Home>Caverna: The Cave Farmers

2013 · Fantasy

Caverna: The Cave Farmers

Players lead a small dwarf family and expand a single cave into a living and working homestead through worker placement. Each family member is an action on the turn track; players send them to gather resources, clear forest, sow fields, build pastures, breed animals, and dig into the mountain to expose mines and water. Furnishing tiles and buildings let players create dwellings, workshops and mines, while ore and weapons enable expeditions that grant bonus items and actions. The game includes variation through many cave furnishings, an expanding family, and a solo mode for learning tile interactions.

Players: 1–7 best 4
Playing time: 30–210 min
Age: 12+
Complexity: 3.8 / 5

7.9 on Ludoya from $28.06AnimalsEconomicSolo / Solitaire GameIncrease Value of Unchosen ResourcesWorker Placement

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Full stats in Ludoya

682
Plays logged: 618
Players: 2h 8m
Average play: 314
In collections: 31
On wishlists: 1
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7.9/10

from 132 Ludoya reviews

Nevest9.3
I played Agricola a few times and I love the mechanics, but I really didn’t love the Occupation cards. They might be great for you or they might really not line up with what you’re doing. In a game like this, I don’t want a large element of randomness that can swing a game by large chunks of points. That’s why I greatly prefer Caverna. The randomness of the Occupation cards in Agricola has been moved to the publicly-available, specialized building tiles in Caverna that anyone can buy. I also feel like Caverna streamlines a few things in Agricola that were a little on the “needlessly complex” side (like house renovation). I love having the option to weaponize a dwarf and send them on a quest. I love the vast variety of buildings. I love the mix of building out your cave and/or clearing out your forest for pasture/crops.
Played it 7 times
Mestremuten9.0
Rating: 5/5 Production value: 3/4 Is the game in my collection/Love to have?: 1/1
Played it 4 times
SrCornelius8.0
Local-(404)
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Rules questions

Answered from the rulebook by Ludoya's rules assistant.

Can more than one Dwarf use the same action space in a round?

No. Each action space can hold only one Dwarf per round, and you place one Dwarf at a time; place unarmed Dwarfs first, then armed Dwarfs in ascending Weapon strength (rulebook, pp. 8–9, 21).

Do we have a harvest at the end of every round?

No. In rounds 1–4, the only harvest is at the end of round 3; at the end of round 4, pay 1 Food per Dwarf instead. Rounds 5–12 normally end with a harvest, but revealed question-mark markers can change what happens (rulebook, p. 10).

If I have two animals of the same type, do I always get a baby at harvest?

You get exactly one baby of that type only if your Home board can accommodate it. All babies are born at the same time, and you must place them before you can convert animals into Food (rulebook, p. 10).

Can I grow my family before I build another Dwelling, and does the new Dwarf act right away?

You can grow only if your Dwellings have more room for Dwarfs than you currently have Dwarfs. The new Dwarf takes no action that round and must be accommodated in a Dwelling when everyone returns home (rulebook, pp. 9, 15).

Can I place a Cavern/Tunnel or Meadow/Field tile wherever I want?

No. A Cavern/Tunnel tile must cover two adjacent empty Mountain spaces and connect to your existing cave system; a Meadow/Field tile must cover two adjacent Forest spaces, with the first placed in front of the cave entrance (rulebook, pp. 12–13).

Official score sheet