Back in early 2019, my four boys started asking me if we could get the hit game–Minecraft.

At the time, I only knew it was very popular and you could play online with others. So in efforts to keep my kids safe, I said “No”.

They continued to ask me if they could get it and I continued to say no. Until finally in May of 2019, after much research and finding out that you can play solo and in private servers, I relented and Minecraft entered our home.

Flash forward a year and a half and Minecraft has become a huge hit in our house, not only by my kids, but also by me!

Many hours have been spent creating worlds, adventuring to find treasure, and fighting the steady stream of monsters placed in our way.

When Ravensburger released the board game Minecraft Builders and Biomes, in late 2019 we were all very interested in how it would compare to its digital counterpart. I watch some play-throughs and sure enough, it looked like something we would enjoy very much. Once I got connected with The Board Game Family, I asked Trent to hook me up, and boy did he come through.

How to play Minecraft Builders and Biomes and the Farmers Market Expansion

The goal in Minecraft Builders and Biomes is to score the most points from gathering materials, building buildings of different types, fighting mobs, and using weapons and item tiles.

 

SET UP

For set up, players shuffle the 64 building tiles and divide them into 16 equal stacks. The stacks are then arranged in the center of the table in a 4×4 grid. Next the non-colored weapon tokens are shuffled and one token is added, face-down, to the end of each column and each row.

Players then take all the wooden blocks and randomly fill the provided block container. Once the blocks are in, the container is removed thus creating the 64-block mining cube.

Players then take a player mat, character skin token, and colored base (placing it in the center of the 4×4 grid), matching character weapon tiles (shuffling them and placing facedown), and matching score token.

Finally, players place the 3 scoring cards and 1 reference card near the play area.

Farmers Market expansion

When adding the Farmers Market Expansion, players add the new building tiles to the main set before shuffling and creating the 4×4 grid.

The Market board is then placed close by with the item tiles shuffled and placed face down on their corresponding places. The X tiles are all flipped face up and any extra tiles are returned to the box.

Each player then receives 1 of the double-sided farmland building tiles to place over one of the forest spaces on their player mats. They then add 1 (or 2 depending on the number of players) of the vegetable cubes to that tile. The remain vegetable cubes are placed near by the playing area.

The “C” scoring card is then replaced with the expansion “C” scoring card and the 50 and 100 scoring markers are placed in a pile near the play area.

Players are now ready to begin.

 

PLAYING

On a player’s turn they may complete 2 of the following 5 actions.

Mine: A player may take 2 cubes from the 64-block mining cube. When choosing, players may only take blocks that have the top face and at least two other faces exposed. And they can take them from any level.

Explore: A player may move up to 2 spaces (including not moving at all) and expose the adjacent* building tiles, flipping them face up. Players move along the intersections of the tiles that make up the 4×4 playing area.

Build: A player may add one of the adjacent* building tiles to their player board if they have the required resources available (returning them to the game box). Players can build over previous building tiles.

Fight: A player may fight any adjacent* mob. To do this, the player shuffles their weapon tiles and draws the top 3. They then compare the number of hits on the weapons to the the health of the mob. If it equals or exceeds that of the mob, the mob has been defeated. If the mob is not defeated it stays in play where it is.

Collect a Weapon: If a player’s character token is at an intersection where the weapon tiles are, they may take 1 of the face up weapons and add it to their weapon pile.

*Adjacent to where their character token is at the time of the action.

Farmers Market expansion

Go to the market – In addition to the above actions, players may go to the market and purchase one of the face up items. The cost is shown in the corner of the item tile and players pay by using the vegetables they have on hand.

Vegetables are gained when players add a farmland tile to their player board and at the beginning of each new round.

Players continue taking turns until the top row of the 64-block mining cube is completely taken which triggers the first scoring round, aka scoring round “A”.

Once scoring is completed, players continue taking turns until the second level of the mining cube is completely taken at which time scoring round “B” happens.

Players again continue taking turns until the third row of the mining cube is completely taken. At that time, the final scoring round, “C”, happens and the game ends.

Farmers Market expansion

At the end of each round, a new row of item tiles are flipped face up and each player gains vegetables for the farmlands that are on their player board.

