Scythe board game - Playthrough & Review

[@BeforeYouPlay]

Which is your favorite faction to play as? Why?

[@CarlosVedovato]

Crimea. I think the ability to spend combat cards as a wild card resource is really powerful.

[@BeforeYouPlay]

@@CarlosVedovato Yeah really seemed like it! Although I think I only used it a few times, but had I not it would have taken much longer to be able to get anywhere.

[@SClarkPharmD]

Polania! Getting those encounters is tons of fun. The mech ability that doesn't lose popularity when forcing opponent's workers to retreat in battle can allow me to be more aggressive depending on the situation.

[@BeforeYouPlay]

@@SClarkPharmDYeah it's a good one! Minimal fear when battling in areas with workers is sooo nice!

[@J-Wheeler-G]

I like Crimea and Polonia.

[@Physiology-E-Paathshala]

This is one of those games that intimidates me....Yet it entices me at the same time

[@Raraoolala]

Absolutely adore this game, and you two - fun to watch you play through it and get your opinion, this is a top 3 game for me. Great explainer and playthrough, a few notes below: 12:58 - a small error in the way Monique discussed movement regarding encounters that may be worth correction subtitle if others are following for rules: Engaging an enemy (whether it be their character, mechs, or workers) immediately stops your movement, not encounter as Monique describes here - you may pass through encounter tiles without issue, encounters are only taken when the encounter token still exists, and only if your movement STOPS with your character (not mech/worker) there. To specify further, each piece you move to a maximum of 2 spaces (unless factory card movement) with Speed Mech enabled, may get interrupted by enemy piece, complete the movement of other pieces. Then resolve battle first, an encounter if your character has stopped on encounter token, then bottom row action if possible and desired. 36:40 - This is caught by Monique later, but may be worth a correction subtitle. During her movement, she moved her mech away from 2 oil, and 2 food resources. Because she no longer has pieces (character, mech, workers) on this hex she loses control of it, and thus cannot use the resources on it which she does 1 minute later. Any other faction may put a piece there and then gain control of the hex and those resources. 44:43 Been mentioned in a few other comments but wanted to summarize all in one - Naveen completes his objective to control 'villages;' incorrectly he is on 'farms' (yellow food icon) not villages (red meeples). Also small thing, completing an objective ends your turn, he continues to build after - he should build first, then complete objective. Doesn't matter in his case here, but it does for other objective's stipulations that may be affected by bottom-row actions. E.g. If objective required resource tokens that you spent in your bottom-row action that makes you fall short. Also, are you playing the base game with Wind Gambit cards? A couple objectives referenced airships, dont think it matters though. Love the metal coins and resources you guys have, great job again!

[@jeffhoward1423]

I have avoiding Scythe for years now. The theme didnt appeal to me, so I just looked elsewhere. But I recently learned that the theme ties into the idea of Scythe being a combo of Euro (farms, worker placement) and Ameritrash (dudes on a map, combat). And then this video cinched it for me! I needed to know how it plays with two people. I purchased while watching this! Thanks for the video-liked & subbed. Keep up the awesome wotk!

[@mcnationprod]

Im the same! I never wanted to play this game. Until I played Tapestry from Stonemeier, then I knew I was hooked by their games. Got scythe last week and have played solo 4 times already !

[@jossrdgz8]

Same I avoided it for years but got it this week

[@sinepilot]

@@jossrdgz8The campaign expansion is great, I recommend. My main gaming buddy still asks for this game all the time

[@joegoroni1634]

I like this playthrough. You guys kept this moving along at a good pace as well as keeping me engaged.

[@BeforeYouPlay]

Thanks Joe!

[@LordoftheBoard]

You guys have great content ! And deserve way more subs. :)

[@CitizenRare]

Superb explanation in the beginning of the video. Most other videos try and explain far too much of this game at once, but that was an excellent and concise description of everything going on.

