For some reason, this game is hard to wrap my head around in multiplayer. Your solo mode really helped clarify the game mechanics, so thank you. I haven't even opened my Tuscany expansion and was actually thinking of selling both games. Your playthrough changed my mind. Sometimes people who do videos don't realize how much their work means, so I wanted to let you know that I REALLY APPRECIATE your thoughtful and well-done efforts. Can't wait to check out the next one!
Spudkitty I thank you so much for your encouragement and appreciation. It really means a lot. The whole reason I started filming videos was because I enjoyed consuming board game content so much, and wanted to see if I could contribute myself in some small way. It's therefore incredibly rewarding to hear that my videos might have some impact. Thanks again.
I have found this game so frustrating and confusing, it was a bit of a splurge specifically due to it being highly-lauded for solo play. Your comment gives me hope that I'll finally get it in 55 more minutes.
at 25:50 you forgot to put back the automa worker in the "build field" which forced you later in the same round to use your grande worker. Great video though!
Thanks ford this vid mate. Noticed a few mistakes, but I think the fact I picked up on them means I was paying attention enough to get the flow of the game. Keep up the great work! 👍
I lost too. My brain hurts after playing it. I borrowed from the public library. My idea was that I was going to drink my Merlot. That did not happen. It was fun.
You can still age your grapes past 3 even if you don't have a medium wine cellar. Not having a medium cellar only limits the ageing of the wine not the grapes. However, if you convert the grapes to wine, you would only be able to make a level 3 wine even if you are using level 4 grapes.
Hello! I'll help you with some notes as I watch the video: 14:02 You CAN give up 1VP even if you're at 0. You can go as low as -5VP. 17:45 The card is not discarded. Only 4 cards are discarded (those which give you no benefit unless another player takes an action). You can check an official answer here: boardgamegeek.com/thread/1499029/removing-cards-automa 20:21 You could have aged your Value 3 White Grape even if you didn't have a Medium Cellar. Cellars are restrictions for the value of Wines, not Grapes. 25:46 You forgot to remove the Worker in the "Build one structure" spot 28:35 I usually place a glass bead token on top of my already harvested fields during the turn, so that I don't forget which ones I've already harvested. Sometimes I instead slightly tilt the vine cards instead of placing the token on top of them. 32:06 That Worker... again! :D 33:35 Nop, you don't have to use the Grande Worker. That damn Automa Worker x'D 37:09 FINALLY! That annoying Worker is gone! 52:50 You DON'T need to pay £3. Card text that's separated by "OR" represents 2 completely different actions and you must choose one of them. You chose the second "Fill an Order and gain 1 more VP. The "Pay £3" is part of the first possible action so you don't need to do it. 53:28 You forgot the extra 1VP 54:05 That field was already harvested. That's why I use the tip I wrote back up there. Overall great solo playthrough. Really enjoyed watching it. You could have done some better choices but oh well. You had some bad luck on the Orders that you drew. One tip: when you're showing cards up close, you should make sure your palm is covering (almost) all the entire screen so that the lens can auto-focus on the card. You were showing too much of the background so the camera didn't know where to focus and the cards were blurred and unreadable. I'll check some of your older videos. Keep them comming.
Thanks for all of the comments! Yes, I made a number of mistakes (not too out of the ordinary for me), and many of the ones you mentioned I wasn't aware of. I noticed that I left that Automa worker there when I watched back and it was driving me crazy too! I have no idea how I didn't see it. Thanks again for the tips.
PsRetrogamer Well it's certainly one I'll put on my maybe list. I think the main drawbacks there are game length (I'd likely have to break it into multiple segments), and potential for errors. It's been a while since I've played, and I'd definitely need to play a couple of times before I filmed to try to keep the rules straight.
At the end you said you didn’t know if taking the payment would matter. It wouldn’t against AI, but it would against real people. Nice video. I’m going to play my first round today. Then get some other people to play hopefully.
SnackeyG Thanks for watching, and thanks for the comments! It's a pretty terrific game. I made some goofs, but hopefully it still gives a pretty good idea of how it plays.
Thank you. I just purchased this and have been thoroughly beaten by the automa several times. I completely missed the ability to harvest on my board. that may make my loses less humiliating. Fun game. nice to know others struggle.
Jim Tompkins You're very welcome! Yes, I tend to build the Yoke early since it's cheap, and allows for an extra harvest action that can't be blocked. Although I have to remind myself that you can only harvest a field once per year. Thanks for watching!
