Scythe: A Buyer's Guide

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Wondering what the deal is with Scythe? We've got you covered! In this video we cover what Scythe is, what content is available and what you need to know before buying.
In brief, Scythe is an engine-building game set in an alternate-history 1920s period. In Scythe, each player represents a character from one of five factions of Eastern Europe who are attempting to earn their fortune and claim their faction's stake in the land around the mysterious Factory. Players conquer territory, enlist new recruits, reap resources, gain villagers, build structures, and activate monstrous mechs. It's currently ranked in the top 20 on the BGG top 100 games list!
0:00 - Intro
0:54 - What is Scythe?
1:55 - How Does it Play?
4:18 - What Do You Need to Know?
6:24 - What Content is Available?
9:25 - What Do We Think?
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[@Sia388]

Thank you for the review. Your comments on expansions were really helpful.

[@BoardOfItReviews]

Thanks for watching!

[@geertdijkstra6903]

Great review! I loved your thoughts about the expansions, you did a good job weighing your words. I really appreciate when reviewers don't just put a label "Bad!" or "Amazing!" on it but also explain their thoughts well. The enormous amount of available content was holding me back buying this game, but you made me confident I should rather buy the base game first. :)

[@BoardOfItReviews]

Thank you! I hope you enjoy it!

[@hildormuthafo]

Great vid, the insights into the expansions was super helpful.

[@BoardOfItReviews]

Glad it was helpful :)

[@kiralred_30k]

I've just discovered Scythe so I'm very new to what is a well loved and well established game universe. Thank you for your video guide- it'll help me learn where to go as I play Scythe.

[@BoardOfItReviews]

Hope it helps!

[@EvrydayErik]

Very helpful and well done video! Cheers!

[@BoardOfItReviews]

Glad it was helpful!

[@lhuddyness]

Great review and all the extra info about the expansions is appreciated. I have the core game and did wonder about the expansions - you summed them up well for me, thank you. Have a subscription and all the best with the channel 👍

[@BoardOfItReviews]

Thank you so much but more than anything just glad it was helpful!

[@josuesepulveda6850]

Fantastic review!

[@BoardOfItReviews]

Hope it helped!

[@tgwatkins]

Super helpful review! I just got the game, which I’ve put off from the start since I wasn’t sure my gamer group would dig it (thinking it was heavier combat). Any reccos on any additional game components they offer on the official site? Metal mechs, money, maps etc?

[@BoardOfItReviews]

Honestly, just stick with the base game for now. If we hadn't been sent the upgraded resources, we would have just stuck with the normal ones as they have a lot of charm. If you're getting it to the table a lot, then I would consider getting the modular board to shake things up. What I find about Scythe is that so many of the components have character, so I don't feel the need to bling them out.

[@lhorbrum1818]

Great video. My issue is i've sort of developed a board game addiction! And Scythe is next on my buy list. The other issue i have, is that i've yet to play any board game i own, as my wife, and friends have zero interest, and my daughter being 8, is perhaps too young! So in conclusion; Scythe for storage for when she comes of age; or i find new friends! and the "My Little Scythe" board game for now, so that my daughter and i can play. In the circles i run, if you're not holding some kind of controller, they're not interested lol. Thanks!

[@BoardOfItReviews]

Always a problem! You could always try playing Scythe solo?

[@lystic9392]

Set up a beautiful game. People are drawn to it. Use a lighter game to pull them in. Or play a co-op game solo. I did that (Robinson Crusoe) and my sister got interested after a day or two to join in.

[@greghinzmann3171]

Scythe was also my first big modern board game and still my favorite as well. I’m curious if you played Rise of Fenris at 2 and if you would recommended it that way?

[@BoardOfItReviews]

We have not, we have played at 3 players and at 5 players. I can't remember if we stated in the buyer's guide, but as much as we love Scythe we don't play it at two, although the modular board does make the game pretty decent at two. Perhaps it would be better if you combined the modular board and Fenris at two?

[@TheFleahost]

I recommend the app too. Great for randomization and scoring.

[@BoardOfItReviews]

Thanks for the heads up!

[@kirksellman1999]

My favorite game. I have all the expansions and collected them into the Legendary Box.

[@BoardOfItReviews]

Reckon the Legendary box is worth it then?

[@kirksellman1999]

@@BoardOfItReviews I do. I like it when I can fit expansions into the base game box, but for Scythe, it needs the Legendary box.

[@footsoldier1468]

@@BoardOfItReviews when I got mine I thought it was garbage with really flimsy component boxes. I’ve since got the Feldherr insert for the big box and it is awesome, fully recommend 👍🏻

[@peacenite]

I Just bought my Scythe Board Game for my first time HEAVY GAMES and thank you for your video I think I will Buy expansion Rise Of Fenris for the Campaign stuff...

[@BoardOfItReviews]

Hope you enjoy!

[@carlosnavarrete6616]

Hello ! Is there any recommendation for a game like this, but a little more combat oriented ? Great channel !

