Tuscany Expansion – Stonemaier Games

Tuscany Expansion

Tuscany Essential Edition

  • Designers Jamey Stegmaier & Alan Stone
  • Artist Beth Sobel

This expansion to Viticulture includes the extended board, special workers, and structure cards.

Expansion (requires base game)
45-90 mins Game Length
5 mins Setup Time
(with base game)
1-6 Players
Medium Game Weight
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Tuscany Essential Edition (rulebook) features 3 expansions to Viticulture Essential:

  • 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)

The Viticulture core game is required to play the Tuscany expansion.

Reviews:

There are also 9 special worker promo cards (63 x 88 mm) available here.

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?

This graphic 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 Arboriculture) or purchase pre-printed versions here (or here if you’re in Europe).

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.

Other Questions: Where can I ask them?

Please post questions in the comments below or on the Viticulture/Tuscany Facebook Group.

225 Comments on “Tuscany Expansion

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  1. I recently bought a new copy of the Tuscany expansion in English but the special worker cards I received are in french. Is it possible to receive an English set?

  2. Hello
    If the Chef special worker is placed on the Gain 1 Lira action and there is more than one opponent worker already on the Gain 1 Lira action, are all opponents bumped back to their pool?
    Thanks

    1. Can you share the exact text on the Chef card so we can quickly help? I don’t have that card handy.

      1. CHEF
        You may place the Chef on an action space already occupied by an opponent’s worker by “bumping” that worker back to the opponent’s pool of available workers. Chefs can’t bump Chefs.

        1. Thanks! The Chef refers to the “action space”, not the action in general. There can only be 0 or 1 workers on an action space, so at most it would bump 1 worker.

  3. Hello Jamey,

    The special worker promo cards linked to above are out of stock at Meeplsource. Is there a chance that these will get a reprint at some point?

  4. I have played a few games of Tuscany now and looking at the campaign mode for solo play would there be any differences in the rules if I was using the Tuscany board?

    For example in campaign 2 it says to use the middle action space instead of the leftmost. In the case of the base game board the middle actions are the one’s that provide the bonus however in Tuscany many of these are now the left most space and so would in fact be a disadvantage in many cases.

    Another example is campaign 6 where victory points are not awarded but for each wine in the large cellar gives 2 VP and 1 for each in the medium cellar, but now the end total is 25 so would likely be harder if the years are the same.

    1. Hi James,
      The Automa campaign from Viticulture is not compatible with the Tuscany expansion. There are a number of things associated with the expansion that throw the balance of the campaign off.
      Cheers,
      David

  5. Hi Jamey,

    I have played a few games of Tuscany solo now and wanted to share that I really loved it. Tuscany expands on the base game in a way that feels like a “complete experience” with the 4 fully fleshed out seasons. In solo, the bar to beat the automa is quite higher than in the base game, but the game also offers many options a the player’s disposal to use. When I beat the automa it’s usually tight, and it feels so rewarding.

    Thanks for creating such fun experiences :).

    Shahil

    1. Thanks so much, Shahil! This was the first Automa solo mode that Morten created for Stonemaier Games, and I’m glad it’s withstood the test of time.

  6. Hi Jamey,

    Just played our first game of Tuscany last night, really enjoyed how it changes things up from viticulture. Just wanted to get a little bit of clarification on the new winter go-to-sleep changes.

    – Should a player take back all their workers immediately upon placing their last worker, or not until it becomes that players turn again, and they have no workers left, then they collect (we guessed the latter)
    – After a player passes in winter and takes back their workers, if an action space becomes available that has a bonus (that was already used), and a remaining player who still had workers puts a worker on that action space, do they get to use the bonus as well?

    Cheers!

    1. “Should a player take back all their workers immediately upon placing their last worker, or not until it becomes that players turn again, and they have no workers left, then they collect (we guessed the latter)”

      You guessed correctly. On every turn, you either place or pass, not both (passing in the winter is when you pick up workers).

      “After a player passes in winter and takes back their workers, if an action space becomes available that has a bonus (that was already used), and a remaining player who still had workers puts a worker on that action space, do they get to use the bonus as well?”

      –Absolutely. Whenever you place a worker on an action space with a bonus, you may gain the bonus.

  7. Okay, a really dumb and basic question …. If I can only play one worker per season, what value is there in having the ability to have up to 5 workers? Under what circumstances may I play more than one worker in a season?

    1. You can play as many workers as you’d like each season (as long as they’re available to place). You can only place 1 worker per *turn*. :)

      1. Aha … and that’s how I get to whoop some serious winemaking cask! Thanks Jamey – always gracious in responding to the most basic of questions :)

      2. Based on that answer, if I am playing solo and I want to place another worker, does automa get another card turned before I do that?

        1. Hi Beverly,
          For each season, you only draw one card for Automa and place her worker(s) based on that card. Then you may play as many workers as you’d like for that season. Have fun.

          1. That’s great! Thanks for speedy reply, I just started a game and it’s good to know I can legally play more workers.

  8. I just received Viticulture World, and I was going through everything from the base game and all expansions. I found a pack of cards that I had never opened, (there appears to be ~ 18-20 of them) still in shrink wrap. One side of the deck says :OPEN AT YOUR OWN RISK” and the other side shows the back of a structure card. What cards are these? Where do they belong? I am posting in this forum here since there appears to be at least one structure card…

    1. MG: Those were a secret surprise included in the original Kickstarter version of Tuscany; it’s a wink at Risk Legacy. They are structure cards, though I don’t think many people actually used them.