Thanks for the tutorial! I just discovered this game and love it, but for some reason the automa instructions didn't make much sense to me. Thanks for clarifying and providing this play through!
47:15 the feeling when you just want to quit. I know it well lol. For a much more relaxing game, I either play until I reach 20 points or pick a number of rounds and do a beat-your-high-score thing. There's so much luck with the cards, it doesn't seem fair that you can play great for 6 rounds and lose because of a crappy draw.
Solid tutorial! You did forget to take your extra vine card in the first summer after choosing your wake-up position, though. And FYI - you can lose VPs, even if you have none; that's why the VP tracker goes to -5 (you can't lose more than that). Just in case someone else stumbles in here and finds that helpful :) Happy gaming, everyone!
Also, the grapes in your crush pad aren't dependent on whether or not you have medium/large cellars -- they can be aged all the way up to 9 no matter what buildings you have.
I also would have kept the "Guest Speaker" visitor card. The instructions specify to remove any visitor cards that /only/ give you a benefit if another player takes an action. In this case, you wouldn't have been able to get any VPs from opponents taking the action, but you also benefit by getting a steeply discounted worker at only 1 Lira. In the Automa game, I've found investing in workers early to be extremely beneficial so you can maximize the number of actions in the mid to late game. This is such an amazing game. I hope anyone who was on the fence uses this video as justification to buy the game :D
Chris Palmer Unfortunately not. I purchased them from a game store when I was visiting Seattle. I believe you can buy them from the Stonemeier web site though.
For some reason, this game is hard to wrap my head around in multiplayer. Your solo mode really helped clarify the game mechanics, so thank you. I haven't even opened my Tuscany expansion and was actually thinking of selling both games. Your playthrough changed my mind. Sometimes people who do videos don't realize how much their work means, so I wanted to let you know that I REALLY APPRECIATE your thoughtful and well-done efforts. Can't wait to check out the next one!
Spudkitty I thank you so much for your encouragement and appreciation. It really means a lot. The whole reason I started filming videos was because I enjoyed consuming board game content so much, and wanted to see if I could contribute myself in some small way. It's therefore incredibly rewarding to hear that my videos might have some impact. Thanks again.
I have found this game so frustrating and confusing, it was a bit of a splurge specifically due to it being highly-lauded for solo play. Your comment gives me hope that I'll finally get it in 55 more minutes.
at 25:50 you forgot to put back the automa worker in the "build field" which forced you later in the same round to use your grande worker. Great video though!
Thanks ford this vid mate. Noticed a few mistakes, but I think the fact I picked up on them means I was paying attention enough to get the flow of the game.
Keep up the great work! 👍
I lost too. My brain hurts after playing it. I borrowed from the public library. My idea was that I was going to drink my Merlot. That did not happen. It was fun.
You can still age your grapes past 3 even if you don't have a medium wine cellar. Not having a medium cellar only limits the ageing of the wine not the grapes. However, if you convert the grapes to wine, you would only be able to make a level 3 wine even if you are using level 4 grapes.
Great video - moved up from a 'might buy' to a 'must buy' now I know it plays well solo... Looking forward to getting this to the table
Simon Archer Thanks for watching! It's a terrific game. I hope you enjoy it.
Hello!
I'll help you with some notes as I watch the video:
14:02 You CAN give up 1VP even if you're at 0. You can go as low as -5VP.
17:45 The card is not discarded. Only 4 cards are discarded (those which give you no benefit unless another player takes an action). You can check an official answer here: boardgamegeek.com/thread/1499029/removing-cards-automa
20:21 You could have aged your Value 3 White Grape even if you didn't have a Medium Cellar. Cellars are restrictions for the value of Wines, not Grapes.
25:46 You forgot to remove the Worker in the "Build one structure" spot
28:35 I usually place a glass bead token on top of my already harvested fields during the turn, so that I don't forget which ones I've already harvested. Sometimes I instead slightly tilt the vine cards instead of placing the token on top of them.
32:06 That Worker... again! :D
33:35 Nop, you don't have to use the Grande Worker. That damn Automa Worker x'D
37:09 FINALLY! That annoying Worker is gone!
52:50 You DON'T need to pay £3. Card text that's separated by "OR" represents 2 completely different actions and you must choose one of them. You chose the second "Fill an Order and gain 1 more VP. The "Pay £3" is part of the first possible action so you don't need to do it.
