Scythe (board game)

Scythe gameplay.

In Scythe, players represent different factions in an alternate history 1920s Europe recovering from a great war, where each faction is seeking its fortune. Players build an economic engine by choosing one of four main actions each turn, listed on the top of their personal player board, which cannot be the same as the main action they selected in their previous turn. They can also take a corresponding second action listed on their player board. These actions allow them to move units on the board, trade for or produce goods, bolster their military, deploy mechs, enlist recruits for continuous bonuses, build structures, and upgrade their actions to make them stronger or cheaper.[7]

Each player has six stars that they will place on the board upon completion of certain goals, such as deploying all four of their mechs.[1] When one player has deployed all their stars, the game immediately ends, with each star and territory controlled granting a certain amount of money depending on how much popularity the player has achieved during the game. The player who has the most money is the winner.[8]

Painting by Różalski, 1920 – Before the Storm, used as the cover for the board game Scythe

Scythe was designed by Stonemaier CEO, Jamey Stegmaier and revealed as a Kickstarter campaign on October 13, 2015, with backers contributing over $1.8 million during the campaign.[9][10] It was delivered to backers in July 2016 and released in retail stores the following month.

Stegmaier discovered Polish artist Jakub Różalski's work in August 2014 while browsing Kotaku and fell in love with series of alternate history artwork, World of 1920+. Stegmaier then contacted Różalski and requested the rights to make a board game within the fictional world in which.[11][12] During the early stages of developing the game, Stegmaier pitched the game as "Agricola meets Kemet".[12]

Różalski's initial design for his World of 1920+ art was primarily focused on two factions that were based on the Polish–Soviet War.[12] Stegmaier collaborated with Różalski while respecting his vision for the World of 1920+, making requests only to improve gameplay such as adding a factory and additional factions to add into the game to allow more players to play.[13][12] Stegmaier initially wanted each faction to be more card-based than the final game, with each faction had its own deck of cards but changed the design during development.[12] Stegmaier was also using the Polish-Soviet War for inspiration, particularly from the real Polish bear and wanted to add bear units for each faction. However, during development, Stegmaier was playing Dead of Winter and wanted to implement the same depth and diversity of the characters. This led instead to each character from each faction being accompanied by a single animal unique from the rest.[14] Morten Monrad Pederson developed the single-player mode, in which he expressed Scythe was the most difficult project to develop for at the time. Morten Monrad Pederson developed the single-player mode of the game, which he expressed was the hardest single-player projects he's done.[15]

Multiple names for the game were conceived and proposed but both Stegmaier and Różalski agreed to the name "Scythe" with Różalski designing the logo himself and incorporated a scythe as the letter "C". The name was conceived by Stegmaier and was chosen because the tool of the same name represented the themes of the game; being used for harvest and combat.[11]

The first expansion, Scythe: Invaders From Afar, was released in July 2017, adding two new factions to the game and increasing the maximum player count from 5 to 7.[16] The second expansion, Scythe: The Wind Gambit, was released in December 2017, adding airships and variable end-game conditions to the game.[17] The third and final expansion, titled The Rise of Fenris and released in the third quarter of 2018, added an 8 game campaign with 11 modules that can be used in different combinations,[18] as well as a cooperative play mode.[19] In December 2018, Stonemaier Games released Scythe Encounters, a mini-expansion containing 32 promotional encounter cards, many of which were created from fan submissions.[20]

Scythe won 5 Golden Geek awards for 2016 from BoardGameGeek, winning for Board Game of the Year, Artwork & Presentation, Strategy Game, and Solo Game, and placing as a runner-up for Most Innovative.[21] Scythe also won the Origins award for 2016 board game of the year.[22] The game was featured as one of Geek and Sundry's best board games of 2016, with reviewer Charlie Theel saying that "Scythe is a fantastic design that will not soon be forgotten."[23] Popular Mechanics also dubbed Scythe "the best game of 2016."[24]

Scythe's artwork has received exceptional praise from reviewers for its images of agrarian life juxtaposed with giant war machines.[25][8]

Scythe: The Wind Gambit won a Golden Geek award for the best expansion to a game in 2017.[26]

Scythe: The Rise of Fenris is the best received expansion by critics, for its introduction of a cooperative mode, a campaign mode, and 8 modules that can be combined or played independently.[27]

As of 2018 Scythe was rated as one of the top ten board games of all time at Board Game Geek.[28]

In 2017 a stand-alone spin-off inspired by Scythe but rethemed to a more casual, family-friendly version with "cute animals", My Little Scythe, was released.[29][30][31][32][33] Asmodee Digital released Scythe: Digital Edition via Steam in September 2018.[34] The 1920+ universe is also featured in the video game Iron Harvest released in September 2020.[35]

• Scythe at BoardGameGeek