          1. Great, thanks! Just 1 more issue (at least for now):

            1) Is there an image of the 11 original visitor cards that should be replaced with the 11 new, updated visitor cards (6 summer, 5 winter) mentioned in the “Updated Components” section of Tuscany?

  9. Hi, I recently purchased the Tuscany EE which I played with Viticulture EE + Visit from the Rhine Valley and throughly enjoyed the expansion.

    One of the players purchased a “School” structure card. It says “Train 1 worker for free. You may use this worker this year”. Since we were playing with Special workers, we weren’t sure if we’d be able to train a special worker for free with the “School” structure card. I suggested the structure cards were designed to work even when there are no special workers in play, but that didn’t answer their question, “What happens when we use the special workers?”.

    1. That card isn’t referring to special workers—it’s referring to gaining a worker.

    2. The way we play, to enable compatibility with cards that weren’t designed to account for special workers, is that is if you ever want to get a special worker instead of a normal worker you have to pay an additional coin.

      So: free becomes 1 coin; discount of 2 becomes discount of 1; discount of 1 becomes no discount/ etc

    1. That promo pack adds more special worker cards to the Tuscany special worker card deck. They’re not included in the Tuscany expansion.

  10. Hey there! Why does the game box shown above seem larger than ones I find online like Amazon or Target?

    1. Our 3D image is slightly outdated–it’s really just the same box as any retailer has. :)

  11. Hi, we have been enjoying viticulture essential edition for a while now and have taken the plunge and bought the Tuscany expansion, we have yet to pay it! Looking through the components I noticed that the structure module player mats are double sided one showing the borders for structure cards and the other blank with what looks like a space for a worker only. I can find no reference to the difference and was wondering if you could explain please? Many thanks

    1. Thanks Simon! They’re functionally the same; one side has text and the other doesn’t. I recommend the side with text.

  12. Hi!! I was wondering if I can play with the special workers with the base board from viticulture or if it’s just recommended to use them on the extended board?

    1. You can use either of the modules with core game. I think most people play with the extended board once they have it, but you can definitely play the core game with the structure cards and/or the special workers. :)

      1. Thanks!! I thought maybe the game was going to be easier, but work it out great. I’ve just got my Tuscany and played only once with the extended board and I really liked it. But, my girlfriend prefers the original board because it’s a quicker game. But I still wanted a Tuscany spice and that’s why I asked about the special workers 😃

      1. Thanks Jamey! One other quick question. When playing Tuscany Expansion Solo. On the Automa 10 card it has 2 summer boxes. One is Plant. The other one is Sell at Least one Grape or Buy/Sell One Field and then it has a dashed line and then it says Trade One for One. Does this mean that the Automa goes to 3 spots in summer (Plant, Buy/Sell One Field, & Trade One for One)? If not, which one do you select for the second spot? Thanks

        1. “Sell at Least one Grape or Buy/Sell One Field” is an action on the base game board. It doesn’t exist on the Tuscany board. So, when playing the base game, you place an Automa worker on that space and when playing Tuscany you do nothing.

          “Trade one for one” is an action on the Tuscany board that doesn’t exist on the base game board. So, when playing Tuscany you place a worker there and when playing the base game you do nothing.

          So, either way you’ll place one worker in addition to the one on “Plant”.

          I hope this clears it up?

          1. The confusing thing is that there is a Buy/Sell One Field on the Tuscany Board. So when I look at that card, I see 3 separate spots on the Tuscany board to place the Automa Meeple (Plant, Buy/Sell One Field, and Trade One for One)

          2. I see your point but it’s not enough that the name of the “Buy/Sell One Field” action partially has the same name as “Sell at Least one Grape or Buy/Sell One Field”, it must be exactly the same name, to be the same action.

            It unfortunately adds to the confusion that the name of the action has an “or” in it and is split into two lines like this on the card:

            “sell at least one grape
            or buy/sell one field”

      1. No, I just noticed the Tuscany reference on the Rules website and figured it would be in the box also. No worries, I just printed out one for myself. Thank you and great game!

  13. I see that Tuscany EE is available for pre-order on the US store, but any idea when it’ll be available on the Canadian store?

    1. For both stores we’re in a similar situation: The containers with Tuscany inside of them have arrived at their respective ports, but we’re just waiting for them to actually be delivered to the fulfillment centers. As soon as we know Tuscany is on a truck/train on the way to HubTrotter, we’ll list it on the webstore; in the meantime, you can sign up for a back-in-stock notification on our Canadian webstore.

      1. Any update? I’ve pre-ordered from a game store in Canada back in February so getting close to a full year waiting.

        1. We’ve had multiple Tuscany reprints over the last year, fully supplied to distributor demands. I think your store may just not be placing an order with their distributor, unfortunately (or their distributor is disregarding their order). I appreciate you wanting to support your store, and if you tell me the name of the store, we can get in touch with them to see what’s happening.

          1. Seeing Darren’s situation above, the fact that I’ve had Tuscany on Pre-order since early July with 401games.ca makes me feel a little less aggreived. Not a big deal in the grand scheme of things but still . . .

          2. I’m sorry about that, Steve. The print run for Tuscany that we started in May has taken quite a while to arrive at distributors (who sell to retailers) due to freight shipping woes.

