It’s time to take a look at the newest offer from Stonemaier Games, the Viticulture Wine Crate and expansion Viticulture World.
In this expansion for the game Viticulture, players must work together with other members of their family in regions around the world to be the best winemakers. Players manage their own vineyards and work to gain influence together to be crowned experts in the field.
The game plays based on the same aspects of Viticulture at 1-6 players for 75-95 minutes. It is designed by Mihir-Shah and Francesco Testini with art by Andrew Bosley.
What’s New
This expansion requires the base game of Viticulture and can be played with any of the other expansions like Tuscany, Moors Visitors and the Visit from Rhine Valley. There are new components for Viticulture World and that includes a new main game board, innovation tiles, tokens, meeple hats and Continent decks of cards. The large game box that makes up the Wine Crate is meant to store all of the base and expansion components together in one convenient place.
Setup and Gameplay
The game is setup with the new main board and the individual small decks of cards are shuffled and placed in their spots on the board as usual. You can use any combination of base and expansions that you would like.
The Continent Deck is where the game is going to be different and unique each time. Here you will chose the deck to use and follow the story on it. It will give you set-up instructions and specifics for this adventure.
Innovation tiles are a new aspect and each year/round you will reveal the new Event card for that year and four new innovation tiles. These tiles will allow you to change and permanently upgrade the the summer and winter actions on the board. The oval upgrades will allow you to place any number of workers on a space.
Each player starts with two summer and two winter workers. Trained workers are new here as well, these workers will receive a hat and are able to get the bonuses on upgraded oval tiles. Trained workers along with Grande and grey workers are able to be placed in any season.
Trading can also occur through a Grande worker placed on a space with any other meeple of another character. This allows players to move cards, grapes and wine or coins. In this way you can find ways to move around the board resources as needed for players to finish orders, score victory points or influence.
Impressions
I love Viticulture. In fact it is quite possibly my favorite game of all time or at least in the rotation for the top three for me depending on the day. I have enjoyed all the expansions, the different boards and even trying it all player counts. It’s been a game that I have introduced to a number of different players who have all found it to be a great time around the board as well. One of the things I love most about the game is the competitive push and pull as we try to jockey for the spot to harvest a field, make wine and fulfill orders. That “you beat me to the spot” feel is one of the things that makes this game hum.
The cooperative aspect of the game Viticulture World takes that competition aspect of trying to race towards spots and fulfillments and flips it on its head to challenge you instead to find a way to work together in a specific amount of time. The game instead becomes a puzzle on a timer as you and your teammates try to find a way to gain the appropriate amount of victory points and influence to win. This is a different way to play the game and as long as you enjoy this type of gameplay it’s going to be a good fit.
The cooperative nature really focused on making sure that influence was gained in the mid to late game play. Helping your teammates score points is important as well but the influence seems to be the more challenging aspect of this game. Players really need to find ways to help each other and not just look for moves that only benefit them. Some of the cards and spaces will allow you to benefit the team as a whole which helps us to win together.
I also really enjoyed the multiple scenarios and countries you can play in and how each one plays out differently. The thought process and planning that went into these all are solid and well done. The theme is fun and the different locations make it a journey we have enjoyed getting to the table.
This is a game I am more than excited to play and explore and I can’t wait to play it with others who love the game and want to see new life breathed into this classic title. Viticulture has been a hit with our family and friends and I would expect this world of cooperative play will give us a whole new look at the game together. So if you love Viticulture already this a great chance to explore the game in a cooperative way!
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