[@neverlooz]

This is my favorite game of all time. Top 1 since it came out, its hard to describe, no other game is like this one. What a nice design.

[@alexrose6193]

The quality of this video is amazing! Very well explained, easy to follow along! Great job!

[@OutOfCuriosity]

I love this game too. You pretty much played my two favorite factions. I like to pick two options from the encounter cards, thats always fun. And I like the benefit of having combat cards to spend as resources combined with the fact that you typically have more combat cards in hand and therefore your opponents are a bit careful. I played the fenris compaign solo and it was the most fun solo experience I had in a long time.

[@BeforeYouPlay]

Oh that's awesome! Yeah these two factions were fun to play. I never thought about doing the Fenris campaign solo! Sounds like a really fun time.

[@joeltrinidad4939]

I finally got this game after years of circling it, but I've been too intimidated to try it out. What if it was too complicated? What if I didn't like it? What the hell are all these symbols??? I've seen roughly three hours of how-to videos, and yours is the one that made me finally confident enough to tackle the game; not just because you explained it very clearly, but also because you described it in a way that showed me that I would definitely enjoy it. Great job! Now for the real challenge: waiting until it's safe enough to go out for Game Night. (Ugh.)

[@DJBruno-s7q]

just got my copy of this game in the mail yesterday and I can't wait 2 more days to play it for the first time im so hype

[@mauricio.csouza]

just found this channel this week while looking for a boardgame tutorial, and I loved it! You guys are fun, interactive, and give so much more detail than I expected. Thanks for sharing this quality content!

[@CedricTanYT]

Thank you for your clear explanation - my friends and I were a bit lost reading through the rules initially!

[@alexpauls928]

Really well made video! It's not easy to play and explain so well 🙌🏼. Scythe is such an awesome game

[@BeforeYouPlay]

Glad you enjoyed it, thanks for checking it out!

[@foglight11]

This game always intimidates me. it looks so complicated. I love what it looks like, though and want to try.

[@brianstever2146]

It looks more complicated then it is.

[@barf1barf2barf3]

By the looks of it, it definitely evokes complexity. But really, when you get the hang of all the rules, you'll eventually get it. It has a lot of components but it isn't fiddly.

[@joselorenzomendoza5534]

Then try the video game version iron harvest

[@catherineblack6330]

This video was very informative. I have played the game once and really enjoyed it. I am invited to another game day at the end of the week, so this video is helping me to prepare. Thanks. Plus, the art work of the game is amazing.

[@nickzerman]

I appreciate how you guys keep the pace quick

[@benjaminj.7897]

This was fantastic guys. Can you do Root sometime?

[@stevegeorge7773]

At 32:00 you have a heart Monique, you should have moved into the home base then monument space to get all those juicy resources and force all those workers back home. Such a nice, non take that action. I really like this game. The stegmaier games are in a rare category for me: how well I pimped them up!

[@BeforeYouPlay]

hahahaaa yeah that's true! Missed opportunity. I think I always shy away from taking people's resources because I fear the repercussions but that would have been a strategic move. I'm the same way, I don't really get special components for games but this one we had to go all out haha

[@alexwolfe]

Found this video on the day it was uploaded completely by accident while trying to figure out how to play scythe, great informative entertaining video, thanks a bunch!!

[@Totihno]

Scythe is my number 1 favorite game of all time :). I own pretty much all available gameplay content. There came a time when we only played this with my main gaming group and I will always try to get people to play it LOL. I also own the digital version often playing any downtime I have. It really is a masterpiece in my book. Also its so awesome Monique compared this game to chess. I thought I was the only person that felt this game had a chess like pacing in terms of taking turns and strategizing :)

[@tabbyp4754]

I've been watching over 15 videos on how to play Scythe....set-up the game 2x and tried to follow along, read the booklet at least once and STILL couldn't understand. I bought this game because I am beginning to like Complex games. So glad I watched this video....the explanations are easy to understand and I am so glad the view of the board with the camera can perfectly show what you guys are doing. Also, thank you so much for saying what you are doing every single turn and your reasons as to why. I can't wait to play on my own. I think I will watch this video at least one more time. Thank you both from Rhode Island ❤️!!

