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| From StonemaierGames.com |
Before I get started, though, I feel that I should provide my opinions on the base game, Viticulture, so that everyone knows my starting position. I consider Viticulture to be a very strong and enjoyable light to medium weight worker placement euro-game. If I had to determine where it stood in my top games of all time, it would easily be in the top 10 (and in the top 5 for worker placement games). There is very little that I can find wrong with Viticulture, and nearly all of the minor problems I had were fixed with the 2nd edition rules. The only minor problem that I still believe exists with the 2nd edition rules is that the end game is very abrupt, and does not provide many chances for players to catch up due to limited placement spots. Will this be fixed by one or more of the expansions?
The intent of Tuscany is for all players to discover the changes at the same time (when the choice is made for what to uncork. Since, like most of you, I would be hesitant to buy something sight-unseen, I will make an attempt to explain all of the expansions with a minimum of spoilers. If you want the full spoiler, then check out the rules to Tuscany here.
The rules for Tuscany break out the expansions into 3 tiers. All expansions from Tier 1 must be "uncorked" before proceeding to Tier 2 (and similar for Tier 3). I will go through the expansions by tier for this review.
Now, let's explore the many aspects of Tuscany!
Tier 1 Expansions
Mamas & Papas Expansion:
This expansion changes the beginning of Viticulture by introducing asymmetric starting resources. At the beginning of the game, each player is dealt 1 Mama and 1 Papa card. These cards provide the player with their starting workers, cards (Vine, Summer Visitor, Winter Visitor, and Wine Order), money, and possibly a pre-built structure (can take more money instead).
I think this is a great addition to the game. By providing all players a different set of starting resources, it allows everyone the chance of pursuing a different initial strategy.
Property Expansion:
This expansion makes a minor change to the 3 fields that players plant their vine cards in. Each field will now have a different maximum vine value (5, 6, and 7). In addition, each field can be sold (and repurchased) for lira based on their maximum vine value.
I really like the idea of being able to gain extra money by selling the fields I do not use. This will make money easier to acquire during the game, so structures can be built and workers trained earlier and more often.
Patronage Expansion:
This expansion attempts to give players a unique strategy to pursue. Each player is dealt 1 card that contains 2 chances to score points. First, the player must fill the wine order of the card (a 5-value wine of any type) to gain 3 VP. Then, at the end of the game, if the player fulfills the additional condition, they gain 2 VP (revealed at the end of the game).
This expansion is probably my favorite of the Tier 1 expansions. The chance to score 2 VP at game end by fulfilling the hidden agenda will help allow all players to catch up during the last year.
Advanced Visitors Expansion:
This expansion takes many of the existing summer and winter visitor cards, and enhances their abilities. The changes are meant to allow the visitors to be used at any point in the game (in base Viticulture, some of the visitor cards are best used either early or late in the game).
I like the idea of making the visitor cards useful at any point in the game. Hopefully, this will change the general idea that Summer Visitor cards are best used at the beginning, while Winter Visitor cards are best used at the end of the game (I realize that there are currently exceptions to this, but this is just a generality).
Overall, I think the Tier 1 expansions all have excellent potential to improve the re-playability of Viticulture. These are all minor changes that should be very easy to pick up. My only concern with these changes is that the game tempo will be increased due to the extra money and initial resource boost available to the players.
Tier 2 Expansions
New Visitors Expansion:
As the name implies, this expansion adds new visitor cards to the game. Unlike the Advanced Visitor cards, though, these visitors will add new abilities that players can utilize to gain an advantage over their opponents.
I generally welcome anything that provides more options for players, provided it does not muddy the waters too much. From reading the descriptions of some of the new visitors from the rules, I think these will be excellent additions to the game.
Extended Board Expansion:
There are many changes to the game made by this expansion, so I will just make a quick note of some of the larger changes. Are you tired of only using your workers in the summer and winter? Then this expansion is for you! The expanded board allows for workers to be used in all 4 seasons. Each season has 4 different worker locations, which means there will be new abilities to explore. The wake-up order now provides different bonuses for each season, and there is a new area-control aspect where you want to provide the most influence to the regions of Tuscany.
This is the number 1 expansion that I want to try. I think that the new board, combined with all the Tier 1 expansions, will really open up the game to an entirely new level.
Special Workers Expansion:
Continuing from the Grande Worker in 2nd edition Viticulture (and the Aboriculture expansion from the Kickstarter version of Viticulture), this expansion provides new workers that have additional abilities. At the beginning of each game, 2 of the special workers will be made available to all players. Whenever a player hires a worker, they may pay an additional fee to instead hire a special worker.
This is a very interesting expansion. Looking at the stretch goals listed, there appear to be more Special Workers to unlock. My hope is that players that do not hire the special workers are still capable of winning (I realize it will probably be more difficult). I also wonder why the limitation of 2 Special Workers was placed instead of 3 (since players can train 3 additional workers)?
Overall, I think the Tier 2 expansions provide the largest and most interesting changes to Viticulture. Of these expansions, I think the Extended Board will have the biggest learning curve due to all the changes made to the game.
Tier 3
Before I start on the Tier 3 expansions, I want to mention the main difference with Tier 3. Unlike the other tiers, this tier is meant to only use 1 of the expansions each game.
Aboriculture Expansion:
This is the same expansion that came with the Kickstarter version of Viticulture. There are some rules changes to make this compatible with Tuscany (mostly dealing with morale).
Having played Aboriculture with 1st edition Viticulture, I think the rules changes make this expansion more streamlined and easier to play. I look forward to trying this with the other Tuscany expansions.
Formaggio Expansion:
I do not really have any information about this expansion, except that it deals with making (and I assume selling) cheese.
Final Thoughts
I look forward to receiving my copy of Tuscany: Expand the World of Viticulture. The (currently) 9 included expansions look like they will complement the already enjoyable game of Viticulture.
If I had to choose an order to uncork the expansions, I would choose the following:
1) Mamas & Papas
2) Patronage
3) Advanced Visitors
4) Property
5) Extended Board
6) Special Workers
7) New Visitors
8) Formaggio
9) Aboriculture
What order would you uncork the expansions?
Based on past experiences with Stonemaier Games, I have no doubt that the quality and components will be top-notch. To anyone on the fence about Tuscany or Viticulture, I welcome you to search BoardGameGeek and find anything bad mentioned about Viticulture, Tuscany, Euphoria, Stonemaier Games, or Jamey Stegmaier and Alan Stone.
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