Stonemaier Games’ Tuscany crashed into Kickstarter like the Romans invading . It launched yesterday on Kickstarter and is discreetly flirting with $125,000! With that kind of launch you would think it was a video game, a movie about a teenaged detective, or even a miniatures game. But it’s not. It’s an expansion pack for Stonemaier’s fantastic BOARD GAME Viticulture. I have a review of Viticulture pending but a quick summary – It’s a strategy game in which players are vitners (wine growers) and is about growing grapes and making wine. It was Stonemaier’s first release and is a very good, well respected game. And it’s that respect and Stonemaier’s stellar reputation as a quality outfit that I believe is leading this surge. That and the fact that the Tuscany expansion pack contains NINE expansions that are added in a ‘legacy’ style. That is so intriguing. Tuscany adds a lot of interesting twists to Viticulture. There’s asymmetric starting resources, new visitor cards, an extended board, special workers, Arboriculture, cheese making, and more. It is an expansion PACK, a bunch of expansions. You need Viticulture for this but never fear you can add a copy for a nice price if needed. The bits in all of Stonemaier’s games are superb. Quality is a hallmark of this company. I can’t wait to see this in action. If it is anything like Viticulture or Euphoria, Stonemaier’s second, Tuscany will be fabulous.
You can support Tuscany right here.
Enhance, elevate, and expand Viticulture: The Strategic Game of Winemaking in this expansion pack from Stonemaier Games.
Meanwhile, Crash Games launched Pay Dirt, the latest game from designer Tory Niemann of Alien Frontiers fame. Pay Dirt is about gold mining in Alaska. It’s a race against the other players AND Mother Nature as you try to grub out more gold than the others before the ground freezes. As players discover gold they’ll have to spend it to keep the elements at bay and improve their abilities to dig more of the valuable rock.
The game looks amazing even though the shown components are prototypes. The actual bits and boards will be super. Pay Dirt players place workers to build and improve their mining engine. I’m a worker placement junkie so I know I will like this game. It has a good pedigree. Tory Niemann’s Alien Frontiers is a awesome game of dice/worker placement. Crash Games has produced some super sweet games with Council of Verona being the most recent.
The freezing timing mechanism of Pay Dirt really intrigues me. I am looking forward to getting my hands Dirty. You can support Pay Dirt right here.
I believe BOTH these games deserve your support.
Go Forth And Game 