[@clairehoffmann494]

The channel “watch it played” has a great scythe tutorial that our gaming group used.

[@SethWilcock]

I've been intimidated to play this game. After watching this play through, I have a little more confidence. Super helpful to see things in action. It seems intuitive once you start playing it.

[@RafaelHaddad]

Yeah, me too! My question for @BeforeYouPlay is if they recommend another game to learn or jump in, so it will make it easier to play this one. At least not too intimidating. Thank you.

[@lynnburke2266]

Wow wow ur doing this.. I've been on the fence bout this one for soo long..

[@TheNerdShelves]

Easily in our top 10 games of all time. So great!

[@asubutler]

You earned my sub today. Great job with this playthrough. I am about to start playing it! Owned it from Kickstarter and have never started playing it.

[@ryannielson6918]

Thanks, guys! Super helpful. Excited to play with friends and family!

[@TheWildernessEnthusiast]

Alright, after watching this video, I’ve finally decided to get the game and try it out 👍🏻

[@BeforeYouPlay]

Hope you enjoy it! We think it plays best @ 4-5 Players!

[@TheWildernessEnthusiast]

@@BeforeYouPlay - GUYS. I LOVE THIS GAME! Have you played the Rise of Fenris expansion? I’m currently playing it and it’s absolutely fantastic. ... Also bought the other 2 expansions, as well as the board extension 😁 All thanks to watching your play through video!

[@Angeloflight444]

You two are very sweet 😊! Thank you for sharing your thoughts and the play through! I don’t think this game is for me but I might try it one day 🙂

[@SiggyMX]

Very illustrative and well explained. Thanks guys. I just bought it and I feel I am ready to play it with my peeps.

[@josuesepulveda6850]

This playthrought was really good,great videos guys!

[@Quackalope]

Quack!! :D Excited to watch this one - I love this game!

[@BeforeYouPlay]

Thanks! Maybe one day we can play this one together!

[@bombconnery]

Very informative review guys - really dig your channel!

[@dsweet5273]

It’s a good game and I think the weakest part of it is the combat. But seeing as it’s not something you do often it’s not a big deal. Great video guys! Not sure if you guys like doing videos for games that are OOP, but I’d love to see you guys play Madeira!

[@BeforeYouPlay]

Hi Darrell, I've played the Madeira twice. Just picked up a second hand copy about a month ago. Not sure if we will be able to get to it anytime soon, but it's on my radar. - Naveen

[@smoregames617]

This helped me a lot! Thank you so much for this!

[@kaiserrat70]

Love this game, played with 3 others for 7 hours once. We did skip the 6 star instant end tho just for fun

[@musicmann692000]

Thank you for making the play through and review. Extremely helpful!

[@flamtzer]

You should try 2p game with an automa in it. It really makes it so much better. It is not the same as with more players but simulates pretty good that tension and closes the map a little bit. Essentially a 3p game.

[@BeforeYouPlay]

You know, we actually never considered playing with the automa but I think we will give it a try now. The only thing that worries us about a 3rd player automa is the amount of luck/unforeseeable actions/events that may arise. When we play with opponents, there is a certain amount of predictability in seeing what they will do next and i'm not sure if the automa makes their moves randomly? (To be honest, I don't know how the Scythe automa works...so I could be completely wrong.) Thank you for this recommendation, I will be sure to look into it!

[@flamtzer]

​@@BeforeYouPlay The tricky part about the automa is learning how it moves. Once you get it (takes less than a game) then you can really play around it. We didnt find it unpredictable and it really spiced up our 2p games. Glad to help :D

[@tomcrane9448]

Well played both great demo and presentation of game!

