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Vinhos

Game ID: GID0378409
Collection Status
Description

Vinhos (Portuguese word for "wines") is a trading and economic game about wine making.

Despite its small size, Portugal is one of the world’s leading wine producers. Why not get to know the country around a table? Over six years of harvests, cultivate your vines, choose the best varieties, hire the best oenologists, take part in trade fairs, and show your opponents you are the best winemaker in the game.

The players, winemakers in Portugal, will develop their vineyards and produce wine to achieve maximum profit.
The object of the game is to produce quality wines that can be exchanged for money or victory points.
The best wines are then sent to a wine fair in order to achieve fame and win awards.

Awake your senses and have fun making and selling your own wine.

From back of Box Cover:

In Vinhos (a Portuguese word meaning “Wines”) you will play the role of wine producers in Portugal.

Over a period of 6 years, you will expand your business by establishing Estates in the different regions of Portugal, buying vineyards and building wineries. Skilled enologists will help you increase the quality of your wine, while top Wine Experts will enhance its features at the "Feira Nacional do Vinho Português", the Wine Tasting Fair.

Selling your wines to Portuguese local hangouts will establish a market presence for your company, help you secure the funds to expand your company, and to pay your enologists’ salaries.

But, as everyone knows, prestige cannot come from money alone. To ensure a good reputation on international markets you must meet the requirements of various Countries, by consistently exporting high-quality wines.

Periodically, a Wine Tasting Fair will be held. It is up to you to decide the best time to announce which wine you intend to present. The choice of the best wine by value and features is essential to the prestige of your company and will definitely make all the difference!

It is suggested that players do not play their first game with the maximum number of players.