53:28 You forgot the extra 1VP
54:05 That field was already harvested. That's why I use the tip I wrote back up there.
Overall great solo playthrough. Really enjoyed watching it. You could have done some better choices but oh well. You had some bad luck on the Orders that you drew.
One tip: when you're showing cards up close, you should make sure your palm is covering (almost) all the entire screen so that the lens can auto-focus on the card. You were showing too much of the background so the camera didn't know where to focus and the cards were blurred and unreadable.
I'll check some of your older videos. Keep them comming.
Thanks for all of the comments! Yes, I made a number of mistakes (not too out of the ordinary for me), and many of the ones you mentioned I wasn't aware of. I noticed that I left that Automa worker there when I watched back and it was driving me crazy too! I have no idea how I didn't see it. Thanks again for the tips.
You're welcome!
Will you do a Robinson Crusoe playthrough? Would love to watch that.
PsRetrogamer Well it's certainly one I'll put on my maybe list. I think the main drawbacks there are game length (I'd likely have to break it into multiple segments), and potential for errors. It's been a while since I've played, and I'd definitely need to play a couple of times before I filmed to try to keep the rules straight.
you've just sold a copy for Stonemeier. Thanks, man!
No problem! It's a really great game.
At the end you said you didn’t know if taking the payment would matter. It wouldn’t against AI, but it would against real people. Nice video. I’m going to play my first round today. Then get some other people to play hopefully.
SnackeyG Thanks for watching, and thanks for the comments! It's a pretty terrific game. I made some goofs, but hopefully it still gives a pretty good idea of how it plays.
Thank you. I just purchased this and have been thoroughly beaten by the automa several times. I completely missed the ability to harvest on my board. that may make my loses less humiliating. Fun game. nice to know others struggle.
Jim Tompkins You're very welcome! Yes, I tend to build the Yoke early since it's cheap, and allows for an extra harvest action that can't be blocked. Although I have to remind myself that you can only harvest a field once per year. Thanks for watching!
Thanks for the tutorial! I just discovered this game and love it, but for some reason the automa instructions didn't make much sense to me. Thanks for clarifying and providing this play through!
You're quite welcome! I'm glad the video helped you enjoy this terrific game.
Great video - love it. Thanks for making!
47:15 the feeling when you just want to quit. I know it well lol. For a much more relaxing game, I either play until I reach 20 points or pick a number of rounds and do a beat-your-high-score thing. There's so much luck with the cards, it doesn't seem fair that you can play great for 6 rounds and lose because of a crappy draw.
Great video, as always!
DecapDan Royer Thanks so much!
Solid tutorial! You did forget to take your extra vine card in the first summer after choosing your wake-up position, though. And FYI - you can lose VPs, even if you have none; that's why the VP tracker goes to -5 (you can't lose more than that). Just in case someone else stumbles in here and finds that helpful :) Happy gaming, everyone!
Also, the grapes in your crush pad aren't dependent on whether or not you have medium/large cellars -- they can be aged all the way up to 9 no matter what buildings you have.
I also would have kept the "Guest Speaker" visitor card. The instructions specify to remove any visitor cards that /only/ give you a benefit if another player takes an action. In this case, you wouldn't have been able to get any VPs from opponents taking the action, but you also benefit by getting a steeply discounted worker at only 1 Lira. In the Automa game, I've found investing in workers early to be extremely beneficial so you can maximize the number of actions in the mid to late game.
This is such an amazing game. I hope anyone who was on the fence uses this video as justification to buy the game :D
Great gameplay. Your camera's autofocus gave a headache, but other than that - great job!
the result depends on quality and compatibility of the cards and structures.
I finally found this video again!
I failed spectacularly on my first seven tries until I got as far as 20 points at the end of the game. Close but no cigar.😢
It’s the yoke for uprooting instead of harvesting?
why were you able to place your workers on the spots that the automa was blocking?
The Grande worker can be placed on a spot that is already occupied.
Is this game worth buying primarily for the solo play?
Aaron Meyer I would say absolutely yes. It's one of my favorite solo games. The Automa solo system is terrific.
This is an entry level game?
Do those satisfying metal coins come with the game?
Chris Palmer Unfortunately not. I purchased them from a game store when I was visiting Seattle. I believe you can buy them from the Stonemeier web site though.