[@iand115]

Got Scythe delivered today after watching yours and some other playthroughs: love the dieselpunk aesthetic and artwork is glorious. Got totally destroyed by Autometta on my first go, made plenty of mistakes but had lots of fun doing it. The Automa was way more intimidating than to actually use.

[@kentofu08]

I didn't understand solo gaming until I got Scythe. My game group doesn't play games repeatedly but I wanted to play more Scythe. Enter the Automa. I think it does a great job making you feel like you are playing against another player!

[@lilysomerset5501]

remembering that time I played for the first time against my friend and her family, most of whom had played before and came second

[@SClarkPharmD]

I've heard one option to make the 2 player game tighter is to randomly block off 2-3 factions' starting areas. I haven't had the chance to try it yet. The modular board also has a 2 player smaller board set up.

[@BeforeYouPlay]

This is the first time I'm hearing about this idea and it sounds great! We will have to try that. We're considering doing another playthrough with just the two invaders from afar factions so maybe we'll use the modular board. Thanks!

[@walouyo3799]

We played the modular player board which is great in reducing the size (remove 2 to 3 of the 4 tiles in 2v2). Anyway, sometimes the random setting up can lead to unbalanced and challenging (sometimes frustrating) starting situations. Mostly they can be overcome but need to really know the game well (not just playing always the same strategy 😆). For experienced players I would recommend for sure, esp @2 players to make it more ‘smallworldish’ 👍

[@melblack7412]

Been enjoying your videos today! Subscribed

[@Huisman7]

I'm going to go ahead and like this video for Naveen

[@vyttieri]

"Steer the mechs away from the electric lines" "Trying to be a good person yeah"

[@geepr12]

Thank you for doing this video. I am very new to the game and did not realize you could do all 3 actions on the encounter cards!! I do realize you have to have the required resources but I have no idea why I thought you only got to do one lol.

[@BeforeYouPlay]

Hi! Actually, you were correct, you typically can only choose one benefit on the encounter card. The specific faction that Naveen is playing as gives you the ability to choose multiple. I hope that helps!

[@geepr12]

@@BeforeYouPlay you both rock thank you!

[@DrBrooksNY]

I highly recommend the Modular Board for 2-3 player especially.

[@BeforeYouPlay]

We own it but haven’t used it!!!

[@DrBrooksNY]

​@@BeforeYouPlay Do yourselves the delight and give it a try the next time you play 2 player. Because there are 4 tiles, after setup you can remove 1-3 of them (usually 2) to tighten up the board. Also, it disallows the pre-determined 'first 5 moves' thing that Monique was commenting about. For chess-type players - the static OG board, this might be a better option. But if you like to play your games more tactically, the Modular Board is the best solution. This is also the same at larger counts but the only issue that my group(s) have with this is: the different level of player experience with Scythe is different the larger my group is. Thus usually reverting back to the Base board at larger counts due to the complexity of the Modular board. Also for more tactics, I've only played Scythe once without the Wind Gambit. The simple addition of the Airships guarantee that every game will be different from the start, even on the Base board.

[@BeforeYouPlay]

@@DrBrooksNY This is fantastic, thank you. We will give it a try!

[@MostVictoryPoints]

Loved it so much I subbed :) Hope you'll do a playthrough of Expeditions (the sequel to Scythe) when it comes out later this year!

[@nathanrodriguez7943]

Thanks for the great tutorial!

[@EZMawloc]

"Rusviet sounds like it should be over powered but it's not"... yes it is! I basically don't lose if I get red...

[@pauldavies5004]

Great walk through guys ,I've just got the rise of fenris can't wait to try it

[@pearldsouza7945]

your dog at the end... damn... how adorable

[@thediminutivesoldier]

great video! convinced me to get it and do video on my channel! Thanks for the inspiration!