 

SCORING 

In scoring round “A”, players choose a single biome (noted on the building tiles) to score. They count the number of tiles orthogonally adjacent to one another. They take this number and multiply it by the point value listed on the “A” scoring reference card.

For example: Sally has 4 desert biomes adjacent to one another which are worth 4 points each for a total of 16 points.

In scoring round “B”, players choose a single building materials type (noted on the building tiles) to score. They count the number of tiles orthogonally adjacent to one another of that type. They take this number and multiply it by the point value listed on the “B” scoring reference card.

For example: John has 3 stone buildings adjacent to one another which are worth 5 points each for a total of 15 points.

In scoring round “C”, players choose a single structure type (noted on the building tiles) to score. In a like manner, they count the number of tiles orthogonally adjacent to one another. They take this number and multiply it by the point value listed on the “C” scoring reference card.

For example: Trent has 3 bridge type structures adjacent to one another which are worth 6 points each for a total of 18 points. Way to go Trent!

Farmers Market expansion

The only difference in the expansion is in the “C” scoring round, where a new building type (Farmland) has been added to the scoring card.

Players also earn points during the game from placing certain building tiles, fighting mobs, using weapons and item tiles they may have from the farmers market.

The game ends after scoring round C. The player with the highest score wins.

 

What we liked about Minecraft Builders and Biomes and the Farmers Market Expansion

Minecraft Builders and Biomes is a very clever board game — and not at all what I was expecting.

There are many cool mechanics in this game like Action Selection, Set Collecting and the Puzzle of the 64-block mining cube which acts as the game’s timer.

The set collection aspect is by far my favorite, as what you’re collecting changes each round. It’s fun trying to look ahead for scoring opportunities for future rounds while still getting what you need for the current round. You may choose to score low in the first round by taking tiles that don’t help immediately but will really score big in the following round or you may try and knock out as many mobs as you can, scoring right away.

With the addition of the Farmers Market, players have one more action to choose from, the Market, and with that comes “player powers” which can help you for the rest of the game.

For example, in the Market, you can buy a Bed which allows you to redo a fight you just failed or a Hopper that gives you points each time you mine.

There are a lot of different items that come with the expansion, but there are a limited number of spaces on the board. So an item you see in one game might not be available in the next.

Finally is the 64-block mining cube, aka the super cool game timer!

Knowing when a round ends really makes for some great choices. Do you take the last cube to trigger scoring or do you take a cube from a lower level in order to get one more building tile finished before the round ends?

The game is also very approachable, being easy to teach and easy to learn. I was able to have all my kids playing (ages 6 to 13) with little to no problems. There is also a variant that makes it so you don’t have to be adjacent to score sets making it easier for younger kids to play.

Ravensburger did a fantastic job with the components of Builders and Biomes. The tiles are thick, the blocks are wooden, and everything else functions quite nicely. And I love that the Farmers Market expansion fits in the base game box which — always a huge plus with expansions.

If you’re the kind of player that wants minis in your games instead of standees, might I suggest Minecraft LEGO minifigs or the Minecraft mini figures. That’s what my boys like to use.

 

How does Minecraft Builders and Biomes and the Farmers Market Expansion score on our “Let’s Play Again” game meter?

Minecraft Builders and Biomes with the Farmers Market expansion rates very high on our let’s play again meter.

In fact, we’ve played it many times since receiving it — well above the number of times I usually play a game before writing a review. The theme is something that gets my kids to the table and the game play keeps me there.

The Farmers Market is a must addition to the game. It not only adds more choices and cool player powers, it also comes with new “skins” for players to choose from. I know what you’re thinking, not very exciting, but my boys love it.

So the question I know you’re dying to hear the answer to is, “Does Minecraft Builders and Biomes play like the video game?” No, not at all.

Does it matter? No, not at all.

Minecraft Builders and Biomes is a solid and fun game with a cool theme — which is all that matters in the end.

 

About the Author

Dane is an Advertising and Layout Manager for a national magazine by day and a husband, father of four, and board gamer by night (and mornings). He has a passion for board games and believes board games help bring families closer together while providing kids a unique way to learn many diverse skills. And he thinks they are downright fun!!!

We’d like to thank Ravensburger for a review copy of Minecraft Builders and Biomes and Farmer’s Market Expansion.