          3. Thanks Jamey, appreciate your answer. I was able to pick it up this weekend in a local game store and cancelled my preorder that I had been waiting on. Oddly enough when I cancelled suddenly they had it in stock and wanted to ship right away….Lesson learned. I have my copy and am super happy it one of our families favorite games and really wanted this expansion to add to the plays.

          4. Darren: Thanks for sharing. It’s kind of an odd coincidence that they suddenly had it in stock as soon as you cancelled it, no? I wonder what happened there. We’re still waiting for our restock to arrive.

  14. Hi I have few questions “Special Worker Abilities” on Tuscany EE.
    First, with “Chef” can I remove any opponents worker on board including the special worker except for the Chef? Then could opponents use special workers later on again with their abilities again?

    Second, with “Soldato” it says opponents may place workers on the same action as your Soldato even if all action spaces are full. So does it mean if when we’re playing with 6 players, all 6 workers “can” go onto a work space where a Soldato is on? Even though the available space is only 3?

    Lastly with “Messenger” my understanding is if you put a Messenger to a future season, I’d have to wait “until” that season and until “my turn” to carry out messengers “turn”. What if I’m the first one to wake up on that season, it says use the messengers action instead of placing worker, does it mean I can only carry out the messenger’s “ability?” Or can I place an additional worker after messenger, since I woke up first?

    I know some of the situation is rather radical and may not come up in real game, but just wanted to clarify those “what ifs…”

    Thanks for your time and really a great game I enjoy it a lot!

    1. We’re happy to help with these questions, Thomas. Can you please share the exact text of the Chef and Messenger cards to facilitate our ability to answer?

      1. Thanks for the reply,

        “Chef” = You may place the Chef on an action space already occupied by an opponent’s worker by “bumping” that worker back to opponent’s pool of available workers. Chef can’t bump Chefs.

        “Soldato” = If the Soldato is on an action space on the board, opponents must pay you 1lira to place a worker on the same action. Opponents may place workers on the same action as your Soldato even if all action spaces are full.

        “Messenger” = You may place the Messenger on an action space in a future season. When you take your first turn that season, use the Messengers’s action instead of placing a worker. If you are unable to take the action, you may not gain the bonus (if you’re on a bonus action space), and your turn is over.

        Thanks!

        1. Thanks! “First, with “Chef” can I remove any opponents worker on board including the special worker except for the Chef?” –Yes, any worker except the chef. “Then could opponents use special workers later on again with their abilities again?” –Yes, that’s the give-and-take of the Chef–you get an action space of your choice, but they get an extra worker placement.

          “Second, with “Soldato” it says opponents may place workers on the same action as your Soldato even if all action spaces are full. So does it mean if when we’re playing with 6 players, all 6 workers “can” go onto a work space where a Soldato is on? Even though the available space is only 3?” –They can go on the *action*, yes. I emphasize “action” because the entire action is different than each individual space on that action.

          “Lastly with “Messenger” my understanding is if you put a Messenger to a future season, I’d have to wait “until” that season and until “my turn” to carry out messengers “turn”.” –Yes, that’s correct. “What if I’m the first one to wake up on that season, it says use the messengers action instead of placing worker, does it mean I can only carry out the messenger’s “ability?” Or can I place an additional worker after messenger, since I woke up first?” –All players activate their Messengers first, then you continue in normal player order. So in the situation you describe, you would take the action with the Messenger, then you would place (or pass) as normal.

          1. Wow thank you for the kind reply! Now I’m ready to answer any of my friends questions when playing thanks a lot!

          2. Hello, I have a question regarding the “Soldato”. At the moment we just played the game in a 2 player constellation.
            We thought that the main benefit of the soldato is not the money, but that you can place more than one worker on the action (e.g. making/selling wine). So is this really correct, that I can play as many workers as I have on the same action as the soldato is? Thank you very much, in advance.

          3. I don’t have that card in front of me (it helps if you type the text on the card for questions), but if memory serves me, if your Soldato is on an action, other players must pay you $1 to place their workers on that action. This is both a barrier to place there (you must pay $1), but it also creates an opportunity for other players to place multiple workers on the action, as you suggested (only 1 worker per turn).

    1. I don’t know exactly when, as there are many layers to the supply chain, but we reprint Tuscany 4 times a year, and more will be available soon.

  15. Dear Jamey, My girlfriend and I have been playing Viticulture EE for about two years and recently purchased Tuscany EE, and the Moor Visitors and Rhine Valley expansions. We sat down last night to play Tuscany EE with all three extras: structure cards and mat, special workers, and influence map. We loved it! As we have only played two-player games we appreciate having more bonuses in the first space of each action and think it’s great there are now two “build structure” actions, in Spring and Fall. Adds more opportunity to the game, especially using the expanded structure cards and mat. My request/comment is personal. I have a color-deficiency and have difficulty discerning reds from greens and shades of blue. I can easily tell the Winter Visitor cards from the Wine Order cards because of their different backs; however, within the game itself; on the wake-up grid, or on visitor cards or action bonuses, it is very difficult to identify the colors of Winter Visitor cards from the Wine Order cards and I often have to show my girlfriend my cards or ask what color a bonus is to make a good decision. I also have a slight problem discerning the Summer Visitor cards, Vines cards and Structure card bonuses from one another as printed on the board. For these three it is not as bad as the Winter Visitors and Wine Orders, but it can be frustrating at times. Is appealing to or understanding how color-blind or color-deficient players see the game considered in the design process? If not, please do so. Are any of your play testers color-blind/color-deficient? If not, would you consider adding some to your play test group? We are not a huge percentage of the population, but it would be great to see more games with easily recognizable colors. Thank you for listening. Thank you for your YouTube channel and being open about game design and your love of games. Cheers, and all our best!

