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 4
Playing time: 115 min
Age: 14+
Complexity: 3.5 / 5

7.9 on Ludoya from $84.00EconomicScience FictionMovement PointsSolo / Solitaire GameGrid Movement

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About the game

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

Where to buy it

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On Ludoya's tables

Full stats in Ludoya

2,375
Plays logged: 1,873
Players: 1h 47m
Average play: 533
In collections: 63
On wishlists: 1
Pre-ordered

7.9/10

from 271 Ludoya reviews

Fun9.3
Interaction8.3
Replayability9.3
Uniqueness8.5
Looks9.3
Accessibility7.0

Garfield9.0
#51 BGExpansions im Dach Very entertaining area control game. First game was a little bit short. [c] Theme: :star::star::star::nostar::nostar:  Gameplay: :star::star::star::star::star:  Interaction: :star::star::star::star::nostar:  Artwork: :star::star::star::star::star:  Luck: :star::nostar::nostar::nostar::nostar:  Strategy: :star::star::star::star::nostar:  Components: :star::star::star::star::star:  Play duration: :star::star::star::nostar::nostar:  Easy to teach: :star::star::star::nostar::nostar:  Rules quality:  Setup time: :star::star::star::nostar::nostar:  No downtime: :star::star::star::star::nostar:  Replay value: :star::star::star::nostar::nostar:  [/c]
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.
Evan8.5
This is an objectives based efficiency game that uses a central board, so that players can attack each other. Actions are quick and simple, with each player placing their pawn on one of 4 action spots, and then resolving one or both of the actions that match that spot. The rule is you must take a different action each turn, which is where a big part of the puzzle comes in. Every player gets a faction board and an asymmetrical action board at the start of the game. The synergy between these two boards, will determine your capacity for success in the game to a large degree, which is troublesome. There are a few euro/ameritrash hybrid games, and I want to say the thing that makes this game special (aside from the beautiful components) is that when you produce resources, they sit on the hex until you use them, which means in theory someone could invade you and take them. I do need to mention that where someone can move to is very hard to keep track of. Each player has a series of unique abilities they can unlock, not to mention that each player has different rules for how they can walk across rivers, not to mention the middle area of the board has a lot of teleportation spots, not to mention that players can build their own personal teleportation spot anywhere, not to mention one faction gets to use a type of terrain as if they had built their personal teleport. This game took a few plays to grow on me. Once I had really internalized the factions and the mechanisms and the scoring process, I started to see the depth this game provides. :star: Art, Iconography and components functional :star: Clever or interesting mechanisms :star: Reasonably low downtime between turns with mildly AP players :star: Multiple plays stay interesting :star: Low or mitigatable luck elements :star::star::star::star::nostar: Raw enjoyment

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Rules questions

Answered from the rulebook by Ludoya's rules assistant.

Can mechs carry workers and resources? Can they carry my character?

Yes — mechs can pick up and drop off any number of your workers and any number of resource tokens during a Move action, but mechs cannot transport your character (characters are a separate unit type). (pages 5, 11)

Can I move across rivers or onto lakes by default? How do Riverwalk mech abilities change that?

By default units may not cross rivers or enter lakes; some faction mech abilities (Riverwalk and other lake-movement abilities) let your character and mechs cross rivers or move onto lakes as specified on your mech ability slots. (pages 5, 11, 15)

What happens if I move into a territory controlled only by opponent workers?

Your movement ends, each of the opponent’s workers on that territory immediately retreats to their home base (leaving resources behind), and you lose 1 popularity for each worker you forced to retreat. (page 11)

When does an encounter trigger and who resolves it?

Only your character triggers an encounter when it moves onto a territory with an encounter token; the character’s movement ends, and after resolving all combats you draw and resolve the encounter card (choose one option and pay its cost if required). (page 24)

How does combat work with power dials, combat cards, and ties?

Both players secretly select a power amount on their Power Dial (up to what they have), may tuck combat cards (one per unit involved), then reveal — the highest total wins and ties go to the attacker; both players pay the power they selected, the loser retreats to their home base, and the winner may gain a combat star (subject to limits). (pages 22–23)

When does the game end and what happens to units that moved into enemy-occupied territories when the final star is placed?

The game immediately ends when a player places their 6th star; if units remain on a territory with an opponent’s units because of that Move action, undo that portion of the Move and return the unit(s) to the territory they moved from. (pages 27–28)