played out the final day of winter to donate to the museum, grab another forageable, make another friend and clear all the Joja tiles. All in all a fortunate game (my sixth solo game I think and third time winning). For once I did not feel bogged down with inventory and managed to keep things flowing, probably with a decent number of sales bins and unique festivals in the season cards.