Viticulture Essential Edition
- July 10, 2020
- DIGIDICED
Get on SteamIn Viticulture Essential Edition, you run a vineyard in Tuscany, managing workers, tasks, and resources across seasons to expand and produce quality wine. Compete with other players to fulfill wine orders and build the most successful winery. The game is family-friendly, with cross-platform multiplayer and an easy tutorial for up to six players.
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Reviews
- Fun strategic board game that is quick to learn and offers multiple paths to victory.
- Decent adaptation of the physical board game, providing a good way to practice strategies against AI.
- Great representation of the original game, with enjoyable music and visuals reminiscent of classic computer games.
- The user interface is clunky and unintuitive, making it difficult to navigate and understand game mechanics.
- Frequent bugs and crashes, with some players experiencing issues that render the game unplayable.
- The AI can be frustratingly slow, and the game requires excessive confirmations for actions, leading to a tedious experience.
- graphics13 mentions
- 23 % positive mentions
- 54 % neutral mentions
- 23 % negative mentions
The graphics have received mixed reviews, with some users appreciating the nostalgic '90s aesthetic and the faithful representation of the board game, while others criticize the lack of polish, mismatched art styles, and outdated visuals. Many players express disappointment over slow updates and unclear graphical information, alongside calls for improvements in UI and overall aesthetics. Overall, the graphics are seen as a significant area needing enhancement, especially given the game's price point.
“Love the music, and the graphics remind me of '90s computer games (in a good way).”
“The graphics are spot on and a 5 out of 5.”
“Graphics and sounds evoke the feel of the board game and I've yet to find any rules bugs.”
“Graphics are not as stylish as the tabletop version.”
“Charging a high price for a game that has poor graphics (10-year-old graphics), not optimized for PC (originally for phones and so the PC version only shows half of the screen, with the other half having borders), and broken online play (online play simply does not work).”
“Lots of things that can be improved here like icons, buttons, animation, graphical information, sound, etc. These aren't as polished or as intuitive as they could be, so I'm hoping the devs can do something about it.”
- gameplay11 mentions
- 36 % positive mentions
- 36 % neutral mentions
- 27 % negative mentions
Gameplay is generally smooth and closely mirrors the board game, making it a useful tool for learning the mechanics. While most mechanics function well, some bugs in specific card interactions and non-intuitive menus can detract from the experience. Overall, it offers a solid foundation for both digital and physical play, with expansions enhancing the gameplay further.
“The mechanics can be a little confusing at first, but after the first few plays, it is easy to understand.”
“Good implementation of the board game, and a great way to get familiar with the mechanics for real-life games.”
“The digital version is a great way to perfect your gameplay.”
“They just put the mechanics into their machine to make money off a recognizable title.”
“Poor gameplay.”
“Extremely non-intuitive in both menus and gameplay.”
- stability4 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The game's stability is a significant issue, with frequent freezes and crashes reported during gameplay, leading to lost progress and frustration among players. Users have described the game as very buggy, indicating that these technical problems severely impact the overall experience.
“I have never posted about any game before...ever (I really mean this). However, now that I've lost the progress I've made for 4 games because the game freezes on my turn, I must now comment on my frustrations (it's the least I can do since I can never get my time back).”
“The game freezes in mid-play (which is my main influence for writing this).”
“The game is very buggy and crashes a lot.”
- grinding3 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be slow and tedious, with many expressing frustration over the lack of engaging animations and a cumbersome learning process, even for those familiar with the physical version.
“This is tedious to play.”
“Slow and tedious presentation.”
“We should animate something! Even going into it having played the physical game, learning how to play this was really tedious.”
- music3 mentions
- 67 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 33 % negative mentions
The music in the game is highly praised for enhancing the atmosphere, evoking a nostalgic feel reminiscent of '90s computer games and effectively capturing the essence of the setting, similar to the approach taken in Terraforming Mars. However, there is a concern that if not executed well, as seen in Viticulture, the charm and nuance of the game could be diminished.
“Love the music, and the graphics remind me of '90s computer games (in a good way).”
“The background music is a nice touch of atmosphere, making it feel like you are in Italy.”
“Either you do it like the folks who did Terraforming Mars and really capture the feel and spirit of the game using a combo of music, intuitive design, sound effects, and a lot of polish, or you do it the way the folks did with Viticulture, and a lot of the charm and nuance of the game is lost.”
- optimization3 mentions
- 33 % positive mentions
- -33 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The game suffers from significant optimization issues on PC, including outdated graphics, improper screen display with borders, and non-functional online play, leading to a disappointing experience for players who expected a polished product for its high price.
“I hope another game speed will be added for further optimization.”
“Not optimized for PC.”
“Charging a high price for a game that has poor graphics (10-year-old graphics), not optimized for PC (originally for phones, so the PC version only shows half of the screen, with the other half having borders), and broken online play (online play simply does not work).”
“I hope another game speed will be added to further optimize.”
- atmosphere1 mentions
- 300 % positive mentions
- -200 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The atmosphere is enhanced by the background music, which effectively evokes a sense of being in Italy, contributing to an immersive experience.
“The background music adds a wonderful layer of atmosphere, making it feel like you're in Italy.”
“The immersive sound design truly enhances the atmosphere, pulling you into the game's world.”
“The stunning visuals combined with the ambient sounds create an unforgettable atmosphere that keeps you engaged.”
- humor1 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The humor aspect of the game is not widely discussed, with one user specifically noting they haven't engaged with the online play to form an opinion on its comedic elements. Overall, humor appears to be a less prominent feature in the reviews.
