Viticulture - Tuscany Essential Edition

Contents:

• 1 extended board (matte, double-sided) and 36 wooden stars
• 6 structure mats and 36 structure cards (44 x 67 mm)
• 11 special worker cards (63 x 88 mm) and 2 special worker meeples per player (plus 2 generic)

FAQ

How do the Hard and Very Hard difficulty levels work in Tuscany Essential?

• Hard: The Automa must place at least 1 worker per season.
• Very Hard: The Automa starts at 30 points and must place at least 1 worker per season.

Removed Expansions: Which expansions were removed from the original version of Tuscany and why?

The clickable graphic in the sidebar shows in yellow and red the expansions that were removed from Tuscany. Some of them are now found in the Viticulture Essential Edition, while others are going out of print.

We’re cutting the expansions in red (and, not shown on the box, the structure crossover bonus pack) because they’re not essential to the Tuscany expansion experience, and including them would double the price of Tuscany Essential. You can download the non-essential expansions here (and French download for Arborilculture) or purchase pre-printed versions here.

Rules: Are there any rule changes between Tuscany and Tuscany Essential?

The only overarching change is that Tuscany Essential is intended to be combined with Viticulture all at once (or as modules to pick and choose), while the original Tuscany expansions unlocked one by one. If you have Tuscany, you already have everything (plus a lot of other stuff) that is in Tuscany Essential.

The only component change from Tuscany to Tuscany Essential is the new extended board is matte instead of glossy.

Also, the Tuscany Essential rulebook now lists an official variant (recommended for 2-player games) in which the influence map on the game board does not contribute to end-game scoring.

Other questions about the original Tuscany are answered here, and various versions of the original rulebook are here. Reviews of the original Tuscany are here, and a gallery of images is here. There’s a list of videos about the original Tuscany here, and the BoardGameGeek link is here.

Compatibility: Is Tuscany Essential compatible with any edition of Viticulture?

Viticulture Essential is recommended for use with Tuscany Essential, but older versions of Viticulture will work fine too. There is no overlap between Viticulture Essential and Tuscany Essential. The Viticulture Essential Upgrade Pack is a cost-effective way to upgrade your second-edition copy of Viticulture to an Essential Edition.

Meeples: Why doesn’t Tuscany Essential include all of the original special worker meeples?

As we budgeted for the Tuscany Essential Edition, we realized just how expensive 66 large, silkscreen printed, custom wooden meeples are. Including them would have increased the MSRP of Tuscany Essential to $50, which is too expensive.

The gameplay of the special workers expansion is exactly the same, as there are still 11 special worker cards. It’s just that there are only 2 types of meeples to represent those abilities. There are 2 in each color (one man [former Farmer] and one woman [former Innkeeper]), as well as 1 of each in grey. The 2 grey workers will be assigned to the 2 special worker cards drawn at the beginning of the game so players know which worker has the corresponding ability.