This alternate history board game remains a benchmark for contemporary strategy.

Greetings, fellow gamers! If you’re diving into this review of Scythe, you’re likely on the hunt for a strategic challenge that can stand shoulder to shoulder with the best board games out there. Crafted by Jamey Stegmaier, Scythe is a complex, competitive, asymmetric Eurogame that pits up to five distinct factions against each other in a quest for dominance over resources and territory in an alternate-history 1920s setting. With mechanics that blend area control, worker placement, risk-taking combat, and power-building, it offers a rich tapestry of tactics and strategies.

While Jakub Rozalski’s stunning dieselpunk artwork might suggest a traditional wargame, Scythe can actually provide a surprisingly peaceful experience—armed mechs aside. The level of conflict largely hinges on the player count and dynamics at the table, as this economics-driven engine builder can quickly shift into a card-based mech showdown when resources run low.

As a point-salad game, Scythe offers a plethora of ways to score victory points. Throughout the game, you’ll be placing stars on the Triumph Track by achieving various milestones, such as completing personal objectives, deploying all your mechs, or winning battles. The moment a player places their sixth star, the game concludes, and scores are tallied. Other key tracks include Power, which is utilized in combat, and Popularity, which can decrease when initiating battles. The tier you finish on in Popularity provides valuable multipliers for coins earned from resources, territories, and stars that contribute to your final score.

Before you can reap the rewards, you must first sow the seeds.

Players begin with a random combination of faction and player board. Some combinations are considered too powerful by the community, so you might be asked to redraw if necessary.

Each player receives an equal number of structure, mech, and worker meeples, along with a uniform set of technology cubes, recruit tokens, and stars. These components are organized on your faction and player mats, which display your starting power, popularity, and the number of objective and combat cards, as well as coins. This setup varies for each player, adding to the asymmetry of the game.

In addition to unique faction abilities unlocked by deploying mechs, your player mat specifies different costs for standard actions, creating distinct specializations for each player.

The core gameplay revolves around placing your action token on your player board to perform one or both actions in that column, paying the associated costs and reaping the benefits. This could involve boosting your power score, moving your meeple, or deploying mechs. Players can engage in theft, combat, bribery, or even form alliances, leading to a high level of interaction, especially in games with four to five players where space becomes a premium.

What makes it even more intriguing is that each row of meeples or cubes conceals hidden ‘peekaboo’ powers that unlock as the game progresses, some of which can be detrimental. For instance, producing workers may reveal higher costs, while upgrading can enhance the yield of one action while lowering the cost of another.

Enlisting from any of your columns adds another layer of peekaboo powers, allowing you to benefit from your neighbors’ actions with ongoing bonuses triggered whenever they perform a specific action. The mech peekaboo powers are particularly fascinating, as each faction possesses unique abilities that further enhance the game’s asymmetry.

At its heart, Scythe is less about mechs and more about achieving ultimate efficiency. It’s a strategic adventure that demands players maximize their resources quickly or risk falling behind. Plans can be disrupted as players strategize several turns ahead, anticipating the moves of both peaceful neighbors and potential aggressors.

The game includes mechanisms to balance the playing field, such as powerful factory cards, objectives, and encounters that can shift the momentum for anyone. However, the inherent asymmetry means some imbalances may persist. Ranked games allow players to bid for more powerful faction and player board combinations, which can be a fun house rule, but newcomers may find themselves at a disadvantage against experienced players wielding potent combos.

Designer Jamey Stegmaier has been busy lately, with one of his latest titles, Vantage, taking players on a journey through the stars in a vast world.

One of my main critiques is that Scythe often wraps up just as things start to heat up. After about six rounds, stars begin to drop rapidly, and if you’re not on the verge of executing a brilliant chain of actions, the final star can catch you off guard—leaving you feeling like you prepped for a big moment that never materialized. Yet, therein lies part of its brilliance: Scythe encourages you to refine your strategy and try again. Each playthrough serves as a mere appetizer for your economic potential.

Scythe is a highly replayable board game for those seeking economic mastery. The vast array of faction and player combinations demands different playstyles with each session, and while the expansive scoring system may lead to a scattered approach initially, discovering ways to build high-scoring engines is immensely rewarding.

It takes time to hone your strategies, making skill and tactical acumen crucial against seasoned players, but new players can still find opportunities to stay competitive thanks to procedural advantages. It’s definitely worth exploring for Eurogame enthusiasts looking for more combat or for wargame fans seeking deeper economic mechanics.

✅ You’re looking for a challenge: Developing tight strategies can take multiple playthroughs and extensive research, requiring you to think several steps ahead.

✅ You prefer variety: With nearly 49 player and faction combinations and countless ways to score, every game will feel unique. If you’re not adaptable, Scythe may not be for you.

❌ You prefer lots of combat: Scythe isn’t a traditional wargame. Balance and efficiency take precedence, with combat being just one of many potential avenues for points.

❌ You’d rather play something more casual: The rulebook is comprehensive and can be overwhelming, especially for first-time Eurogamers. If you’re after something quick and easy, Scythe isn’t the right fit.