The Farming Game

by Weekend Farmer

• An Economic based board game
• Players act as the farmers, who can buy fields, pastures and ridges
• The board also activates the weather cycles and time of year
• The players make their way from winter to fall
• For 2-6 players

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 13.5 x 11.8 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B00004UDWU
• Item model number: WF100
• Our recommended age: 10 years and up
• Manufacturer recommended age: 10 - 15 years
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #27,365 in Toys & Games (See Top 100 in Toys & Games)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (91 customer reviews)

Product Description

Amazon.com

More than 350,000 copies of The Farming Game ("The Game Invented on the Seat of a Tractor") have been sold, and this 20th-anniversary edition introduces a new generation to the joys of muck and milking. Every player starts the game with 20 inherited acres and moves through the months (i.e., around the board) trying to build the farm into an independent, successful concern that will feed the whole family. A fun game, it also has a serious, educational side--having been invented by George Rohrbacher, a farmer in Washington State's Yakima Valley, who thought it up while trying to figure out how to make enough cash to hang on to his family farm. Up to six players, ages 10 to adult. --Richard Farr

Product Description

Whether you're a real farmer or an urban dweller, you'll find The Farming Game is an accurate description of the business risks and gambles of farming. Players begin the game $5,000 in debt with 20 acres of inherited farmland. As players plant crops and sell livestock, they slowly work their way to success...that is if the elements cooperate! Farming has never been this much fun! For 2 to 6 players ages 10 and up.

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

30 of 30 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars The country monopoly October 27, 2000

By A Customer

Durability: 4.0 out of 5 stars    Educational: 4.0 out of 5 stars    Fun: 5.0 out of 5 stars   

If you like monopoly, you will definitely enjoy this game. Its monopoly with a country twist. The board represents one year and you pass through all the harvest seasons--corn, hay, livestock, etc. During these seasons, you receive the chance to roll the dice and collect your harvest. As you climb your way out of debt, you have options to buy more cows, more hay, more land, tractors, harvestors, and even fruit trees. Its a game of chance and luck that can last for hours or days. Just as you think you've struck it rich, though, there's the operating expense cards and the farmer's fate cards that can take it all away! The Farming Game teaches a great deal about how to manage (and spend) your money, the ups and downs of the market, and how risky farming really is. AFter all, it was invented by a farmer! The Farming Game is one of my favorite games of all time.

26 of 26 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A Surprisingly Fun Game May 17, 2004

By A Customer

Durability: 4.0 out of 5 stars    Educational: 5.0 out of 5 stars    Fun: 5.0 out of 5 stars   

I honestly could not imagine how a game about farming could be fun. Real farming doesn't look the least bit fun to me. After 4 years of reading game reviewers applaud this game, I broke down and bought it for a reunion weekend with a longtime game-playing friend.

When we were well into the first game, my friend put off going to the bathroom for 45 minutes so she could take "just one more turn" and then another and then another. We finally pried ourselves away from the game to go eat at 9:00pm.

It does start out slowly, so give it 2 or 3 times around the board before you give up on it. You start out in debt at the beginning of a new year. One trip around the board is one calendar year. Your goal is to build a profitable farming operation by buying/renting equipment,planting and harvesting, buying and selling livestock. In the meantime, Real Life intervenes in the form of insects, drought, disease, bad weather,taxes,equipment breakdowns, etc. In spite of these frustrations, the fun part is in the harvest. It's sort of like Monopoly with an adrenaline rush! The more fields you own, the bigger the harvest. The more land you own, the more livestock you can support.

The Farming Game is a great educational model for any business, or Life for that matter. You can borrow too much and end up bankrupt. You can have too little cash on hand and not be able to plant. No planting, no harvest. No harvest, no money. No money, no planting.

This is a great game for competitive players. For it to be fun for everyone, players need to be able to count money and either read the cards or be able to follow directions if someone else reads them. If a child can play Monopoly, he or she can play the Farming Game.

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Unexpected Great Fun May 22, 2003

By "stephl29"

Durability: 4.0 out of 5 stars    Educational: 5.0 out of 5 stars    Fun: 5.0 out of 5 stars   

I bought this and other board games for my husband at Christmas. Everyone loved playing this game, even the grandparents. It is a very well thought out game very true to life. You never know when your operating expenses will be higher than your crop harvest or if it's your year to get top dollar for your cherry crop. It's also a good game to play if you need to be getting up to check on the kids or get snacks because nobody elses crop effects yours. Your fate is in the hand of the cards, where you land, or what you roll. You don't constantly have to be watching to see if someone lands on your property. I think it would be and excellent game for teenagers because some of the rules are facts of life. For instance, you must have at least 20% down to buy property. I would recommend this game to everyone.