Board Game Arena

Whoops. Silly careless error, considering I can recite the powers of 2 up to 2^16 without hesitation.

FrankJones wrote: ↑24 July 2026, 22:51 [1] Fields are a core component of the game. [2] The game designer is unlikely to give permission for the option to remove them.

Even though I agree with [1], I'm not so sure about [2]. The rules for the Base Game that accompanied the Big Box Edition (2014) state:

We recommend playing without farmers, and therefore without field scoring, during your first game.

There are other examples of rights holders allowing the beginner's variant as an option. I know you're aware of Earth, but Barrage and Agricola also come to mind. There is no filter to disable those options if everyone at the able is above 0 Elo, so at least some rights holders have agreed to have the beginner's variant permanently available.

Good catch. Well, perhaps the designer would approve.

It sounds as though that is intended by the designer only as a beginner option though, not for players who have played several times and just dislike farmers/fields?

FrankJones wrote: ↑25 July 2026, 02:10 It sounds as though that is intended by the designer only as a beginner option though, not for players who have played several times and just dislike farmers/fields?

This is why I agree with [1] above. This request reminds me of people who want to remove check-raising from poker.

Please keep the fields as part of game scoring. I have never seen a set of game rules where fields are not part of the game. Taking the field option away would really change the nature of the game and scoring.

BeFriend6 wrote: ↑29 July 2026, 19:34 I have never seen a set of game rules where fields are not part of the game.

You can literally see it a couple posts above this one where I quoted the rules from the 2014 Big Box Edition. Or are you saying you need me to take a picture? This comes up a lot in board game forums (not just BGA) where people fail to recognize that not only do rules sometimes change over time, but they may even vary slightly between editions published in different countries.

That said, the OP only asked for the OPTION to turn them off, not to remove them entirely. So even if you are opposed to removing them entirely (which I would be), that's beside the point. No one in the thread has proposed that yet.

As you noted though, that option is a recommendation for the first game people play. The phrasing seems to imply that the next game and all subsequent games should include fields and farmers.

Which means it's unknown whether the game designer would be okay with this as an option on BGA.

I agree as well. I think many folks would appreciate playing with this feature. Having the option to turn fields off would make for a much more enjoyable game for those of us who want a more relaxed game play.

Farmers lying down in fields sounds relaxing to me.