Scythe

Five factions compete for control of a dieselpunk, alternate-1920s Europa centered on a mysterious closed Factory. Players manage asymmetric starting resources and positions while building economic engines: harvest resources, recruit villagers, build structures, upgrade actions, and deploy mechs. Movement and encounters on a modular map yield choices that shape rewards; combat resolves through player decisions rather than dice. Hidden objectives and encounter cards add targeted goals and situational variability, while streamlined action selection keeps turns quick and scales to multiple players without elimination.

Players: 1–5 best 5
Playing time: 115 min
Age: 14+
Complexity: 3.5 / 5

8 on Ludoya from $84.00Science FictionEconomicVariable Player PowersArea Majority / InfluenceMovement Points

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About the game

Design: Jamey Stegmaier
Art: Jakub Rozalski
Publisher: Stonemaier Games

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On Ludoya's tables

Full stats in Ludoya

2,442
Plays logged: 1,983
Players: 1h 47m
Average play: 581
In collections: 70
On wishlists: 1
Pre-ordered

8.0/10

from 295 Ludoya reviews

AmberKnight9.0
Great game in combining light civilization building and dudes-on-a-map strategy. My main complaint is that the game ends when it starts to get interesting (i.e. when you have developed your army and resources and are ready to expand in the map or fail). Hopefully it will get better with upcoming expansions that allow for more player interaction.
Played it 16 times
Mestremuten9.0
Rating: 4/5 Production value: 4/4 Is the game in my collection/Love to have?: 1/1
Played it 23 times
Garfield9.0
#51 BGExpansions im Dach Very entertaining area control game. First game was a little bit short. [c] Theme: ★★★☆☆  Gameplay: ★★★★★  Interaction: ★★★★☆  Artwork: ★★★★★  Luck: ★☆☆☆☆  Strategy: ★★★★☆  Components: ★★★★★  Play duration: ★★★☆☆  Easy to teach: ★★★☆☆  Rules quality:  Setup time: ★★★☆☆  No downtime: ★★★★☆  Replay value: ★★★☆☆  [/c]
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Rules questions

Answered from the rulebook by Ludoya's rules assistant.

Can I take the same action more than once on my turn?

No. Move your action token to a different section of your Player Mat, then you may take that section’s top-row action once and its bottom-row action once, in that order; either action is optional (p. 10).

Can I spend resources from anywhere on the board?

You can spend resources only from territories you currently control, but they can pay for an action anywhere on the board. You control a territory if you have a unit there, or a structure there with no enemy units present (p. 4).

Can my workers move into an opponent’s territory?

Workers cannot move by themselves into territory controlled by an opponent’s workers, character, or mechs. If your character or mech enters a territory with only opponent workers, those workers retreat to their home base and you lose 1 popularity per worker (p. 11).

If combat is tied, who wins—and do I spend the combat cards I play?

The attacker wins ties. Both players spend the power selected on their dials, but combat cards are discarded after adding their value to combat; they don’t reduce power on the track (pp. 22–23).

When do I resolve an encounter, and can I skip it?

After your Move action and any resulting combats, resolve the encounter if your character is still on the encounter territory. You must choose one available option and pay its required cost; its benefits are optional (p. 24).

Does the game end as soon as someone places their sixth star?

Yes. The game ends immediately when a player places their sixth star, even if they could do more that turn; if units remain sharing a territory with an opponent’s units from that Move action, undo that part of the move (p. 28).

Official score sheet