Scythe | Shelfside Review

Shelfside's long awaited Scythe review for this 2016 classic is finally here! This engine building, 4x, euro mishmash of gameplay come together to form one of the most unique board gaming experiences of all time. Different factions will compete over who can get the most coin, each with unique abilities that break the rules in different ways. With unique mechs, minis, and meeples alongside beautiful art and components, Scythe is a visually stunning tabletop looker. Combine all this with little to no randomness in mechanisms alongside streamlined actions and engine upgrades, it's no wonder so many players even to this day love coming back to Scythe to farm resources and continue making their strategies more efficient.

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Table of Contents:
Intro & Overview - (0:00)
How to Play - (1:31)
Pros - (4:53)
Cons - (19:10)
Recommender Score - (36:53)
Daniel's Personal Score - (41:25)
Ashton's Personal Score - (48:40)

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Stuff used:
Radiarc - The Guardian (Orchestral Remix)
ConcernedApe - Stardew Valley Overture
Gymnopedie No. 1 by Kevin MacLeod

#boardgames #tabletop #review

[inttruders]

I think Scythe should have been marketed as a Cold War themed Euro. The threat of fighting is more important in this game than actually fighting. So many people expect it to be an area control fight to the death. I have a whole shelf full of area control fighting games so when I want to scratch that itch I play one of those. This game is for my more Euro inclined friends who come to game night. It is a Euro that has a theme I enjoy more than the the usual Euro themes of farming or spice trading. Scythe is not my favorite game but I enjoy it for what it is instead of hating it for what it isn't.

[revbrentcolby]

I saw the title and thought, “Scythe? Didn’t that come out years ago?” Then I saw the epic intro and realized that it was worth the wait.

I can’t wait for your Azul review in 2024.

[abruwer]

This is a pretty fair take on Scythe. I particularly appreciated Daniel talking through his experience with learning the game. Having someone talking through the learning curve is tremendously helpful for someone who has to usually teach board games. This is one weird game. Also here's hoping you guys will one day do the Civilization The Board Game review.

[oz]

Home boy is getting STRONGER with the editing.

[dannyp]

We thought in line with your thoughts, until we acquired the Rise of Fenris expansion. We played thru the campaign without opening any boxes early(which you could do without completing the campaign). Loved the story and surprises of the campaign. But there are so many modules added with the expansion, it would deserve a different perspective on some of the limitations you have mentioned that make the game so tight. But playing thru the campaign to be surprised by what's in store, was satisfying to say the least, epic for us.

[Carbonaramafia]

You nailed the review man. I love this game, but it desperately needs an 'essential' version, which may include the modular board, a couple of updates from the expansions and more balanced factions.

[federicodecesco]

I think one of the best things about your reviews is that you divide the pros and cons so sharply. The game always looks splendid in the first part but then the cons are grafted on the positive parts creating a very realistic and balanced picture. For scyhte I agree perfectly but perhaps this is the review that most of all deserves a second part with the expansions to see if they have managed to smooth out the balance and stiffness problems. For a true 4x I highly recommend you to try Clash Of Cultures - Monumental Edition which for me is an improved (streamlined and aesthetically more beautiful and ergonomic) version of the Civilization you like so much. Great job!

[AboveAverageAdam]

Great review guys. I also own Scythe and all it's expansion content and lemme tell you, it makes a TON of difference. The first expansion, Invaders From Afar, adds two more factions that are a ton of fun with traps and banners that get placed on the map. The second expansion, The Wind Gambit, adds a large Airship for all Factions which have varying passive and aggressive attributes which are randomly chosen and apply to all player's airships at the beginning of the game, this expansion also adds the Resolution tiles module which consists of 8 tiles with 8 different end game conditions instead of the normal way the games usually end, this is a godsend! The 3rd Expansion, Rise of Fenris, is where things get really nuts. It adds an 8 game campaign, which over the course of which you will be unlocking 11 brand new modules for Scythe (two of which are two brand new factions) these new modules can change the way the game is played in vastly different ways (you can unlock them via or the campaign or do what I did and just open all the modules right away and play with whichever ones you want). There is also the Scythe Encounter pack which has all the promo encounter cards to shuffle into the encounter deck to give it more flavor and the Modular Board expansion that adds a board with tiles and starting areas that can be rearranged so there are no predetermined starting areas. Honestly, You guys should get all 3 expansions and try out the various modules to see how vastly different the game can become. I'd love to see a video a year from now where you guys give it a 2nd look after trying all the modules. Great review again guys :D
(Btw, Rodney on Watch-It-Played has a video for each of the expansions where he shows what is in them, you should give it a watch)

[shortydancer]

Whoa an hour long review on scythe?! I’m looking forward to watching this whole thing.

