We recently tried Viticulture for the first time (check out our first impressions) and we got really excited upon the announcement of the co-operative expansion Viticulture Worlds. We love co-op games and there are also really few that are worker placement games at the same time. The basic gist is that you all need to individually reach 25 victory points by the end of the 6th round, but at the same time get your shared influence value to 10. Let me tell you, this is not an easy undertaking. Six rounds go by fast! 😦

You get a new board to go with the game. It mostly has the usual things on it, but there are some tweaked or new actions. 🧐 The biggest thing is that you can upgrade locations so their actions become better – or upgrade their slot so any number of meeples can visit. You get 7 decks of scenarios with varied difficulties to try to beat as well, each with their own event cards and upgrades that will change up the usual gameplay.

Your objectives are similar to basic Viticulture: plant vines, harvest grapes, make wine, get and fulfill wine orders and grab victory points and money. However you constantly need to coordinate with the other player(s). ☝️ Worker spots are still restricted so in a 2-3 player game only one person can visit an action. This is also where upgrading the locations come in, as there are many key actions that are used by everyone every turn. To raise the influence value you can either complete objectives on event cards or pay money to do so with one of the new actions.

💭To be honest, we didn’t enjoy this expansion as much as the competitive version. It feels like a simple “beat your own high score” challenge and it is missing a crucial element that usually makes co-op games great: the escalating feeling of “danger” or “pushback” of the game. Here you know from the beginning what you have to achieve, and while the scenario cards bring some changes to the game, it is nearly not enough to feel like playing against something together – and repeated plays also won’t be that different.

❓ What are your expectations when playing a co-op game?

Review copy provided by Stonemaier Games