In Agricola, you start as a farmer in a wooden shack with your spouse and little else. On a turn, you get to take only two actions, one for you and one for the spouse, from all the possibilities you'll find on a farm: collecting wood and other resources, building fences, planting crops, tending animals and so on. You might think about having kids in order to get more work accomplished, but first you need to expand your house. And what are you going to feed all the little rugrats?

All games will be 4-player whenever possible, with 5-player being the preferred alternative if there is an odd number. Seating positions and first Start Player should be determined randomly. In a 5-player game, the player who goes last on the first turn starts with one extra food.

The top 16 players will advance to the semi-final, with the winners advancing to a 4-player Final.

Advancement will be determined by the HMW/G format

1. Most Wins.

2. Total tournament points earned in all games played, as follows: ten points for a win, four points for second, one point for third, and no points for fourth. (No points will be scored for third in a 3-player game; in a 5-player game two points will be scored for third, one point for fourth and no points for fifth).

3. Ratio of your score to that of your highest-scoring opponent in your best game.

4. High dice roll.

Ties: Because there is no procedure for breaking ties in the game rules, in the first round, all tied players will be awarded the tied position. Players finishing behind them will not move up a position.

In the semi-final and Final, ties will be broken as follows:

1. Most leftover food and resources (Wood, Clay, Reed, Stone)

2. Reverse turn order on the last turn.

Deck choices: In Round 1, each heat will use a different deck as the default choice. A different deck may be used if all players at the table agree.

Heat 1: E (Basic) deck

Heat 2: I (Interactive) deck

Heat 3: K (Complex) deck

In the semi-final and Final, the K (Complex) deck will be used.

Only one deck should be used per game, decks may not be combined. Whichever deck is used, the full deck is to be included, with no cards removed.

Card Draft: In the semi-final and Final games, a draft will be used to select cards as described in Appendix 6 of the game rules. A draft may be used in Round 1 games only if all players at the table agree.

Description of draft: Before the game starts, each player receives a hand of seven Occupation cards as usual, then chooses one and passes the rest to his/her left-hand neighbor. Each player chooses one of the six new cards and passes on the remaining five. This continues until each player has seven cards. Once all Occupations are chosen, repeat this process with the Minor Improvement cards, but in the opposite direction. Players may not look at their Minor Improvement cards until Occupation selection is complete.

The draft should take no longer than 15 minutes. Any tables that have not completed their draft within 15 minutes after all tables have begun will randomize their selections to finish the draft.