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Popular!
You're gonna be popular!
I'll teach you the proper ploys
When you Scythe the boys!
* Required singing when moving up the popularity board in Scythe.
I tend to have a almost constant flow of “potential hobby board gamers” at my table. I have four children and all are right around college age. Since they grew up playing boardgames, weekends at home usually involve them having friends over and having a board game night. I have found Scythe is a real litmus test (once it has been established that they enjoy games of a certain -higher- weight). I always ask, after a play of Scythe “What was your favorite part? If they say the combat, I bust out my Pinhead voice “We have such sights to show you.” and head to my Dudes on a Map collection. If they say they enjoyed the resource management, we go into Euro territory. Actually, just watching a player during Scythe can really show you what kind of games they would probably enjoy because that is usually the route they first explore during the game. It's effective as this litmus test because it has so many mechanisms seamlessly intertwined: Area control, bloodless combat, resource generation, a popularity track that acts as a end-game point multiplier, a power track, encounter cards, combat cards, king of the hill..errr...factory and asymmetrical powers.
Let me stop there. Yes, the factions have asymmetrical powers but you play those asymmetrical powers because you are given those powers. You never really feel like you are building them out, like you do with games with a true skill tree. Instead, you can feel like you are adjusting your play style to the combination of factions and player mats. The first key to winning Scythe is knowing your faction's power and exploiting it. The next key is knowing your opponent's powers and try to stop them from exploiting it.
Now, I know this is a “Me” problem but I almost always play as Black in every game. So, that means when playing Scythe, if I'm playing my preferred color, I am playing as Saxony...and I don't really dig the Saxony faction power (which is: There is no limit to the number of stars you can earn from completing actions and winning combat). It pretty much restricts me to playing a combat heavy game and hoping that my two objective cards synchronize with that. Despite some players wanting Scythe to be a 4X game, it is really a hybrid Euro. And being restricted from effectively pursuing the “Euroness” of it all (if I want to play Saxony optimally) is a bummer...and this is coming from a dyed in the wool area control/dudes on a map fan.
Player actions trigger the end of the game via the star earning mechanism. So, rushing to end game while others are trying to build a better engine is a legitimate tactic. Maybe the downer of the abrupt silencing of your game engine hits harder because the game is so full of dopamine hits that just feel good. Taking a top row action and then being able to take a bottom row action the same turn just feels good. Buying a mech and unlocking a additional advantage feels good. And placing a Star for achieving a goal feels good (almost the same as unlocking an achievement on an Xbox or PlayStation Game). So, when I say “Scythe is an alternate history game set post World War One where farmers and miners will flee for their lives from towering mechs and leaders with apex predator sidekicks...It's a feel good game!” you know what I mean.
I suspect you are thinking “Wow, you have a fair amount of issues with this game.” Yea, I've had ten years to find issues with it and Stonemaier has used plenty of expansions to address those issues. But the truth is that base Scythe is a stunning game, one that I think everyone should experience. Ten years in, the game still impresses: The art, combining mechanisms in a smooth way, and having just the right amount of player interaction. And the fact that I'm even talking about it ten years later shows that it has amazing staying power. I remember when it first came out, it was the only thing weekly board game groups wanted to play. That was cool for a few weeks or maybe even a few months? But at some point, we evolved. Familiarity with all the factions and player mats let you see the busted combinations that were possible. But the truth is many players are never going to reach that point. In my opinion, that's why you'll still find it in the Top 20 on Board Game Geek so many years after it's release. It gives you feel good actions, a level of depth that stands up to “casual” (not my obsessive/compulsive) scrutiny, and a potent mixture of proven mechanisms.
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