    1. I really appreciate your feedback about this! I have to say that it isn’t the first time we’ve heard it; it’s just a tough fix to make at this point in Viticulture’s lifestyle, particularly with the number of expansions in the mix. Viticulture was our first game, and since then we work with colorblind playtesters, proofreaders, and a colorblind app to prevent this type of issue from happening.

      1. Thank you for your response. It’s great to know this is considered in the Stonemaier design process. We are Stonemaier Champions and look forward to the release of the many new games in the queue for the next few years! Cheers!!

  16. Hi,
    I’d like to buy Viticulture EE and trying to decide which expansions to buy it with. People usually comment on how the Tuscany board is almost neccessary to make this a great game. I think that buying an expansion just to “replace” one of the main items -the board itself- is like wasting money and resources. Do you think we will have a standalone Viticulture Tuscany edition in the future?

    1. I’d recommend just buying Viticulture EE for now and later deciding how you want to expand it (people often share their opinions about this topic in the Viticulture Facebook group). It’s true that many people who enjoy Viticulture like it even more with Tuscany, but Tuscany definitely is not necessary for enjoying Viticulture. I’ve played and taught Viticulture many times by itself. There will be no such thing as a combined version of Viticulture and Tuscany.

  17. Which expansion do you recommend to Viticulture Tuscany EE?
    Moor visitors or Visit from the Rhein valley?

    Can I mix them freely with Tuscany or what are the combinations? Does it make sense to have both or just one? Which?

    1. I recommend both. :) Moor Visitors shuffles into other visitor cards; Rhine Valley is played separately from other visitors. Both are compatible with Tuscany.

  18. Man, we are chomping at the bit to get our hands on a copy of this expansion! We love Viticulture Essential Edition!! Been pairing it up with a nice valpolicella lately. Thanks guys for a great game (P.S. We are also totally geeked out on Wingspan!).

  19. Hi! Im looking forward to buy all the expansions of viticulture, the problem is that tuscany is not available right now, are you guys getting a restock anytime soon?

    1. Yes, we started the reprint several months ago, and it’s due to arrive in May. If you enter your information on our webstore’s back in stock notification box for Tuscany, we’ll let you know when it’s back in stock. :)

  20. Any chance the reprint will be in stock in the US when Red Rising goes live for preorder? If not, any chance I can combine orders later in March to save on shipping if this will be in stock before Red Rising ships

    1. I wish that were the case, but Tuscany won’t be back in stock for a few more months (reprints typically take 3+ months to make and 1.5 months for freight shipping).

      1. Ah ok. I saw lower in the thread you were expecting Feb but I guess I missed out! I’ll keep my eyes peeled for the restock notification. Thanks!

    1. I think we should receive the restock in February. If you enter your email on the back-in-stock request on our webstore, we’ll let you know when the restock arrives.

  21. Hello,

    I have a question about special worker and structures cards in Tuscany EE.

    Can I use the político’s ability in the ristorante action space to get the bonus again?

    This game is the best, thanks!

    1. Felipe: I don’t have the politico or the ristorante in front of me, but if you type out their text, I’d be happy to help!

        1. The Politico says “on the board”. The Ristorante is a card on your structure mat, not on the board, so you cannot place a Politico there. Thanks!

  22. Does the creation of a resource happen concurrently with playing a visitor card or subsequent to playing the card that creates it? The situation in which this arose:

    1) A player has a special structure that allows them to lose one wine token to gain 2 VP any time they play a visitor card
    2) The player has no wine in their cellar, but plays a blue visitor card that allows them to make 3 wine.
    3) May the player then utilize the special structure’s ability to discard one of the wines they just made?

    So, is there an order of operations for these cards; you have to have wine in your cellar before you play the visitor card in order to utilize the special structure.

    or

    All of the actions/abilities happen simultaneously; you can play the visitor card that creates the wine, and utilize the special structure’s unique function at the same time.

    p.s. Sorry I don’t remember what the visitor card was called.

  23. when you have the mafioso meeple and the fermentation tank structure and you play the meeple on the personal yoke, you get the harvest a field action twice. Do you get to make a wine twice also?

    1. That’s correct! But remember you can only harvest each field once per year. So the Mafioso would need to harvest one field (then make a wine with the Fermentation Tank), and then harvest a different field (making another wine after that, if you’d like).

  24. Hi,

    I have a question regarding the influence map in a two player game and an Automa game.

    My question is – why is influence map scoring not recommended in a two player game but influence map scoring is included in an Automa game?

    Thanks in advance 🙂

    Josh

    1. While the Automa game is a simulated opponent, the solo game is much different than the multiplayer game in certain ways (like the “bonus action tokens”). And not scoring the influence map in the 2-human-player game is only a recommendation (originally coming from our fans and their preferences). Personally, I have always scored the influence map in my 2-player games.

