Enjoying some wine... while running my vineyard

It's official. I enjoyed a glass (well... 2 glasses) of wine while playing Viticulture: Essential Edition a couple nights ago. Naturally, I felt very into the work of building up my vineyard and fulfulling orders as I sipped my glass of wine. 😉

I actually (believe it or not) did not play solo! At dinner I casually asked my wife and daughters; "Who would like to learn how to make wine with me after supper?"

My youngest is "too cool" for games in this current phase it seems...

My oldest daughter said yes despite having some work to get to...

My wife (eventually) said yes (as the main wine lover in the house)...

It was a tight game in the end. My oldest won (crap!) by only a point over me, and my wife was only 2 points behind me. It came right down to the last year. Wow.

However, I was reminded of some of the reasons why I enjoy solo so much. I love multiplayer, but it really is a night to night thing in a way. Some game sessions are a lot of fun, and others challenge your own mental calmness as you try not to get into any arguments. 😂

So the box says 45-90min play time. Which is about right really. We took about 2hrs (but that's with teaching as well), so it was a bit longer than my daughter was hoping considering she had work to do. Understandably. However, 3 times we had to "take a break for a minute" as one or both of them would get up from the table to do something (like a bathroom break) or get something (like tea)...

Overall it was a pretty good game session considering some past ones in terms of distractions. Only once did my daughter start talking about her business (very randomly) while my wife (usually the slowest to make decisions while we play games) was trying to think. Rather than say anything like "bad timing to talk about it", I kept quiet and took another sip of my wine. 🍷

The game flowed fairly well after the first couple "years" (rounds) in the game. It's not overly complicated, it's the strategy and how you utilize your options that becomes deeper. But overall, my wife and daughter did pretty good.

I'm learning now, nearly 2-years into the hobby (with the majority being solo gaming) that I have to remain aware of a couple things;

1) The more you play solo, the tougher it is to play multiplayer. I have to be very picky about who/when I'm playing multiplayer now it seems. I have to almost do a self pep talk before we start to say "breathe, take your time, don't get anyone upset because they're being slow and it's frustrating".

2) I have to accept that everyone has different playing styles and attitudes towards gaming. So when I find those who have similar playing styles and approach as me, enjoy and embrace it!

3) When conversations arise that has absolutely nothing to do with the game, I can't get upset. As much as I like to be IN the game while I play, I have learned to bite my tongue when others start talking about "random stuff" that has nothing to do with the game itself (this is especially stressful when you're trying to teach the game and that happens). However, I'm learning all the time that my play style is not necessarily the same as others and I have to respect that (unfortunately 😂).

4) My oldest daughter wins more often in (any) game than she loses, it seems... 🤣

All in all, I was happy that someone else, other than myself, joined me at the table for a change. And I was excited to teach that game to them. 😀 I love teaching games to people. 😁