Stonemaier Games: Viticulture Essential Edition (Base Game) | Create The Most Prosperous Tuscan Vineyard | Wine Themed Strategy Board Game for Adults and Family | 1-6 Players, 90 Mins, Ages 14+

It's a very nicely put-together worker placement game, with economic development at the heart of it. The mechanics are simple enough, clearly explained, for the most part, and with the bonus feature of a very good 2-page rules summary included. Physical components are of good, durable quality, with fair sized cards (in a tray that allows for the thickness of any sleeves to be used). The game 'scales' well, in that additional places for one's workers become available as player numbers increase. There is also an automaton (cards) to play against, should the need arise; I've yet to try that. I've only played with three, but I didn't feel that there would be an excessive downtime with 5/6, largely because one's own plans have to continuously be updated in the light of others' placements.There's a nice rhythm to the game, as it follows the flow of the seasons, with the actions available in each season making reasonable sense. I particularly liked the 'first player'mechanism (first player gets first choice at getting a reward in Spring, but the better rewards typically require placing one's workers later on in the subsequent seasons). The "Grande" worker mechanism (use an occupied space, once per year) is also a mercy, as it makes it hard to completely block someone, although there is sufficient interaction between players over available and 'bonus' spaces to keep the game interesting.I've yet to play it sufficiently to pretend to be able to comment on the skill versus luck factor. I am confident that the better player will win more games over a series, but any games that includes cards can be marred (or enhanced, depending on viewpoint) by just how those cards happen to fall. A very nice feature, so far, is that there seem to be a number of strategies available to seek to win: it even looks like it's possible to win without actually making any wine. It looks very positive that it's a game where the path to victory requires a flexibility in strategy and a level of knowing when to change objective in the light of the actions of others or the fortunes of the card drawn. There is player interaction, at least in terms of prioritising one's own.The game has the merit of being playable within the claimed 60-90 minute time frame, but is, of course, not dither-proof. I liked it nd 'm looking forward to getting my gamer friends to play it.

So I finally pulled the trigger and purchased Viticulture, (Essential Edition) (which followed the first and second editions) has a couple things pulled from an earlier expansion (Tuscany, I believe) which make the game far more interesting. One is the introduction of the "Mama" and "Papa" cards (which give you a random setup and starting resources). This is a very nice design element.GAMEPLAY:While I have only played 2-player versions, I can say it is pretty solid. One thing about worker placement games that some people don't like is when you keep getting locked out of an action you want to perform by your opponents. There is a nice design element here, where one worker (the big meeple) which I called "the boss" (maybe call him "il capo" since the game takes place in Italy?) is a larger meeple and that one worker can be placed at a location to do the action, regardless of whether other spaces are available. This lessens the sting of getting blocked over and over. In this game, I never felt the worker placement element was overly cutthroat, and while it was something you worry and plan for, you have that big meeple to save the day.SCORING:there are multiple ways of scoring, and while gaining a point here and there through "visitor" cards might seem minor, that coupled with things like the windmill and/or Tasting room can be a reliable Victory Point generator. However, you really want to go for "order" cards where you sell the wine you've made for bigger VP rewards and passive income. The random distribution of the order cards means you could get many difficult ones early on, meaning if you aim for those, it will take a long time to score. So don't be afraid of drawing more and more "order cards" until you get some easier ones to get you on the road.FINAL ROUND:The rules as written (aka "RAW") says as soon as one player passes the 25VP spot on the VP track, that signals that this is the last round of the game and that players continue to finish their turns for the round and then the game is over. In a few of the games we played this resulted in rather abrupt ends of the game where someone jumped from 20 to 26 points by turning in a big VP order as one of their last actions. So keep in mind that once someone hits 20 points, the game is virtually over unless they have no wine. I am not sure how I feel about this aspect of the game. I will update my review after a few more plays.MINOR NITPICKS:While it is a pretty game, it could probably use a little more iconography to explain things and for ease of use. Also, it would have been useful to have reference cards that only reminded you of the building effects. Again, iconography would have helped. Your player mat kind of spreads out important building upgrades and they are in some slightly awkward positions (I kept bumping my trellis ad my irrigation unit off my board because it is next to where the vine cards go (representing the kinds of grapes you are growing in your vinyard). Another tiny nitpick is the image on the three field cards is meant to mirror the playmat that rests below them, but there is a layout issue (at least with my deck) where the images overlap on the second and third cards and if you are just a tad "OCD" about things, this might bug you a bit. Finally, with all the unique meeples, having round cylinder pieces for the scoreboard was a poor design choice. One good bump of the table and those can fall and roll all over. Simple cubes would have sufficed...or why not wine cask shaped pieces?VERDICT:Stonemeier's first game, this worker placement game is lighter than two of his (company's) other worker placement games, Euphoria and Scythe. It is maybe a tiny bit heavier than their most famous game (...which I play several times a week these days...) Wingspan. It is a very nice game to play, and it is not really confrontational so that can be a real boon if playing with a spouse or partner who doesn't like that kind of thing. A very solid game...well worth the price of a modern Hobbyist game. 8 out of 10 stars.