[@BoardOfItReviews]

Maybe try Dead Reckoning or Eclipse 2nd Dawn? DR is very much like Scythe but pirates and you can combat other players and NPCs quite easily. Eclipse is more expensive by far, but has an excellent production and is a big space euro that plays surprisingly quick but you can have multiple combats with lots of dice chucking.

[@cutthr0atjake]

Scythe is fantastic and is the favourite game of myself and my wife as well. I love the Invaders factions. They play very different to the others, but they are powerful. We've played almost 200 games of Scythe & Albion has been the third most successful faction in our games. The expansion we can do without is the Wind Gambit. The Airships are fun, but we hate the resolution tiles. Adding them to the base game is like dousing a souffle in chilli sauce.

[@BoardOfItReviews]

Tbf I can see that with the Invaders from Afar, I think we just can't stand the lack of Speed mech unlock. Takes a long time to unlearn that!

[@cutthr0atjake]

@@BoardOfItReviews I can understand that I bought it along with the base game. Learning how to play as Albion & Togawa along with the other factions meant I had nothing to unlearn. Also, don't forget Invaders gives you 2 extra player boards to add to the variety. 😀

[@sagizango2483]

The beauty of this game is you can play it how you want to play it. you can play with The Wind Gambit without the Resolution Tiles, same with Rise of Fenris you can change anything (if you hate the 1+ speed mechs & main player). That's why I love this game so changeable for you :D

[@jealvarez32]

The METAL coins and realistic resources are game changer they are extremely high quality

[@BoardOfItReviews]

Time to hunt down the metal coins

[@jrhawk0032]

I own everything for the game except for the metal mechs and almost always only use the base game, IFA, the upgraded coins/resources and board expansion. I am still glad I got everything, but if your trying to save money that is what I use 99% of the time.

[@BoardOfItReviews]

Thanks for the info! We like to use a mix of the upgraded resources and the original because they're so cute.

[@foyzo3673]

What is your favourite player count for Scythe? How do you find it at 2 players?

[@BoardOfItReviews]

Probably 3, then 4. Mainly because a huge amount of plays have been at 3 with experienced players and the game moves very quickly so we can usually get 2-3 games in. We aren't fans of it at 2 on the main board personally, but it's quite good at 2 if you have the modular board as you can make the map smaller.

[@ChrisCuly]

Scythe is my favorite game of all time and I've almost exclusively played it at 2 players. My wife and I played through the Rise of Fenris and we are both fairly conflict averse and lean more into the engine-building/efficiency puzzle side of Scythe. If you're in a similar boat and not as interested in conflict or maneuvering on the map, then 2 player might still be great for you.

[@sAKecOkE]

4 or 5 is best for me, probably 4. Three runs the risk of two factions cancelling each other out and the remaining one running away with it, especially if one is all by itself on one side of the map or under specific combinations of factions/mats.

[@Samhildenach]

I wonder if it holds up at full player count with expansion. Is it too sluggish at 6-7? Do you need the map extension?

[@cabalpaxiarch7239]

Ι feel like the original five factions in Scythe had an interesting special power that somehow abused some aspect of the game like not having to change actions or how to use combat cards or abuse objectives etc. Then, with the final two factions it feels like they were out of stuff to do with the original game so they made up tokens to give them something assymetric. But it didn't hit the mark for me. It was boring and uninspired and didn't make me interested in the slightest to buy the expansion, even though purple is my favorite meeple color.

[@BoardOfItReviews]

Yea, I think one thing that sucks the fun out of them a little is the limited movement at the start. Sure, it gets a bit better when you get tokens out, but you still have to drag yourself to those spots in the first place.

[@redstation9765]

The Best of the Best !!!

[@BoardOfItReviews]

Heya! Really heartfelt message from us here: Please, please consider subscribing or recommending us if this was helpful to you. As a channel we've always grown at a good rate, but the last month or two our subscriber growth has significantly dropped for the first time, despite the fact we've released some popular videos & our Buyer's Guides consistently do well day to day. Around 80% of our viewers are not subscribers. If you're one of those people, please consider helping us out. We do all this for a love of the hobby and the community, and as such we've never had a Patreon or asked viewers to support us financially. All we want is your subs as this makes it more likely we'll be able to collaborate with publishers and designers, and in return bring you more content! Thank you so much - Farrell & Tallie

[@VilkatisJanis]

How does it compare to Twilight Imperium?

[@BoardOfItReviews]

It does not in any way 😁. Completely different types of games with different themes and mechanisms. Scythe is a euro with limited luck and it's essentially an engine builder efficiency puzzle where combat is more of a deterrent than something you want to happen usually.

[@VilkatisJanis]

@@BoardOfItReviews ok. Thank you. :)

[@Eivor2023]

Which is better Scythe or Brass Lancashire ?

[@BoardOfItReviews]

They aren't so comparable directly...

[@-Markus-]

I found a solution to this by simply buying everything...It was easier that was XD

[@alsagergaz]

I'm afraid I cannot listen to the broken delivery of this video, it sounds like they are reading very badly from a script. Painful

[@BoardOfItReviews]

Very constructive ;)