[wahick]

Great review!

Please do Spirit Island next!

[jimphilidor]

I think the solo mode is excellent once you learn it. The automa is really aggressive, so you can't play it like solitaire for the whole game. The modular board and the extra modules do make it more interesting in the long run.

But after trying ECLIPSE, I think that's a better game. It's a true 4X and I also think it's better as a resource management euro game. It feels streamlined and the engine building feels smoother. You get to modify your own space ships and then take to battle, which is so cool.

[CitizenRare]

Another excellent video. You guys are probably the best board game reviewers out there due to the sheer depth of your reviews. I’ve owned Scythe for about a year, and it’s one of my all time favorites, but part of that is probably due to the fact that I’ve never played with anyone who has mastered the game and learned every best possible opening strategy or even done so myself. Every playthrough has just been a big casual sandbox experience for me and whatever group, and that’s when this game is absolutely at its best. But I appreciate that you guys look at everything and rigorously test the game at every level, and I’ve heard lots of issues at the competitive high-level end. Really curious as to how you guys would rank the game with Fenris modules and/or the modular board - it looked like you had footage of it in the video, and I’ve never tried it myself, so curious if those additional components and randomizations would help squelch some balance issues.

I imagine this problem is obviously not unique to just Scythe, games like Chess have always had this problem where you match up a novice or even an experienced player against a Grandmaster and the Grandmaster will win 100/100 times. Chess demands its players be of equal skill to have anything resembling an interesting experience, so it’s a shame that Scythe balance suffers from some of those same weaknesses. But that’s while I’ve always tried to play most board games like how Daniel described, just make my own strategies and test them out, maybe learn a little each time and try something new, rather than memorizing precisely crafted openings or patterns developed by others, etc. So I’ll leave high level Scythe to the pros and try to keep the game casual for as long as I can lol.

Speaking of Daniel, his bit in this video was hysterical - “…and I was thinking this game is gonna be sick as fuck!” 😂😂

[robertnoall]

Loved this review, especially the story about losing the fun if you are not on the same level. I had this with other games so good to know in advance!

[cozmicshroomzpro]

To echo many sentiments I've seen, this is a super well produced videos folks, great job.

I agree with you folks here, Scythe isn't for everyone and it definitely tries to pretend its trying to hang with the other big 4x games(to echo another sentiment, i think you folks should try Eclipse 2nd edition) while havin balance issues and being more euro-y than I think it could have been. That said, I really like the game, i haven't played it enough to become seasoned with it but know the rules very well so it makes introducing to folks easier as I'm not as sure of my strategies and i dont dumpster people but i find it easy enough once you get going to suck some folks in who like building a civ and having that near cold war tension of war adds to the politics for my tables(tho not as much as I'd love tbh). Really wish the expansions fixed this but they don't for me but I still enjoy the game anyway. Great video again folks.

[TheNewLooter]

I love this game, but your criticism is spot on.
A very simple, non-invasive house rule that makes the game quite a bit better in my opinion is to increase max combat stars to 3 or 4, and stars required to end a game to 7 or 8 respectively. Saxony player gets extra 1-2 objective cards to compensate. Cheers!

[LauReXyLL]

Glad to see this channel go out of their comfort zone by playing something more complex than what they're used to.

[patrickpmcbride]

You keep upping your game with these reviews lately. No sacred cows here, just good, fair, and nuanced content

[kombainasable]

finally a honest scythe review for a change. I really wanted to love it and bought expansions just for the hope they would fix the game (and their machancis would), but in the end balance is all over the place. this is the kind of PvP game where others just cannot do anything against runaway leader, since they score from euro mechanics, and it takes resources and sacrificing your own euro engine to just try to make a dent in the leader. to me Dwelling of Eldervale is the euro-area control which actually got in reverse, and actually right, what makes both genres appealing when mashed together.

game is otherwise really good, but massively overhyped for how actually niche it is. not to mention being a 4X is an outright lie

[jameskerr]

It's this kind of detailed review that I love. This is what I need to figure out whether or not I would want to buy.

[sAKecOkE]

Scythe is my favorite game, so it's very sad to me that so many people get initially disappointed due to wrong expectations and then never give it another chance or always look at it with that initial "This game betrayed me" feeling.
Once you get deep enough into it that the balance starts becoming a concern, you can add expansion content or play with a bidding step added to the beginning of the game to balance out the faction/mat combinations. There's a fairly small but very enjoyable competitive scene, and its digital edition is neat to learn the rules and have a quick match whenever you feel like it.
10/10 for me :)