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Description
You are an Italian cheesemaker in the early 20th century making, aging, and selling your artisanal cheeses. Become the most prestigious cheesemaker in all of Italy by running a highly successful creamery and crafting exceptional cheese.
Formaggio is a standalone expansion for Fromage. With both games put together, you can combine any 4 board quadrants, and draft any combination of structure tiles for more variety and more paths to victory.
Formaggio is a simultaneous worker-placement game where players place Workers to make cheese and gather resources from the quadrant of the board facing them. Once all players have placed their Workers, the board rotates, aging any cheese that was made, and presenting each player with a new quadrant to place Workers into. Score Prestige Points by selling cheese to the four locations, and by efficiently managing and upgrading your creamery.
Formaggio features 4 new board quadrants with all new puzzling mini-games:
• Pair your cheese with the wines at the Vigneto.
• Sell cheese to restaurants along the Venetian canals and attract customers.
• Distribute cheese across the Regioni of Italy.
• Deposit cheese in the Banca. (Yes, there is a real bank in Italy that accepts cheese as collateral for loans!)
Other new features:
• Platinum-tier cheeses.
• Reap various rewards in each of the Seasons.
• All new abilities on the Player Boards and Structure tiles.
—description from the publisher
Year Published
2026
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Transcript Analysis
Browse transcript mentions, sentiments, pros/cons, mechanics, topics, quotes, and references.
Total mentions: 3
This page: 3
Sentiment:
pos 2 ·
mix 0 ·
neu 1 ·
neg 0
Showing 1–3 of 3
Video Ib9DnTWvu9k
The Dice Tower general_discussion at 9:24 sentiment: neutral
video_pk 40951 · mention_pk 124232
Click to watch at 9:24 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
neutral
Pros
none
Cons
none
Thematic elements
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Trick-taking — Players play cards and attempt to win tricks; traditional trick-taking framework.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- This is a channel, and I've said it before, it's a channel about games, and that's what we talk about.
- Vassel's Law was something where I said that if a game is great, it will be reprinted, with IP restrictions.
- There are so many games coming out that print runs are so small.
- We're running five different events. We're running Dice Tower Cruise, Dice Tower West, Dice Tower East, Dice Tower Vacation, and Dicetower Retreat.
- I don't monetize the daily minutes; I do it for fun.
- I never schedule games because con is stressful; I like to keep it flexible.
- Wingspan would be a big change for someone returning after 10 years.
- Print runs are small and the market is changing; it’s not as simple as before.
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video oHm1ux-rLvY
Dice Tower game_review at 0:45 sentiment: positive
video_pk 40816 · mention_pk 123829
Click to watch at 0:45 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- Fast-paced, smooth, and accessible due to simultaneous play and a low teach threshold.
- High variability via wedges, seasons, and interchangeable modules that invite replayability.
- Cross-compatibility with the original Fromage, enabling mixing and matching for extended play.
- Gondola and regional networks add tactile, interactive depth without turning into direct head-to-head competition.
- Component quality improves with the limited edition (playmat and better storage) and thoughtful expansion design.
Cons
- Interaction is present but not intensely direct; some players may crave more aggressive competition.
- Fruit rules (jam vs sliced fruit) require explicit teaching and can be a sticking point for first-time players.
- Preprinted buildings lack a centralized FAQ, which can create confusion during learning and limit discovery of some edge cases.
- Combining two boxes (Foragio + Fromage) can lead to storage and setup challenges; the box doesn’t naturally accommodate both without organizers.
- For total newcomers, the rule set for rotating wedges and fruit mechanics might feel overwhelming without good teaching aids.
Thematic elements
- Cheese production and culinary empire-building with ancillary elements like wine bottles and gondolas that tie scoring to thematic regions and activities.
- A rotating, modular cheese-themed board where players build out cheese, wine, gondola and restaurant-related structures across a Venice-inspired landscape.
- Lighthearted, humorous, snackable strategy with a focus on quick decisions and evolving board state through rotation.
