When comparing Pandemic Legacy vs Agricola, the Slant community recommends Pandemic Legacy for most people. In the question“What are the best board games?” Pandemic Legacy is ranked 19th while Agricola is ranked 24th. The most important reason people chose Pandemic Legacy is:
With individual plays regularly ending in teasers and cliffhangers players will be eager to play the next round in order to move the story forward and find out what happens next.
Specs
Ranked in these QuestionsQuestion Ranking
Pros
Pro Very high short-term replayability due to the persistent story in the game
With individual plays regularly ending in teasers and cliffhangers players will be eager to play the next round in order to move the story forward and find out what happens next.
Pro A persistent campaign means that your descisions have consequences, both good and bad, in future games
Pandemic Legacy is the latest in the Legacy line of games where things that happen in one game can, and often do, have affects in later games. The characters you use can gain new abilities and or flaws, components can be added and/or destroyed and rules can be added, amended, or removed, all based on the things that you do from game to game. This helps players feel invested in the game and makes their decisions even more meaningful than they already were. This ongoing change also means that your experiences may very well be unique to your group and that other campaigns of the same game will go drastically different, with only main plot points in common.
Pro Easy to explain, but very difficult to master
The basic premise in Agricola is simple: players take one of their two starting people and, in turn order, use it to select an action. Once an action is selected, it can not be chosen by other players. After everyone has placed their first worker players place their second, again in turn order, followed by 3rd, 4th, and 5th, if applicable. However, the difficulty in Agricola comes from the relatively limited number of action slots available and the sheer number of things players are trying to accomplish over the 14 rounds of the game.
Pro Has expansions that can add more depth and variety to the game
Players can purchase the expansion, Farmers on the Moor, to add more gameplay options and strategic depth or they can purchase additional card packs to add variety to the minor improvement and occupation decks. This helps keep the game from getting stale and encourages multiple plays to try and experience everything this game has to offer.
Pro High player interaction for this type of game
The very limited number of actions available to take each round, combined with most resources only being available at 1 or 2 spots means that players are regularly interfering with eachother's plans and constantly being forced to reevaluate their strategy after an opponent blocks them. This leads to high amounts of player interaction and keep you very engaged in the game instead of focusing solely on your player board.
Cons
Con No long-term replayability
After the main campaign is finished (12-24 games) the game is mostly finished. Technically you can play the final mission over and over, but permanent changes made over the course of the playthrough, such as stickers added to the rules, board, and player sheets as well as components that are physically destroyed make the game less fun to replay after the main story concludes.
Con Requires a commited group to play and experience the full extent of the game
Pandemic: Legacy games are meant to be experienced over 12-24 games with the same players so that everyone involved can share in the overarching story of the game. Unfortunately, many gamers may struggle to find 2-4 players that can regularly meet up to play the game, making it difficult to finish the main story.
Con Can be a very punishing game for new players
Even players who love Agricola regularly joke that its name should be Misery Farm. This is because everything that you fail to do will cost you points, yet it is very difficult to do some of everything. This means that new players have a very low chance of beating someone experienced since they won't fully now what to expect as the game goes on and how to plan for it.