Title: Vineyard: A Winemaking Game
Designed By: Roberta Tyler
Art by: Katherine Waddell
Published By: Pencil First Games
Released: Coming to Kickstarter February 11, 2025
Player Count: 1-4
Time to Play: 60 Minutes
Ages: 14+
Overview:
Vineyard: A Winemaking Game by Pencil First Games lets players dive into the artful world of crafting fine wines. Set in the charming world of a beautiful vineyard, this game blends strategic action retrieval with shared worker placement mechanics, creating a rich, dynamic experience for 1–4 players. As you guide your team of "friends" through grape harvesting, wine production, and fulfilling orders, you'll find every decision ripening with meaningful choices. Whether you’re optimizing your hand of upgrade cards or chasing bonuses from a wandering feline, Vineyard offers a cozy, competitive journey through the winemaking process. As the heaviest game so far from Pencil First Games that I have played, Vineyard was a lovely step up in complexity from their previous titles, which I always enjoy.
What's purr-ty cool:
Action Retrieval with a Strategic Twist
What sets Vineyard apart is its clever action retrieval system. Instead of simply placing workers, you deploy "friends," each with unique abilities. The catch? You can’t place a friend where they already are, and once they’ve been used, they must move to a new space. This creates deliciously tough choices: do you prioritize a specific friend’s ability, or the action you desperately need? Often, you can't have both, forcing you to weigh your options carefully. Plus, every move impacts not just your strategy but your opponents’ too. Since each player’s friends interact differently with the board, you’ll find yourself planning not only for your own benefit but also to subtly sabotage your competition.
Tiny Deck, Big Decisions
All players start with the same basic deck, but as the game advances, players will purchase new cards to replace exsisting cards in their decks leaving each person with a unique strategy and game plan. The upgrade cards in Vineyard are tiny deck builder brilliance. With a hand limit of just seven cards at all times, every card matters and the choices you make quickly impact your options going forward. Doubling up on cards for specific actions can supercharge one action you are focusing on, but if that action gets blocked? Oof. You might be stuck with a "paperwork" action, which feels about as exciting as it sounds. (Paperwork is how you retrieve your cards to use again on future turns.) This tight hand management creates a satisfying puzzle each round, balancing risk and reward in every decision.
Scales Well Across Player Counts
While Vineyard plays smoothly with two players (thanks to all four friends being in play regardless of player count), I think it would truly blossoms with four. I didn't get a chance to play at this player count, but more players mean more movement, more shifting dynamics, and faster progression of actions like aging wine and loading barrels. The shared friends mechanic keeps everyone engaged, creating a lively, interconnected board state where no one’s strategy exists in a vacuum. I also appreciate how there is a Solo mode with an actual win/loss condition. I dislike when game's solo modes are just score as many points as you can. Here, you have to actually outscore you AI opponent Aunt Mabel!
Jasper the Cat Expansion – Because, of Course, Cat.
Enter Jasper, the game’s feline guest star who prowls the vineyard, adding unexpected bonuses. Visiting Jasper’s current space can grant delightful perks—when you manage to catch her, that is. Jasper moves around quite a bit, so triggering her effects isn’t always easy, but when you do, it feels like finding a little treasure. Plus, let’s be honest: adding a cat to any game instantly improves it. That’s just science.
A Cozy, Thematic Experience
Visually, Vineyard is stunning. The artwork is warm and inviting, perfectly complementing the game’s friendly vibe. Even the terminology—calling workers "friends"—adds to its charm. Despite being competitive, the game feels surprisingly collaborative as players contribute to the winemaking process together, from gathering grapes to crushing them into wine. It’s like hosting a wine-tasting party where everyone’s trying to outdo each other, but in the nicest way possible.
The cat's meow:
"This game must contain catnip or something, because I cannot keep my paws (or honestly my entire body) off of it!" — Solo the Spokescat
^Fun fact: this was actually the hardest game I have ever reviewed, simply because I could not keep Solo off of the game. Every time it was set up to play, he would appear and plop down right in the middle of it. So enjoy this collage of him ruining the shots I was staging.
Disclosure: Pudgy Cat Games was provided a copy of this game in exchange for a review, however, this review reflects the honest thoughts of the author.
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