      1. Thanks for your quick response. I am enjoying the game.

        I have a question about generic grape and wine tokens on the visitor cards that came up in my last game. I am not sure if I am playing correctly. If a visitor card has a number inside a generic grape token (yellow and red circle) or generic wine token (grey glass) does this number always refer to the value of the token and not the quantity of grapes or wine?

        For example: the Writer summer visitor card, we played it as, discard 1 wine of any vale to gain 2 residual income or loose 2 residual income to gain 1 single value 4 grape (red, white or blush) or 1 single value 4 wine (red, white or blush).

        1. Yes, that’s correct. If the number is inside the icon, it represents the value. If it’s before the icon it represents the quantity. That’s the correct interpretation of the Writer card.

  25. Hi, I was totally blown away by Viticulture Essential Edition, the game is terrific! and I was surprised and very happy to realize that the main board was double faced in Italian and English, perfect for my typical game company. I bought after all the expansions and I realized that Tuscany was only in Italian Language. Could u explain if there’s an error or a need to have a double side of Tuscany EE board, with only one Language? And if it was not a printing error, is that possible to purchase only the English main board? Thanks and keep on with the good work!

    1. Vito: Your Tuscany board is correct–one side includes orange cards/slots for when you play with building cards; the other side does not.

      As for Viticulture, sometimes we print English copies of Viticulture at the same time as a localization partner. When that happens, we print one language on each side of the board. But that’s more the exception than the norm.

  26. Jamey,

    I have a player who plays Viticulture with me, but doesn’t like the Visitor cards, and therefore doesn’t have interest in continued plays. I want them to keep playing with me, so I need to make a change.

    We play with the Tuscany EE board with structures. We both prefer this.

    If we play without the summer or winter visitor decks, what would you recommend as replacement actions for the “Play a visitor” actions in summer and winter?

    For the Cottage, I was thinking of making it “Draw any card” (green, purple, or orange). Same for the yellow and blue card draws on the wake-up track.

    1. Timothy: Thanks for asking about this! For house rules, could you post in the Viticulture Facebook group or on BGG? As the designer of the game, I think the best way to play Viticulture is by the rules, but I’m open to players discussing house rules among themselves. :)

  27. Hi, Great games both but I’m new to Tuscany & have a query re playing of ‘Influence’. My instinct is that you should be able to play more than one influence on the same area from the start (ie. Turn 1, Arezzo Turn 2, Arezzo) but I’ve noticed some players think you have to play one on each area before ‘Moving’ them strategically for the end game bonus.
    I cant see anything in the rules either way.
    Can you clarify please Jaime? Cheers, Richard
    PS. I have Essential Viteculture & Tuscany (Expand the World) rules.

    1. There’s no restriction. You could use multiple turns to place all of your influence tokens on the exact same area if you’d like. :)

  28. Hello,
    I have two questions on Tuscany EE Structure cards:
    1) Action structures: Can one places a worker there, not being able to do the action but only to get the bonus on the action space?
    2) Enhancement bonus: Can the bonus be triggered more than once in a year?

    Thanks!

    1. 1. For any action (on the board, on cards, etc), you must take the action. It is mandatory.
      2. Yes, ongoing enhancements can be triggered more than once per year.

      I’m getting deja vu–I think you may have posted these questions elsewhere too. :)

      1. Thanks Jamey!

        I think I have posted the same question on this site about a week ago but it seems to have disappeared!

        Sorry about that :)

  29. Hi Jamey,

    In the Tuscany EE do the victory points from the influence map count towards the 25 victory points to end of the game or do they only count after a player has already 25 victory points, excluding the ones from the influence map?

    Example:
    – Player 1 is leading with 23 victory points.
    – It is the end of the winter.
    – Player 1 has more stars on “Arezzo” (2VP)
    – Does the game ends or they should continue playing the next year?

    1. They’re accounted for during end-game scoring, and the game can’t end until someone reaches 25 VP. So whenever that happens during the game, finish that year, then look at the map to gain end-game points.

  30. Hi Jamey,

    In the Tuscany expansion for the star action, it recommends the variant for two players of not scoring points at the end. Once a player has placed their six stars can the star action in future allow them to move their star and gain the bonus beneath the name? We were not sure because otherwise you can only move the stars for no purpose.

        1. You’d just move (or not move) a star. If you’re playing with the 2-player variant, you’re right that moving the star doesn’t help you at that point.

  31. Is there anyway to get the 9 special worker promo cards? Ive looked high and low for these.

    I have everything for the game except these. Even the original tuscany and its extras.

    I cant find these promo cards anywhere. I love the special workers. Theyre so much fun

  32. I have a question about formaggio. The first cheese expert. In the rules it says sell one cheese token to gain one VP on the “sell one wine token”

    Where is the space that says sell one wine token?….
    I see fill orders. Sell and trade grapes. But never sell wine.

    This is extremely confusing and there are no forums or questions on this. Ive looked.

    How does the cheesemonger work Jamey? Thank you :)!

    P.S. loving viticulture. I have everything minus the 9 promo cards. looking for them. And no metal coins.

  33. Jamey,
    Thanks for the quick reply! That’s what I thought. I wonder how many are aging wine as well on the wake up chart?

  34. Jamey, I’m just getting into Tuscany EE and loving it! One question – on the wake up chart, does “Age Grapes” mean just that? i.e. wines are not aged? I’m thinking only grapes, as your rules wording is usually very precise. Thanks and thanks for the great game! Chris.