[@Duxa_]

Would be cool if you guys did another playthrough 👍👍

[@ethanbarton]

Naveen's secret objective said he needs to control three village territories. He then counts up the number of farm territories he controls. This is at 44:30 ish. What am I missing?

[@BeforeYouPlay]

You're right, it was a brain fart. He planned his entire game around thinking farms were villages lol. Sad thing is that he actually knows the difference between the 2. 😐

[@ethanbarton]

Awesome, I'm glad I understand this game well enough to catch that! Thanks for the quick reply :)

[@BeforeYouPlay]

@@ethanbarton Absolutely, hope you've had a chance to play!!

[@carsinthewild7883]

Are you guys a couple? Great job on this video. Makes everything easier to understand for a new player. Wish I watched this vs a different video before playing the first time. I did end up winning on my first go though, so guess I figured it out 😂

[@BeforeYouPlay]

We are married, thank you for your kind words! Great job on winning your first game btw, that's tough

[@Slimjim22727]

I get jealous watching couples play complex board games. My gf can only play uno.

[@hootsmcgee7896]

i hear ya bud

[@SoulSociety5]

Get her started with something easier like Ticket to Ride or Catan

[@Arjay82]

@@SoulSociety5 Or just do something she's interested in. Not everyone has to love board games. This is the only hobby where people seem to actively want to force people to engage in it.

[@TheBlueFlame112]

Hahaha

[@danielmsz]

It’s a miracle you got a girlfriend

[@SaschaKleiber]

Nice playthrough! Love this game, its quite bad for just two players though. It really shines with at least 4.

[@Lex_Koncord]

I want to have a version of this game with just the Euro side, no combat... the theme is awesome

[@jessicaside]

Did Naveen mean to match the factions? Hahaha!

[@BeforeYouPlay]

Lol! Definitely a coincidence!

[@RasmusNicolajWest]

Fantastic game a fun play through

[@Bandit-137]

Subbed. Love this game!

[@Bandit-137]

Favorite faction had to be Saxony because I love aggressive play😉

[@BeforeYouPlay]

@@Bandit-137 Thanks! Saxony is a tough one to have around. Definitely a must in higher player counts because it keeps everyone else on their toes!

[@jamesdavid7782]

Scythe is a 10. Rise of Fenris takes it to 11.

[@Simonethedog]

what makes fenris so good? i might try it someday

[@BeardHug]

@@Simonethedog it turns it into a campaign where all your progress on a game matters on the next one. Even if you don't win many games you could eventually win the campaign. Plus it's a really cool story and incorporates pretty cool mechanics and game-speeding buffs. I'm on my second campaign and it is an absolute blast, absolutely recomennd it!

[@Bloogly89]

Have you tried the tabletopia version of Rise of Fenris?

[@alishamsahmadi3975]

One of your best bets to get out of Polania's base is to build a mine on your village, you have easy access to wood.

[@BeforeYouPlay]

That's really smart!

[@smzslider]

My first playthrough today with wife and daughter, I played Polania, and that's exactly what I did build a mine, anyways made short work of both of them lol, wife was having a headache but daughter was catching up lol. We will be playing more, gj on the video👍

[@g3ar75]

Nice video! I really enjoyed seeing this game in action before I buy it, though I think that you made a mistake around the 44 minute mark, you claim to occupy 3 village territories but I think you mixed them up with farmlands. Minor detail xd

[@dougwaltz8655]

For normal Move, isn't it, 2 pieces with 1 move each?

[@leonjimenez6777]

My favorite game. Really want to play the campaign expansion Rise if Fenris.

[@nirmaniranchagoda1]

Nice video!!! Just received Scythe as a gift and was wondering can we decide at the beginning and end game at lets say first 3 stars or 4 stars to keep game shorter?

[@evo_moraes]

I love this game!!!

[@mihirshahisme]

Love love love this game, I am noticing our taste to be pretty similar to you both and hence love your channel :). I am curious to know what do you both feel on Viticulture?