Vinhos was previously known as Vinícola

Year Published
2010
Transcript Analysis
Browse transcript mentions, sentiments, pros/cons, mechanics, topics, quotes, and references.
Total mentions: 4
This page: 4
Sentiment: pos 4 · mix 0 · neu 0 · neg 0
Mentions per page
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Showing 1–4 of 4
Video dyjhvi_UtKI Board Games 4K game_review at 0:16 sentiment: positive
video_pk 6973 · mention_pk 20636
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Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
  • Tight thematic integration and engine coherence; actions feed the wine economy in a satisfying loop
  • High sense of momentum; even when complicated, the engine pushes players forward with impactful choices
  • No wine is wasted; clever use of wine managers creates value from every bottle
  • Tension in central action costs adds meaningful risk–reward decisions
  • Press release and wine fair provide interesting early preemption versus reactive strategy
Cons
  • Significant rule complexity; the system can feel bitty and unwieldy for newcomers
  • Banking/investment subsystem is muddled and can bog down play
  • Deluxe edition is expensive; cost and rule differences can be a barrier
  • Rules depth outpaces the clarity of the core rulebook; a comprehensive guide is recommended
Thematic elements
  • winemaking, estate management, and competing in wine fairs
  • Portuguese wine country; small Portugal map
  • engine-building with thematic wine industry flavor
Comparison games
  • Viticulture
  • Kanban
  • The Gallerist
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
  • action selection — A central action-pawn grid where players choose a primary action and then trigger tributaries that expand the opportunity set, driving engine development.
  • central grid movement — Players move a pawn around a board grid to perform region-based actions, with costs for moving and potential penalties for skipping spaces.
  • export and sales markets — Wines are placed on export or sales boards with market-driven scoring, immediate red-value points, and end-game bonuses for column control.
  • press release and wine fair — A pivotal end-game event where players announce which wine to present to wine experts; simultaneous reveal and scoring shifts the final standings.
  • renowned cubes and modifiers — Renowned cubes boost wine value and influence the victory point outcomes, used strategically across actions and fairs.
  • resource and production management — Vineyards produce wine over rounds; players manage storage, aging, and conversion into marketable products.
  • wine aging and storage (cellars) — Wine is aged in cellars or sold/aged to optimize value, with storage affecting final scores.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
  • everything in this game makes absolute dramatic sense
  • no wine is ever wasted
  • this is a very, very intricately woven engine building exercise
  • the cost mechanism creates a wonderful sense of tension
  • an absolute beast
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video 08s7Kn_FSTE Heavy Cardboard playthrough at 3:28 sentiment: positive
video_pk 5311 · mention_pk 15794
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Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
  • Tight action economy with a clear core loop: acquire vineyards, age wine, and sell/export for points while juggling renown cubes and weather effects.
  • Strategic depth achieved through coupling of production, aging, and market scoring; expansions (Azores, magnates, specialists) add meaningful variety without breaking the core rhythm.
  • Balanced bank mechanism that rewards prudent liquidity and timely investments, while still pushing players to commit to ambitious plans.
  • Beautiful component design and thematic cohesion; aesthetics and art reinforce the wine-world flavor while streamlining interpretation of complex rules.
  • Teachability on stream is strong: Edward provides a structured, step-by-step walkthrough that clarifies core concepts before diving into full-player interactions.
  • Event-driven scoring via weather tiles and magnates creates dynamic scoring opportunities across rounds, encouraging adaptive strategies.
Cons
  • Inclusion of expansions significantly increases complexity and setup, which may be challenging for new players or casual streams seeking a lighter experience.
  • The production/aging phase, while conceptually elegant, can be intricate in practice due to multiple interacting modifiers (weather, enologists, farmers, ports, and regional bonuses).
  • The sheer volume of moving parts (estates, tiles, renown cubes, barrels, and magnates) can lead to information overload on first plays.
Thematic elements
  • Wine production, aging, and trade; vineyard acquisition and estate management; regional renown and prestige via wine fairs
  • Portugal, centered in the Douro Valley with outlying Azores islands; a six-year arc culminating in wine fairs where players showcase aging wines to earn points
  • Euro-style economic simulation with clear thematic anchors (regions, ports, aging, and market-based scoring); emphasis on logistics, timing, and strategic risk management
Comparison games
  • Lisboa
  • The Gallerist
  • Speak Easy
  • The Great Library
  • On Mars
  • Weather Machine
  • Inventions
  • Conbon
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
  • action_selection — On each annual round, players take two actions, then progress the turn order via a shared, but instrumented, sequence. The base action set is augmented by expansions (magnates, enologists, farmers, and the Azores tiles) which provide additional actions or modifiers. Movement between spaces has costs (wood/bags back to the game) and adjacency rules, creating a tight optimization problem about where and when to act.
  • end_game_scoring_and_wine_fairs — Wine fairs occur in the third, fifth, and sixth years. Players automatically present wines (or can prepare with a press release in the center area to affect turn order) and then use wine experts to influence scoring according to weather-driven magnates. Ties are resolved with established rules and final scoring combines bank balance, export majorities, and magnate-driven multipliers for a final winner.
  • expansions_and_extras — Azores expansion enables more regional tiles, more flexible production tracks, and expanded vineyard placement rules; magnates and experts introduce additional tactical options such as recalling barrels, purchasing new vineyard tiles, and leveraging one-time-use abilities at the wine fair. The mixed expert deck introduces randomized, color-coded effects with both instant and deferred benefits that influence when and how you can deploy them.
  • production_and_aging — Wine is produced and aged across all estates in parallel during a production phase. Existing wines age to the next slot; aging beyond the final space is discarded. Each wine's value is calculated based on several factors (base value from vineyards, presence of farmers and enologists, weather modifiers, and whether ports or special techniques are used).
  • renown_markers_and_region_control — Renown cubes are placed in regions tied to vineyards and estates. They are used to improve wine values, unlock end-game bonuses, or shift turn order. The rule set enforces color-matching constraints (two wines of different colors in the same region cannot occupy the same estate) and allows a capped number of tiles per region to control diversification and scoring balance.
  • sales_export_and_bank_balance — Wine can be sold for cash (bank) or exported for victory points. Sales convert barrels into money, while export converts barrels into VP and potentially unlocks end-game bonuses. Renown cubes from the wine's region can modify values during sales/export, and magnates or other special actions can further alter outcomes. The bank system provides liquidity, dividends, and investment opportunities each maintenance phase.
  • tile_placement_and_vineyard_management — Vineyards are bought for regional tiles and placed into estates on a personal board. Each estate can hold one vineyard tile per region, with renown cubes attached to track prestige and affect production/market modifiers. Tiles come in red/white variants, and the Azores expansion lets players place more diverse tiles in an estate with shared limits.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
  • No fluff. No fluff.
  • The bank is integral to the balance of the game.
  • The longer you let it go, the better it gets.
  • We have 12 actions and a few extra via magnates; use them wisely.
  • The weather tile can swing the numbers dramatically from year to year.
  • This is Vinhos in its prime, especially with Azores and magnates.
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video ciGgx0p2DXQ Unknown Channel unboxing at 0:29 sentiment: positive
video_pk 3876 · mention_pk 11361
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Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
  • Premium-quality components and insert design
  • Deluxe edition includes a solo mode
  • Beautiful art and thematic components (wine bottles, crates, barrels)
  • Engaging action-selection mechanic
Cons
  • High price point (~$140+)
  • High complexity and long playtime
  • Language barriers requiring printing rules in English or German
  • Massive box and storage challenges
Thematic elements
  • Wine production, winery management, regional competition
  • Portuguese wine regions; winemaking and trade
  • Array
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
  • action_selection — A central meeple moves to adjacent spots to take actions; moving two spaces costs a coin; if another player occupies a spot, you must pay that player a coin.
  • resource_management — Management of wine-related resources (bottles, crates, markers) to power actions and scoring.
  • solo_mode — A built-in solo variant in the deluxe edition.
  • worker_placement — Meeples are placed to perform actions across regions/board areas, driving resource gathering and progress.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
  • the action selection system is pretty clever
  • two players and up I guess this probably solo
  • deluxe edition actually is the kickstar Edition
  • this is huge
  • the artell is really great
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video fTunmiNn3S4 Unknown Channel playthrough at 0:00 sentiment: positive
video_pk 2206 · mention_pk 6421
Video thumbnail
Click to watch at 0:00
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
  • Deep thematic integration of wine production and market dynamics
  • Rich, multi-layered decision space with many strategic options
  • Engaging production and fair bidding mechanic
Cons
  • Rules-heavy and potentially opaque for new players
  • Long setup and component management
  • Numerous fiddly interactions may slow down play
Thematic elements
  • Wine production, aging, and regional strategy
  • Portugal (Lisbon, Minho, Algarve, etc.)
  • Economic simulation
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
  • Action selection on a grid — Players move a marker on an action grid to take actions in different regions; actions are limited per round, with potential for extra actions via wine experts.
  • Banking and investments — Money management through a bank, investments, and divestments with dividends and end-game bonuses.
  • Market systems — Two markets (internal and export) with different scoring and bonuses; weather and renown cubes influence sale value.
  • Renown cubes — Renown cubes provide bonuses and can boost wine values or unlock actions; cubes are drawn from regional regions.
  • Weather effects — Each year has weather that affects production value, altering the base value of wine.
  • Wine aging and cellars — Wines age in bottles or with cellars, improving value and quality; wine types cannot be mixed within an estate.
  • Wine fair and press release — Wine fair mechanics determine immediate and end-of-game scoring; press releases influence turn order and allow certain bonuses.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
  • the weather is going to affect the quality of the wine you produce every year
  • you could get up to 20 actions
  • the production value is calculated as described
  • export market... to sell wine
  • renown cubes boost the value of your wine
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
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