    1. Thanks Chris! You’re correct–the special bonus on the wake-up chart is only for aging your grapes. It’s below the chart (during end-of-year cleanup) that you age both grapes and wine.

    1. We just recently sold out, and we’re making more, but it’ll be a few months before it’s back in stock. Some retailers are sure to still have it, though.

    1. Ome51: It doesn’t look like I have that file, but if you ask Matagot for it, they should be able to provide it.

  35. Is there any plans on re-releasing the arboriculture expansion again? The wife and I just got the essential edition and Tuscany expansion but would love another expansion!

    1. We provide it as a free download, but no, we won’t be making it. You can get Moor Visitors, though! :)

      1. Already have as well as the metal coins (which are awesome BTW). Thanks for the quick reply. I guess I shoulda read up top before asking lol. Keep making great games, we love Viti, Scythe and Charterstone! Cheers!

  36. Hi Jamey, are you planning to release a French version of Tuscany Essential Edition anytime soon ?

    Thanks and have a great day !
    Eric

    1. Eric: Thanks for your question. Matagot released the French version of Tuscany Essential earlier this fall. :)

  37. I have to report that the Italian version of the manual available online is plagued by typos, basically looking like it lacked any proofreading. I count three on the first page alone, with a lot more after. It probably is just a draft of the final cut (the file has been last edited in june ’16, after all), but in case it isn’t, please be sure to fix.
    Looking forward to the expansion! :-)

      1. I have the question, because there are more posibilities on the new board. These posibilities are not on the Automacards, how does it works? I didn’t find extrarules for the sologame.

        1. Sabine: They’re on the Automa cards–just look for the little “T” on some of the actions of those cards. They work the same way as Viticulture.

          1. Hi, thank you for the answers, I have vergotten to say I have the German game from Feuerland, is it also posible? I like the solomodus very much and often played it.

          2. Ah, I see. Yes, I think Feuerland removed the T without realizing its importance. Have you contacted them to see if there’s a solution from their end?

  38. Jamey,

    Just completed a 6 player game of the Tuscany E.E. expansion (without the structure cards). The winning player didn’t plant any vines or fill any wine orders. They sold all of their fields, had a tasting room from their papa card and relied on visitor cards, tours and the trade action to buy victory points. Seemed like a legit play/win, according to the rules, but it broke the experience (and spirit) of the game from my perspective.
    Did this come up in play testing? Did you consider creating a negative modifier or cost to having all of your fields mortgaged?
    Could have been a one time lucky thing (right cards at the right time) – definitely going to try again. Would love to hear your thoughts.
    thanks.

    1. Mike: Sure, there are lots of ways to gain reputation while running a vineyard. We did test such extremes, and they’re a viable way to play. I personally prefer to make wine, and I generally fine it’s more effective than circumventing that process.

  39. Hi Jamey ,

    the only way to have :

    -Arboriculture
    -Mafia
    -Patronage
    -Formaggio

    I have to buy the old version of tuscany ? or you will make available those expansions soon in any sort of kit expansions ?

    best regard

  40. Hi,
    I am wondering new rules about “End of Year Upkeep”. I’m inclined to house-rule retrieving workers after everyone passed out of winter. Because removing them in middle of other players turn seems a bit “asymmetrical” compared to other seasons. I feel like winter isn’t rewarding first player on wake-up chart enough (or punishing players that choose to go later), it’s rewarding one with most workers.

    So my question.. Is there something that came out during play-testing that I’m not aware? ..or is it put that way just to simplify upkeep rule?

    Thank you for the answer.

    1. Davor: There are several reasons why I would highly recommend you not house-rule this. First, it’s intended to be a balancing mechanism between waking up early and waking up late. Players who wake up early get to go first each season, and with the Tuscany board having 4 worker-placement seasons instead of 2, that’s a big deal.

      Second, one of the major pieces of feedback I got about Viticulture was that because a huge part of the game is about building up to a big payout the last year (or during crucial years). That can create a big stopgap in the winter, creating situations where players will really need to fill orders, but they’ll be unable to do so.

      Third, the Tuscany board is all about an even flow from one year to the next. A game manager isn’t needed to tell everyone to retrieve their workers like in Viticulture–it’s simply built into what each player does when they pass out of winter.

      I completely understand house rules that can make a game less frustrating, but this house rule will make the game MORE frustrating, which I would prefer you not do. :)

      1. Thanks for clearing that up. I guess that in two player game this isn’t as obvious as it is in game with 3 or more.

  41. Hi, I have the Complete Collector’s Edition from the kickstarter. Is there a way to get a copy of the special workers promo cards?
    Thank you in advance.
    Gabriele

  42. I preordered from Funagain Games in July, but I didn’t receive the 9 promo cards. Was I supposed to receive these?

    1. Aaron: Yes, Funagain should have sent them to you if you pre-ordered in before November. Sometimes they’re in the courier packaging and people missed them, and sometimes they’re just missing. If you contact Funagain, they’ll send them to you.

  43. Hi Jamey,

    Were the 9 promo cards supposed to be in the box or a separate card pack? Asking since I preordered from Miniature Market and didn’t receive the promo cards.

    1. Chris: They’re in a separate pack. We sent them all to Miniature Market, and they should have shipped the cards with the game. If you poke around in the package and can’t find it, just contact them and ask for the missing component.

  44. Begin to say how much I like this game and with Tuscany Essential it flat out awesome! In my humble opinion the best expansion ever made!

