Ora et Labora - Tips & Strategies

Two main strategies I see for ora et Labora are:

1) focus on manufacturing chains (gathering basic goods and processing them into more valuable ones, ultimately Wonders)
2) focus on real estate value, especially dwellings (try to build the buildings which give most points, regardless of what they actually do and try to place them in the most profitable spots)

Of course there are lots of factors deciding which one of these is optimal in any case, but the ground rule I found is:

a) Strategy 1 (manufacturing) lets you get more points if the game lasts longer (you can manage the game length in a 2p game, because the game ends when there is a specific number of buildings left to be built). The main reason is that you can repeatedly generate points without any limit other than the game length.
b) Strategy 2 (dwellings) lets you get more points sooner, but the actual score is limited – at some point you run into a wall. If you are able to generate building materials fast and consequently build fast, you will probably be able to rush the game and leave any opponent using the manufacturing strategy behind (they won’t be able to set up their point engine soon enough). On the other hand if you get blocked out of critical building resources, you run the risk of powerlessly watching your manufacturing opponent rack up points while not being able to do much about it yourself.

By a beach plot early before any one else does. There is one building that has to be built only on the water(Houseboat). It has a good power and will be in high demand, giving you a good return when you don’t use it yourself.

While they give you the pieces required to lock each wheel with one arm (or hand, or spinner), don’t close and lock them! There aren’t enough arm pieces to leave the wheels permanently locked. Just put the larger plastic piece through the spinner and one arm, and set it on the table. Unless you pick up the wheel (which you shouldn’t do anyway) you won’t have any issues, and you don’t have to include a tool to help you remove them.

Ora et Labora is a game of limited resources, and the most limited resource of all is time for making actions. But sometimes you can group two actions into one: you can construct an new building and immediately send your prior to work there. Utilizing this privilege as often as possible gives a substantial advantage. So when you are to construct a building make sure that you have your prior available and make sure he may do something useful in. Be prepared in advance: it’s better to spend one more turn on preparations, gathering resources etc. and then to make two actions at once than to hurry to build something that you can’t use at once.

There is a difference between the plots you buy. As a preference I found sticking to the larger plots will give you a more sizable playing area and you get more out of the coins that you invest (providing the prices are still low).

Here is a comparison –

Beach plot – For the cost you get 2 usable spaces and 2 unusable spaces (1 in Ireland). There are around 5 usable buildings for these spaces, meaning you would have to have 2-3 beaches worthwhile for all the buildings with a total of 6 unused spaces. You can always get the fishing village if you are bent on it, however just keep in mind to get the most out of it you would need to buy 2 of the beach plots.

Mountain plot – Similar to the beaches, the mountain isn’t very effective either. The only use I see for it is when you REALLY need stone and no one else has bothered to build it yet. This area offers 2 hillside, and one mountain space and a total 1 unusable space. Only 2 different buildings can be built in the mountain and there are only another 3 or 4 that need the hillside.

Large plot resource hilly side – The hilly side can be great if you want to set up a hilltop village right next to your palace and you could stagger the plot so you could get the bonus from a castle as well. Other than that, the hilly side offers 3 other spaces which are obstructed by forests and moor. These can take valuable actions to clear. And I find moor really isn’t that necessary outside of the two that you start with. I typically stay away from this side unless I can nail down some of the more valuable hill buildings.

This brings us to the last plot. This offers 3 free slots and 1 hill slot and one forest. Not a bad pick up. If you were first and managed to pick up 2 of these plots you get a total of 8 free plots, with 2 being hillside and 2 for room to expand for a nice 5 coin. This can be achievable if you build the Cloister as your first action (using prior). You get yourself 6 coins and you now have 2 new plots to set next few rounds with.

You may not start strong with the first few buildings but you are really setting yourself up for some serious mid-game acceleration.

Get a few recordings of the Gregorian chant and play them during your Ora et labora sessions. This will create a great medieval mood well suiting the theme of this game.