# Caverna: The Cave Farmers

Caverna: The Cave Farmers is a board game for 1–7 players. It plays in 30–210 minutes and is meant for ages 12 and up. Ludoya players call it best with 4. It is rated 7.7 out of 10 by 125 Ludoya reviewers. The cheapest copy in stock is $57.32 (United States).

- **Players:** 1–7 (best with 4)
- **Playing time:** 30–210 minutes
- **Minimum age:** 12+
- **Complexity:** 3.8 out of 5
- **Year published:** 2013
- **Categories:** Animals, Economic, Fantasy, Farming
- **Mechanics:** Solo / Solitaire Game, Worker Placement, Automatic Resource Growth, Tile Placement, Turn Order: Claim Action, Increase Value of Unchosen Resources
- **Ludoya rating:** 7.7 out of 10, from 125 reviews
- **Owned by:** 293 Ludoya players
- **Plays logged on Ludoya:** 692
- **Unique players:** 604

**Designers:** Mayfair Games

**Artists:** Klemens Franz, Javier González Cava

**Publishers:** Lookout Games

## Where to buy in United States

| Shop | Price | Link |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Cardhaus Games | 71.99 $ | https://www.cardhaus.com/caverna-the-cave-farmers/ |
| Board Game Bliss | 89.95 $ | https://www.boardgamebliss.com/products/caverna-the-cave-farmers-minor-damage |
| World of Board Games | 425 kr | https://www.worldofboardgames.com/robinson-crusoe-adventures-on-the-cursed-island-treasure-chest-exp |
| Svet deskovych her | 1290 Kč | https://www.svet-deskovych-her.cz/produkty/2867/caverna-the-cave-farmers-znacne-poskozena-krabice |
| Alphaspel | 695 kr | https://alphaspel.se/491-bradspel/356341-caverna-the-cave-farmers |
| El Nucli | 70 € | https://www.elnucli.es/products/caverna |
| Hyggeonkel | 599.95 kr | https://www.hyggeonkel.dk/produkt/caverna |
| Zatu Games | 73.75 £ | https://zatu.com/products/caverna |
| Va de jocs | 90 € | https://vadejocs.es/producto/caverna-los-granjeros-trogloditas |
| Game Ninja | 999 kr | https://www.gameninja.no/produkt/caverna/ |
| Fantasiapelit | 108.2 € | https://www.fantasiapelit.com/index.php?main=ai&kat=single&mista=indeksi&etsittava=_152325 |
| Nexus | 15995 kr | https://nexus.is/vara/caverna-the-cave-farmers/ |

## Expansions

- [Caverna: The Forgotten Folk](https://www.ludoya.com/games/caverna-the-forgotten-folk)
- [Caverna: Water Expansion](https://www.ludoya.com/games/caverna-water-expansion)
- [Caverna: Mini Expansion](https://www.ludoya.com/games/caverna-mini-expansion)
- [Caverna: Frantic Fiends](https://www.ludoya.com/games/caverna-frantic-fiends)
- [Caverna: The Forgotten Folk – Halflings promo](https://www.ludoya.com/games/caverna-the-forgotten-folk-halflings-promo)
- [Caverna: The Forgotten Folk – Adventurers Promo](https://www.ludoya.com/games/caverna-the-forgotten-folk-adventurers-promo)
- [Caverna: LARP and Cosplay Postcard](https://www.ludoya.com/games/caverna-larp-and-cosplay-postcard)
- [Caverna: Christmas Chamber](https://www.ludoya.com/games/caverna-christmas-chamber)

## Similar games

- [Agricola](https://www.ludoya.com/games/agricola)
- [Agricola (Revised Edition)](https://www.ludoya.com/games/agricola-revised-edition)
- [Agricola 15](https://www.ludoya.com/games/agricola-15)
- [Fields of Arle: Big Box](https://www.ludoya.com/games/fields-of-arle-big-box)
- [Hallertau](https://www.ludoya.com/games/hallertau)
- [Agricola: All Creatures Big and Small – The Big Box](https://www.ludoya.com/games/agricola-all-creatures-big-and-small-the-big-box)
- [Fields of Arle](https://www.ludoya.com/games/fields-of-arle)
- [Agricola: All Creatures Big and Small](https://www.ludoya.com/games/agricola-all-creatures-big-and-small)
- [Le Havre](https://www.ludoya.com/games/le-havre)
- [Atiwa](https://www.ludoya.com/games/atiwa)
- [Village: Big Box](https://www.ludoya.com/games/village-big-box)
- [Tea Garden](https://www.ludoya.com/games/tea-garden)

## Rules questions

### When does a harvest happen and what exactly do we do during a harvest?

Harvest timing is determined by the Harvest markers and round number: rounds 1–2 have no harvest, there is a harvest at the end of round 3 (round 4 has a special “pay 1 Food per Dwarf”), and by default rounds 5–12 have harvests unless modified by Harvest events. Each harvest proceeds in three sub‑phases — Field (collect crops), Feeding (pay 2 Food per Dwarf; offspring born this round cost 1 Food), then Breeding — with special cases explained by the Harvest events (pages 7, 9–10).

### How do I get a new Dwarf — can a newborn act the same round?

You gain a new Dwarf by taking a Family growth action and you must have free room in your Dwellings to do so; place a Dwarf disc from your personal supply on top of the Dwarf taking the action. The newborn cannot take an action that round and must be accommodated in the Return home phase (pages 15–16).

### I picked up animals but have no room — can I convert them to Food? And what about baby animals from breeding?

During the Work phase, animals you gain may be immediately converted into Food according to the Food conversion table, if you cannot or do not want to place them on your Home board (page 9 and page 11). However, baby animals born in the Breeding sub‑phase may not be converted immediately — they only appear if you can accommodate them on your Home board (page 10).

### What can I spend Rubies on and are they 'wild' resources?

Rubies act as a flexible resource: you may exchange 1 Ruby (1:1) for animals, building materials, Grain, Vegetables or Gold (Cattle requires 1 Food extra), buy single Field/Meadow/Tunnel/Cavern tiles for the listed Ruby costs, and spend 1 Ruby to ignore dwarf play order for one Dwarf; Rubies are also involved in mining actions and bonuses (pages 17–18), and they can be converted into Food values as noted on the conversion table (page 11).

### How do Pastures and Stables work — what are the animal capacities?

Turn a Meadow into a Small pasture for 2 Wood (holds 2 Farm animals) or pay 4 Wood to place a Large pasture on two adjacent Meadows (holds 4); a Stable costs 1 Stone and may be placed on Forest/Meadow/Pasture and is permanent. A Stable doubles pasture capacity (Small+Stable = up to 4; Large+one Stable = up to 8; with two Stables a Large pasture can use markers to indicate larger counts), a Meadow Stable holds 1 Farm animal, and a Forest Stable can hold exactly 1 Wild boar (pages 19–20).

### When are new Action spaces added and how do accumulating spaces refill?

At the start of each round you turn over the top Action space card and place it on the lowest‑numbered empty Round space, making that action available from that round onward (page 7). After that, replenishing (in the Replenish accumulating spaces phase) places the goods shown on accumulating spaces each round (with the special “(1)” rule meaning smaller replenishment if the space is not empty) — there is no upper limit to goods on an accumulating space (page 8).

## Links

- [This page](https://www.ludoya.com/games/caverna-the-cave-farmers)
- [Caverna: The Cave Farmers in the Ludoya app](https://app.ludoya.com/g/caverna-the-cave-farmers)
- [BoardGameGeek entry](https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/102794)

_Data from Ludoya, updated 2026-09-18. Ratings, ownership and play counts are Ludoya's own._