    Just three questions:

    1b. With the Apprentice; Does it mean your Grande has to be among your available workers or do you pull him from an actionspace you have already used him at in current or previous seasons?

    1b. If the actionspace taken by your Apprentice had a bonusaction on it, does your Grande receives that aswell meaning you’ll get a double bonus?

    1c. Say you do get double bonus and the actionspace you recieved twice is one that grants you a card, can you use the lira, VP or whatever you got from the first card to fulfill the requirements of the second card given to you by your Grande?

    /Simon

    1. Thanks Simon! I noticed you posted on YouTube as well–you only need to post in one place, as I’ll take care of it. :) Here’s the answer:

      Thanks for your questions! The Apprentice reads, “After taking an action with the Apprentice, you may immediately place your Grande Worker on the same action (not on an action space).” Your grande worker needs to be available (i.e., not already placed) for you to do this. Any worker only gets a bonus if it’s placed on a bonus action space, so in this case, because the Grande Worker must be placed “not on an action space,” you can’t get a bonus.

      As for general rules for getting bonuses, you can gain the bonus before or after you take the action (or not at all–the bonus is optional).

      1. Given your answer above, please can you clarify the idea/purpose of the apprentice?
        Is the advantage offered the ability to allow the Grande Worker to duplicate an action on your home board that would not usually be a legal move?

        1. It’s one of a few times in Viticulture where order of operations may be beneficial to you. That is, doing the same action twice in a row might be better than taking that action on subsequent turns.

  45. Hi Jamey,

    will there be a german translation of Viticulture Tuscany Essential Edition. My attempts to get an answer from Feuerland-Spiele, who translated Viticulture Essential Edition was unsuccessful, as they only referred to the original Tuscany Edition.

      1. That’d be really great. I got Viticulture EE as a birthday gift and badly want the Tuscany EE, too. It would be really nice to have them both in the same language version (I wouldn’t mind English, but I already got the base game in German, so I prefer having the expansion in German, too.)
        Thank you for talking to them!

          1. Julian: Our German partner is still thinking about releasing a German version of Tuscany Essential. Feel free to tell Feuerland if you’re interested! :)

  46. Please tell me that the box format would be the same as Viticulture Essential! This boxfront with equal sides scares me that I’ll have to take this box away from it’s basegame. THX

  47. Hi
    Just wondering what the card sizes are, for sleeve purposes.
    – 36 structure cards
    – 11 worker reference cards
    Thanks
    Tod

  48. Hi Jamey,

    I have to make a complain here, that contact from PORTUGAL is not working. Or its ignoring requests.

  49. Am I right in thinking that I need Viticulture essential, Tuscany and Tuscany essential to have all the expansions? If so, where to buy all 3 at best price? Or what do I need? :)

    1. Jasmine: Thanks for your question. To have all the expansions, you need the original Tuscany and Moor Visitors. 5 of the expansions in Tuscany (which are expansions that some people use, but we’ve deemed them non-essential) have been removed, so Tuscany Essential only has 3 expansions.

      So you could either hunt down Tuscany (I don’t know who has it) or you could get Tuscany Essential, which I think will satisfy the expansion desires of most people. And then get Moor Visitors if you want more visitor cards. :)

  50. Hi Jamey.
    I want to play all rules.
    But, I don’t get some rules with Tuscany Essential Edition and Viticulture Essential Edition.
    Will you reprint these rules in some form or other?

    1. Ken: Tuscany Essential will come with the Tuscany Essential rulebook, which complements the Viticulture EE rulebook. If you’re looking for a specific rulebook, we have them all on our website.

  51. Hi there, I’m trying to follow your instructions for the Pre-Order of Tuscany Essentials Edition but I also see there is a date range that starts in July.

    Is that when the pre-order will be available to be made at the online retailers?

    Thanks!

    1. That’s correct–you will be able to preorder Tuscany EE from retailers starting on July 13.

      1. Jamey, thank you for the heads up.

        I have one more question and I apologize if I missed this detail.

        The board for the Tuscany Essential edition, will the board be the new matte board like with Viticulture Essential Edition and have some of the rule updates applied to the board? Or will it be the exact same board that I have with my current Tuscany board (shiny with some older rules)

        Thanks again in advance for such a quick turnaround on a response! :)

        1. I recently order Viticulture Essentials (didn’t have the original Viticulture) and a copy of Tuscany from a user on BGG.

          I noticed that Viticulture EE has some nice rule changes that Tuscany seems to be missing. So I’m curious if I should donate Tuscany to a friend and go with Tuscany EE; if the new board with Tuscany EE is going to be updated to the nice matte finish with the new rule changes. If it’s going to be identical to the existing Tuscany board then I probably will just hold onto it to keep Formaggio and Aboriculture.

          I’ve read the Tuscany EE page and have seen the differences but what mostly I’m interested in is an updated board (and matte?) haha

          Are the changes I’m interested in going to be in Tuscany EE (if you can divulge the answer).

          Thanks :)

          1. Rob: The board will be identical except matte instead of the original glossy. There are no rule changes in Viticulture EE that impact the extended board.

  52. Hi Jamey,

    I can’t wait to get this and the Essential Edition Upgrade Pack! I was reading the Tuscany Essential Editions rules and I wasn’t sure if this was a typo or not.

