I immediately missed the fact that you used to have up to 4 players and now can only have one primary player in the game. Originally there were 4 houses that 4 different players could occupy and it made the community board and the letter writing significant rather than an annoyance. You could post reminders to family or send them "mail". It really was all about communication. I have played every version of the game and miss the original concept the most. The later games lost my interest pretty quickly because it wasn't really about sharing anymore. It became a game of isolation.

Brewster will warn you about drinking too much coffee but you can certainly purchase more than one. You can even stand at the counter and purchase a to go cup which will help if you want to dig up full trees or break rocks.