Comparison games
- Fromage
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- blocking and indirect interaction — placing on spaces can block opponents and influence the timing of their plans; interaction exists but is not aggressively confrontational.
- endgame scoring by multiple modules — different board sections score in unique ways, including regional counts, wine bottle chains, gondola connections, and rows/columns.
- neighbor interaction — placing on spaces can block opponents and influence the timing of their plans; interaction exists but is not aggressively confrontational.
- Resource management — players collect four basic resource types (fruit, livestock, buildings, order cards) and manage how they spend them to activate placements and gains.
- Rotating board — the board rotates between turns, changing which spaces are available and how resources are earned, adding dynamic tension.
- set collection and pattern scoring — players collect wine bottles and gondola tokens, then connect or arrange them for end-of-game points or mid-game bonuses.
- Simultaneous Actions — turns run in a largely simultaneous fashion, keeping all players engaged and reducing downtime.
- Simultaneous Play — turns run in a largely simultaneous fashion, keeping all players engaged and reducing downtime.
- tile drafting/draftable buildings — players draft or draw buildings that grant special abilities; preprinted buildings exist and can be used for teaching or variety.
- worker placement — retrieve and place workers on your own wedge sections to claim resources (fruit, livestock, buildings, order cards) or to activate space effects.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- this is a game about cheese.
- Actually a sequel. Foragio is a sequel/standalone expansion for a game called Fromage.
- sequel/standalone
- expansion for a game called Fromage. Uh,
- The gondola board is the most interactive—the little extra layer of decisions that affects other players.
- It's an easy concept for people to get... It is an easy game to teach and play.
- Foragio is for the new gamers. Foragio is for people who are already gamers.
- This is the limited edition version, so it came with a playmat. The middle piece that holds them together is better in this one.
- It lays flat. That's a huge difference.
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video lulG1L9-Cxs
Tantrum House game_review at 0:28 sentiment: positive
video_pk 33504 · mention_pk 99657
Click to watch at 0:28 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- high tension from simultaneous play and the aging/return timing creates meaningful choices
- asymmetrical player boards add variety and strategic depth
- platinum aging and seasonal bonuses add a strong strategic layer
- great variability when combined with Formage; eight regions provide robust replay value
Cons
- resource tokens have distinct shapes/icons that can be confusing for new players
- the Venitia gondola/region mechanics are perceived as convoluted and difficult to optimize
- end-game awareness can surprise players if not actively tracked
- learning curve and regional scoring can be intimidating for newcomers
Thematic elements
- cheese making and aging as the central engine of scoring
- France, early 20th century cheese production
- historical culinary industry theme with regional focus
Comparison games
- Formage
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Modular board — The board rotates between turns, changing which quadrant a player can access and influencing strategy.
- region-specific scoring and set collection — Different regional boards award points based on diverse patterns (rows/columns, adjacency, finished orders, structures, etc.), and multiple regions can be mixed for variability.
- resource collection and aging mechanics — Resources are gathered from a quadrant, and cheese tokens must be aged in aging spaces with varying retrieval times (bronze, silver, gold, platinum).
- Resource management — Resources are gathered from a quadrant, and cheese tokens must be aged in aging spaces with varying retrieval times (bronze, silver, gold, platinum).
- rotating/modular board sections — The board rotates between turns, changing which quadrant a player can access and influencing strategy.
- Simultaneous Actions — Players choose actions in parallel, then execute in a resolving sequence as actions are revealed.
- worker placement — Each player has three workers; they place them on a central board, and workers stay in place until their corresponding quadrant returns to front of you.
- worker placement with retention — Each player has three workers; they place them on a central board, and workers stay in place until their corresponding quadrant returns to front of you.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- the tension in this game is good
- you keep taking turns until someone places their last piece of cheese
- it's a standalone expansion to Formage
- the platinum aging ... takes four turns to get back to you
- eight regions you can mix and match for your score
- you could get lots of resources or a really good cheese with a higher aging, but you have to wait
- the seasons add a tiny extra way to get bonuses
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Transcript Navigation
Showing 1–3 of 3