[@MrFreon1990]

Good game,thanks for sharing!

[@mariusferreira1297]

Another Excellent play through 👍 Are you going to do another play through of Scythe with the Expansions?

[@MrKikke2]

A little bit latem but: What do you think about the Modular map (a little shorter) for lower player accounts?

[@SaschaKleiber]

Great playthrough as usual. Where did you get these Cylinders youre using for action space selection? Those arent in the retail-box, at least not in Germany...

[@Thagor95]

Regarding your comment about some mats having a hard time to start, I think it's also because you're playing really in a "conservative" way at the start. For example, in this game, Nadeem (not sure how to write his name, sorry) could have rush the encounter in the hope of getting a mech, or just traded to get enough metal to get the first mech and then not be limited to his starting island. But still a great playthrough, as always. Thanks for all your work!

[@marburymou]

@17:15 Is it legal to move the character to the adjance territory even has a river in front of ?

[@BryanPosso]

Where did you guys get the combat sleeves?

[@adriang6259]

This is a really great play through. Great job, very informative. I don't like the idea of the tunnels and the water tunnels, thematically, I can certainly go as far as mechs in the 1920s but a massive underground tunnel system? Any thoughts on that?

[@johnnosbusch7119]

44:40 you played your objective of controlling three village territories but you controlled three farms, not villages.

[@paulw2813]

I was confused by that too. I think they made a boo boo! Klingon subtitles did not mention the error either.

[@Winterwraith]

great video, but i really wish it was in 4K. There is sooo much detail its really hard to see everything. Thanks though, very helpful

[@geminigemini8955]

Hi! How it going for two players?

[@BeforeYouPlay]

We say best at 4-5 players as the threat of conflict and scarcity of hex spaces makes it the better experience. We never play at 2-P for this reason. I do believe you can use the Automa bot to play at a CPU 3rd player (we haven't tied it though).

[@walouyo3799]

Just a detail and maybe subject to interpretation 51:50 Enlisting the last one of Naveen’s should have triggered him another combat card as the ongoing bonus? (We play it this way) Does someone have some insights on this ?

[@michaelemerson570]

Just a note, the combat cards you discard should be placed face up

[@TakeTheBluePilll]

Metal pieces :O

[@BeforeYouPlay]

Metal Coins!!

[@jayf4859]

Is this the original board that came with the game or is it the modular board for 2 players?

[@BeforeYouPlay]

Hi, this is the original board.

[@afrose71]

Nice vid. When a faction activates multiple mechs, can those mechs use each other's uncovered abilities -- or is the mech restricted to using just its own ability? Thanks.

[@raymyers700]

Your mechs AND your main character has full access to all unlocked powers

[@onepingonly1941]

I am really late to this party, but there seems to be a major mistake with movement on the part of Monique at 32:00 where she moves with Riverwalk and uses a mine to go across the board without having built her mine. Her faction ability lets her move to unused faction bases, not to mines.

[@DutchHeathen]

The only error I spotted there was that she couldn't have used Riverwalk to go to the oil mine hex (Crimea's Riverwalk is villages and farms).

[@krstakg12]

Do you choose mat or go also random?

[@BeforeYouPlay]

We typically will randomize the mat but not use any “banned” combinations.

[@davidvalencia1731]

The first encounter card he got said, "use your mech's headlights...." Can he use that option since he didn't have a mech deployed? He straight shut down one of her options on her encounter card and I like to rules lawyer a bit. I just wonder if he should not of been able to take that option out of curiosity? Is that language simply thematic or is it functional?

[@BeforeYouPlay]

Hi there, yes it's just flavor text. The players are not penalized for the story portion of the encounter cards. Hope that makes sense!

[@funkyskunkvids]

If anyone reads this... Is this the standard size of map or bigger version? It looks hugs but I don't know if that's just the size out the box!!

