When comparing Star Realms vs Agricola, the Slant community recommends Star Realms for most people. In the question“What are the best Android board games?” Star Realms is ranked 1st while Agricola is ranked 11th. The most important reason people chose Star Realms is:
Asynchronous online play allows for the player to get matched up against a friend or random opponent.
Specs
Ranked in these QuestionsQuestion Ranking
Pros
Pro Asynchronous online play
Asynchronous online play allows for the player to get matched up against a friend or random opponent.
Pro Bases
Bases are permanent cards on the playing field that each player needs to try and destroy but giving that there is a choice each turn to hit a base or the players ships, it becomes a juggling act of what takes priority to destroy.
Pro Unpredictable
There is no way for the player to know what will be in their hand or what they will eventually be able to purchase, making for every game being unpredictable.
Pro Pass and play multiplayer on a single device
Players can play a multiplayer game locally using a single device by passing the device between the two players for each ones turn. This makes for an easy way to duel when only one device is around.
Pro Single player mode
There is an included single player mode where the player faces off against the CPU.
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 Design is lacking
More thought, design and production value could have been added to the game to give it a better polished feel, sadly it is not the case as most aspects pass as just serviceable.
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.