    Under “End Game” it says:
    “…add in victory points from patronage cards…”

    Should that be removed from this rulebook since from what it seems, the Patronage cards won’t be included? I assume this was probably just copied over from the regular Tuscany rulebook =)

  53. I don’t understand anything that’s going on with the various names for Tuscany. Say I want the base game and all the expansions, what do I need to get and is it possible? I can’t seem to find Viticulture anywhere.

    1. If you want the base game and all the expansions, you’ll need to buy Viticulture, the original Tuscany (which is very hard to get), and Moor Visitors. Viticulture is in stock–just ask your local or online retailer to stock it for you.

  54. I agree with Eric — I already have Tuscany, but it would be nice to have a way to get the 2 grey special workers.

    1. It looks like the players’ special workers in this set are the same as the Farmer and the Innkeeper in Tuscany. Thus, as Jamey said, anyone with Tuscany already has those pieces.

  55. For the promo cards any way we can get the new 14 meeples the 2 grey and 12 male/female player colors to just be the new type in our game. That way if you do more roles in future we always have a unique character for those. Be willing to buy them from you directly or geek store

  56. I will say no more, but expect completionists (like me) to hound you over the gray workers as a separate purchase or with the promo cards.

  57. Also, for those with regular Tuscany, when we but the new promo cards, will be be able to buy the gray workers with them?

  58. Do ambassadors get a preview of the 9 new special workers? I guess I will be exapnding my Collector’s Edition again (this is not a complaint).

    1. Eric: Are you on Facebook? I posted a preview of the cards on the Viticulture/Tuscany group there a week ago. The promo pack will just be a set of cards (it’s much easier to package and ship that way). For people like you who have the original Tuscany, in 1-5 player games you can just assign the another color of worker to the cards. In a 6-player games, you’ll pile up each worker type on the special worker cards as a visual cue. So really the only difficulty will be if in a 6-player game if all 6 players train all of their special workers, but by that time players should know which is which.

      1. I have heard about facing books, but the view out my window is much better. :) I’ll try to scope them out.

  59. Looks like previous posters have picked everything up. Just to echo Brandon though: I too looked for a sidebar on my phone and had to do a bit of scrolling around. But apart from that it renders well on a mobile device. :-)

  60. The statement “All other expansions in Tuscany are out of print.” makes me think that the expansion elements from Tuscany not included in the Essential Tuscany have at some point been available separately. It might be better to say something along the lines of “We have no current plans to reprint Tuscany in it’s entirety”, or “We have no current plans to reprint the ‘non essential’ modules of Tuscany.”

  61. Presumably the box art in the main photo at the top of this page is going to change? If so, it would be good to make this clear.

    A couple of other small things: (1) It would be good to update the formatting of the title ‘FAQ’ to use heading 2 or 3 and not just in bold like questions; (2) You could hyperlink your email address in the ‘How to Pre-Order Tuscany Essential’ paragraph.

  62. The first thing that came to mind for me was based on the fact that I accessed this site via mobile. The page states:

    “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 …”

    However, the sidebar is more of a “bottom section”, as it is actually well below where I’m currently typing this on the mobile page. Small thing, but I definitely searched around the top of the page for a bit before I scrolled all the way down.

  63. Agree with the major points above. Slightly confused by the dash before the 20 minutes per player/ $30 MSRP. It looks like the expansions reduce the game length – I am sure most people will understand but ….

  64. Hi Jamey,
    Some proofreading notes for you to use or not:

    1 Can I order metal coins for Viticulture/Tuscany? In the answer, there should be a space in between ViticultueEssential

    2 Are there any rule changes between Tuscany and Tuscany Essential?
    Second paragraph: “that says that” should probably be replaced with “in which”

    3 Why doesn’t Tuscany Essential include all the original special worker meeples?
    Second paragraph, third sentence: add the word “are” to become “There are 2 in each color”

    4 Which expansions were removed from the original version of Tuscany and why?
    Second paragraph: remove the comma in “they’re not essential to the Tuscany expansion experience, and…”

    Matt

  65. Also, the board you pictured does not include structures. You might want to mention that the reason the board is two-sided is to allow one side for structures and the other for no structures.

  66. “Pre-ordered copies will include 9 special worker promo cards which will also be available through the BoardGameGeek store. All other expansions in Tuscany are out of print.”

    These should probably be in separate paragraphs, or in the opposite order. Right now it sounds like the 9 special promo cards were a part of Tuscany.

    Speaking of which, you should probably say whether these 9 special cards represent a sub-group of the 11 (presumably printed differently), or a different group of cards, or something in-between.

  67. Hi Jamey (I’ve sent an email with screenshots for your reference)

    1) The “Original Tuscany Expansions: Where Are They Now?” image quality is poor. You can barely make out the titles – let alone the subtext under each.

    2) Perhaps make the “Original Tuscany Expansions: Where Are They Now?” image clickable – so the full image loads in a separate tab/window

    3) Wondering if it’s better to say “We’re removing the expansions in red…” rather than “We’re cutting the expansions in red…”

    4) I noticed when you click on “Subscribe for Launch Notification” the capitalisation of the subscribe form is inconsistent. ie Email Address, Country, full name.

    Looking forward to the preorder campaign!

    Matt

    1. I agree with points (1) and (2) above. In my quick read-through all my questions were answered.

        1. I already made those changes yesterday–can you help clarify which points you’re agreeing with? The image is now clickable in the sidebar.

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