[@BeforeYouPlay]

Standard size =)

[@nickbertelli3447]

Hey Guys, great video. For your first combat at the 55 minute mark, the loser of the battle received a combat card, however shouldn’t have. A combat card is only received if a minimum of 1 power or used for the battle. 0 power was used with a 2 combat card. Hence, should not have received a combat card because of the loss.

[@walouyo3799]

@Nick Bertelli The rule says this (p23) If the loser revealed at least 1 power on the dial or through combat cards, they gain 1 combat card as they retreat.

[@OreosAreSoGood]

At 42:09 Monique moves three workers two spaces with the oil. I thought each move action allows you to move only one worker/mech/character x number of spaces? Or am I misunderstanding something? Thanks for the great playthrough

[@theSolemnBard]

She actually moves a mech, which can carry any number of workers with it

[@OreosAreSoGood]

@@theSolemnBard thanks!

[@void_presence]

I love this game; but a few minor points: It's 1-5 players, it goes up to 7 with the 'Invaders from Afar' expansion. There's no banned factions, just faction-player mat combos, namely Crimea/Patriotic and Rusviet/Industrial.

[@TheLuminousCleric]

@44:51, you controlled Farms, and not Villages! You couldn't complete that objective.

[@jackanderson313]

is it me but the box kinda similar with iron harvest

[@BeforeYouPlay]

I feel bad... I'm not familiar with that title lol

[@jackanderson313]

its a rts game like a steam punk ww2 era game i though its kinda similar

[@DGergely93]

@@jackanderson313 From wikipedia: "Aside from the fact that the story of Iron Harvest as well as the story of Scythe take place in the World of 1920+ by Jakub Różalski, these two games are entirely independent."

[@jackanderson313]

@@DGergely93 thanks for the info i just buy iron harvest then i search the web then i happened to see this board game i though there the same so yea and thanks for clearing it up

[@franciscommonroig9460]

Seems like a great game, but we are only 2. How long (in average) takes to play with 2p? Is it worth to buy for only 2p?

[@ig6256]

You can find variants to play with an AI opponent (Automa)... So you would be three. Generally people say that is a better experience than 2 player games only but I have not checked out yet.

[@tychay]

22:55 I think you accidentally gave yourself an extra coin. You were at $1 because you used it before.

[@BeforeYouPlay]

You're right! Sneaky!

[@tychay]

@@BeforeYouPlay 53:00 Monique should have stolen that oil when she moved through the mill space. 1:11:00 regarding your "chess" opening and banned factions combinations because they are OP. The two are related. The two banned combinations are because only because they can be exploited at the beginning of the game to get the engine going before anyone can do anything about it (before riverwalk or equivalent can be played). The reason for this is outside of 2 players, after that point the players have agency to pull back the runaway leader. In fact, the combat system was straight up stolen from Dune, a game famous for having unbalanced factions (there is no need for balance when the game gives mechanisms for the table to deal with it). This is the something you only see in ameritrash or hybrid games (Scythe is the latter). Pure euros don't have this and need to be balanced finely (that was the mistake that Jamey made with Tapestry as it is closer to a pure euro than Scythe is).

[@BeforeYouPlay]

@@tychay you're right! LOL missed oil opportunity there. And that is interesting! Makes a ton of sense, especially the bit about Tapestry. I'll have to check out Dune, I've heard of it but haven't played.

[@tychay]

Before You Play same designers created Cosmic Encounter which also has broken variable player powers. Such things don’t matter as long as the game gives a way to deal with it over the table. The most infamous of this is The much reviled/loved Munchkin.

[@tomogorman3947]

How does it sound like you have metal coins? All my coins are cardboard.

[@Redshaark]

The trick is, they have metal coins, it's an game expansion, just like the fancy ressources they also have.

[@milosstojanovic4623]

You made a mistake. Other player (when you and they enlisted their recruits) only get ONE time that bonus, thats 2 player rule exclusively. My friend bought the game recently, so we did play it couple of times already.