Viticulture World: Cooperative Expansion

Viticulture World manages to accomplish the no easy feat of preserving the essence of Viticulture while turning the purpose of the game on its head. No longer are you individualistic viticulturists competing for success, but now you work together as representatives of the same wine-making industry in order to face the vicissitudes of natural, social and cultural developments across the world. This cooperative expansion uses as a blueprint the mechanisms introduced in the base set and improves upon them in fascinating ways.

Each game of Viticulture World lasts 6 rounds. Each of these rounds is impacted by a different event, changing the way some actions are taken and introducing new mechanisms to the game. The game is organized around the concept of thematic decks for each continent. Asia is all about changing pre-printed spaces on the board. South America introduces asymmetric player powers (that you have to pay for). Europe has players try to accomplish personal objectives. Irrespective of the deck used, the purpose of the game is the same: each player has to get to 25 VPs, and the fame marker has to reach the 10th space on its track. Each continent has a different way in which players can obtain fame, and there’s also an action space where players can directly purchase fame in exchange for money.

But that’s not all – Viticulture World shines due to the innovation tiles, new and more powerful versions of the regular action spaces. Knowing which ones to add is quite the big factor in determining whether or not you are going to be victorious.

And victory is quite difficult to come by! Players have to coordinate perfectly and to set up their actions in a round so that they don’t block each other. Using the Grande worker is the only way in which they can trade cards (with the exception of visitors) and resources, so this is another instance where players ought to complement their actions. It takes a lot of planning ahead, but it’s also one of the more ingenious ways of cooperating that we’ve seen, to the extent that it’s hard to believe that at some point there was a competitive version of Viticulture.

A review copy of this expansion was provided by Stonemaier Games.

P: I am conflicted. This game is hard, really hard. I would have like to see it a little easier with difficulty adjustments. It definitely feels like your playing against the game rather than viticulture. There are so many little parts of randomness with the cards and decisions that some games might be unwinnable which I don't like. We only played the intro so I am hoping the other continents support making wine rather than improving the board. I read there is a start pack that I wish was in the box. Despite those frustrations I find myself thinking about it and different strategies so I guess it is a good frustration.

A: Rated 6. felt as though I didn't get to play viticulture. I feel like it took away from the game of viticulture a bit. It didn't enhance the game for me.

I like this coop! It's a good push on the original game mechanics. It's strange when you describe/teach it, but it works. Players need to balance placing upgrades against achieving goals (25 VP each and 10 influence for the group). Very tricky.

This is definitely subject to the alpha gamer problem. Play with closed hands (not public info) to reduce this. Even so, a great coop.

The worst expansion for the favorite game I could’ve emagine..

A fun way to change the game into a cooperative game, but it can run a little too long.

I like how each continent has its own unique mechanism attached to it, like replacing parts of the board, or creating new worker placement spots.

I wanted to like this game so badly! Viticulture is one of my favorite games and my wife and I love cooperative games so I thought it would be a slam dunk. Unfortunately, this was a big disappointment. The 2 major misses for me are that it's way too difficult (specifically the introductory scenario!). Crazy to make an intro mode that hard to beat. Difficulty is virtually never something I will criticize a board game for, because I actually like it usually. Spirit Island, Robinson Crusoe, Eldritch Horror -- all great! But this just felt like there was hardly any margin for error (or more accurately bad luck of the draw). The second major gripe is that despite the difficulty, even after winning a few games, it just wasn't fun. It seems like the designers just really missed on that front. First Stonemaier game I've been disappointed by. I recommend just sticking to competitive Viticulture.

Potentially linked replayability with the story cards and still the problem of the luck of the grapes-orders :/

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